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Road bike for a 60+ years bike rider



 
 
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  #1  
Old August 21st 06, 12:43 PM posted to aus.bicycle
Joseph
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Posts: 26
Default Road bike for a 60+ years bike rider

Hello All
I am a 60+ years old bike rider who has been riding a mountain bike for the
last 6 years and I am quite happy with the bike. My problem is that my mate
who I ride with has now gone from a cheap heavy mountain bike to a road
bike. Guess what? I can no longer keep up with him. He takes off like "it is
so easy".
I need to go to a road bike so that I can keep up with him. I have never
ridden a road bike before except as a test run. I was not impressed with
the stability etc of it.
I have been looking at Trek Pilot 1.0, 1.2 flat bar, 2.1 bikes. From what I
have read these bikes might suite me better than a full road bike. I haven't
had a test run at this stage and I don't think that the local Trek LBS would
especially get one in for me to try it out.
I would appreciate any comments from anyone who has had similar problems.
Joseph


Ads
  #2  
Old August 22nd 06, 12:22 AM posted to aus.bicycle
Terryc
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Posts: 583
Default Road bike for a 60+ years bike rider

Joseph wrote:

I need to go to a road bike so that I can keep up with him.


If you have knobbies, replace them with something with a centre ridge
line of rubber and shallow tread. You can find these in economical tyres
if you hunt around,

Also, you could go to a thinner tyre, down to 1.25" stuff. If
neccessary, you might like to consider a new wheel set with narrower
rims to take these.

OTOH, a new second bike for the road will not go astray, but I'm brand
agnostic as I assemble my own bits.
  #3  
Old August 22nd 06, 03:37 AM posted to aus.bicycle
Bleve
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Posts: 1,258
Default Road bike for a 60+ years bike rider


Joseph wrote:
Hello All
I am a 60+ years old bike rider who has been riding a mountain bike for the
last 6 years and I am quite happy with the bike. My problem is that my mate
who I ride with has now gone from a cheap heavy mountain bike to a road
bike. Guess what? I can no longer keep up with him. He takes off like "it is
so easy".
I need to go to a road bike so that I can keep up with him. I have never
ridden a road bike before except as a test run. I was not impressed with
the stability etc of it.
I have been looking at Trek Pilot 1.0, 1.2 flat bar, 2.1 bikes. From what I
have read these bikes might suite me better than a full road bike. I haven't
had a test run at this stage and I don't think that the local Trek LBS would
especially get one in for me to try it out.


Probably the most important part of this is not the bike itself, but
how you're set up on it.

Make sure the LBS has someone who's good with bike fit, and/or go see a
coach or a fit specialist.

  #4  
Old August 22nd 06, 08:36 AM posted to aus.bicycle
Resound
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 306
Default Road bike for a 60+ years bike rider


"Terryc" wrote in message
...
Joseph wrote:

I need to go to a road bike so that I can keep up with him.


If you have knobbies, replace them with something with a centre ridge
line of rubber and shallow tread. You can find these in economical tyres
if you hunt around,

Also, you could go to a thinner tyre, down to 1.25" stuff. If
neccessary, you might like to consider a new wheel set with narrower
rims to take these.

OTOH, a new second bike for the road will not go astray, but I'm brand
agnostic as I assemble my own bits.


I've found that with tyres that have the centre ridge, the things roll
vastly better once you've worn it off and taken it back to being a basic
slick. I've read a few articles with everything from record attempt HPVs
through to conventional bikes that have had the same experience. If you
absolutely must have tread because you're riding over sift dirt or something
on a regular basis, get something that just has the side lugs but honestly,
you're better off with just regular slicks for road riding. Also, with
regards to the feel of a road bike, see if you can't borrow one for a while
rather than just a short ride. They do feel quite odd if all you've ridden
is a MTB with wide flat bars. You don't have the leverage that you're used
to and you don't need to move your hands anywhere near as far to generate
the same steering angle. This combined with the steeper geometry of the bike
can make it appear to be quite twitchy. Once you've been on it a while
though, I can pretty much guarantee it'll feel perfectly natural and stable.


  #5  
Old August 22nd 06, 09:18 AM posted to aus.bicycle
Fractal
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 126
Default Road bike for a 60+ years bike rider


"Joseph" wrote in message
u...
Hello All
I am a 60+ years old bike rider who has been riding a mountain bike for
the
last 6 years and I am quite happy with the bike. My problem is that my
mate
who I ride with has now gone from a cheap heavy mountain bike to a road
bike. Guess what? I can no longer keep up with him. He takes off like "it
is
so easy".
I need to go to a road bike so that I can keep up with him. I have never
ridden a road bike before except as a test run. I was not impressed with
the stability etc of it.
I have been looking at Trek Pilot 1.0, 1.2 flat bar, 2.1 bikes. From what
I
have read these bikes might suite me better than a full road bike. I
haven't
had a test run at this stage and I don't think that the local Trek LBS
would
especially get one in for me to try it out.
I would appreciate any comments from anyone who has had similar problems.
Joseph



Maybe a Trek 520 Tourer or similar would suit you, they are comfortable to
ride, can run on 28 or 32 mm tyres, can have flat or dropped bars, have a
triple chainring and are pretty fast downhill in top gear with a 52/11,
although my chain skips something terrible in top- even the LBS couldnt get
it to work.

fb - not quite 60.


  #6  
Old August 22nd 06, 09:48 AM posted to aus.bicycle
Duracell Bunny
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 141
Default Road bike for a 60+ years bike rider

Joseph wrote:
Hello All
I am a 60+ years old bike rider who has been riding a mountain bike for the
last 6 years and I am quite happy with the bike. My problem is that my mate
who I ride with has now gone from a cheap heavy mountain bike to a road
bike. Guess what? I can no longer keep up with him. He takes off like "it is
so easy".
I need to go to a road bike so that I can keep up with him. I have never
ridden a road bike before except as a test run. I was not impressed with
the stability etc of it.
I have been looking at Trek Pilot 1.0, 1.2 flat bar, 2.1 bikes. From what I
have read these bikes might suite me better than a full road bike. I haven't
had a test run at this stage and I don't think that the local Trek LBS would
especially get one in for me to try it out.
I would appreciate any comments from anyone who has had similar problems.
Joseph


I'm 58, and got back into bike riding some 6 months or so ago after a long
layoff - I started off with a new hybrid, which is really comfortable, but I
found it frustratingly slow. I looked around the bike shops & was not prepared
to buy a new road bike for the silly money a nice one cost, so I ended up with a
second hand Avanti Corsa Pro, that I'm really pleased with - it's light,
relatively up to date, has a good bling factor, and now I can keep up with the
other roadies I ride with.

Look around for second hand bargains, I'd say. And, at our age, fit is even more
important than ever.

--
Karen

And thanks to Tam at aus.bicycle for the cool new nick

"Sometimes I think I have a Guardian Idiot - a little invisible spirit just
behind my shoulder, looking out for me ... only he's an imbecile" - Jake Stonebender
  #7  
Old August 22nd 06, 01:43 PM posted to aus.bicycle
Joseph
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 26
Default Road bike for a 60+ years bike rider

Thank you all for the advice you have given me on moving to a faster bike.
At the moment I am thinking of either a Trek Pilot or a Trek fitness or a
Trek road bike.
Joseph
"Duracell Bunny" wrote in message
...
Joseph wrote:
Hello All
I am a 60+ years old bike rider who has been riding a mountain bike for

the
last 6 years and I am quite happy with the bike. My problem is that my

mate
who I ride with has now gone from a cheap heavy mountain bike to a road
bike. Guess what? I can no longer keep up with him. He takes off like

"it is
so easy".
I need to go to a road bike so that I can keep up with him. I have never
ridden a road bike before except as a test run. I was not impressed

with
the stability etc of it.
I have been looking at Trek Pilot 1.0, 1.2 flat bar, 2.1 bikes. From

what I
have read these bikes might suite me better than a full road bike. I

haven't
had a test run at this stage and I don't think that the local Trek LBS

would
especially get one in for me to try it out.
I would appreciate any comments from anyone who has had similar

problems.
Joseph


I'm 58, and got back into bike riding some 6 months or so ago after a long
layoff - I started off with a new hybrid, which is really comfortable, but

I
found it frustratingly slow. I looked around the bike shops & was not

prepared
to buy a new road bike for the silly money a nice one cost, so I ended up

with a
second hand Avanti Corsa Pro, that I'm really pleased with - it's light,
relatively up to date, has a good bling factor, and now I can keep up with

the
other roadies I ride with.

Look around for second hand bargains, I'd say. And, at our age, fit is

even more
important than ever.

--
Karen

And thanks to Tam at aus.bicycle for the cool new nick

"Sometimes I think I have a Guardian Idiot - a little invisible spirit

just
behind my shoulder, looking out for me ... only he's an imbecile" - Jake

Stonebender


  #8  
Old August 22nd 06, 11:56 PM posted to aus.bicycle
dave
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 192
Default Road bike for a 60+ years bike rider

Duracell Bunny wrote:
Joseph wrote:

Hello All
I am a 60+ years old bike rider who has been riding a mountain bike
for the
last 6 years and I am quite happy with the bike. My problem is that my
mate
who I ride with has now gone from a cheap heavy mountain bike to a road
bike. Guess what? I can no longer keep up with him. He takes off like
"it is
so easy".
I need to go to a road bike so that I can keep up with him. I have never
ridden a road bike before except as a test run. I was not impressed with
the stability etc of it.
I have been looking at Trek Pilot 1.0, 1.2 flat bar, 2.1 bikes. From
what I
have read these bikes might suite me better than a full road bike. I
haven't
had a test run at this stage and I don't think that the local Trek LBS
would
especially get one in for me to try it out.
I would appreciate any comments from anyone who has had similar problems.
Joseph


I'm 58, and got back into bike riding some 6 months or so ago after a
long layoff - I started off with a new hybrid, which is really
comfortable, but I found it frustratingly slow. I looked around the bike
shops & was not prepared to buy a new road bike for the silly money a
nice one cost, so I ended up with a second hand Avanti Corsa Pro, that
I'm really pleased with - it's light, relatively up to date, has a good
bling factor, and now I can keep up with the other roadies I ride with.

Look around for second hand bargains, I'd say. And, at our age, fit is
even more important than ever.

Not actually true. FIt is always THE importent thing. SO how can it be
more important?

You would be right if it could of course

Dave
  #9  
Old August 23rd 06, 12:19 AM posted to aus.bicycle
Duracell Bunny
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 141
Default Road bike for a 60+ years bike rider

dave wrote:
Duracell Bunny wrote:
Joseph wrote:

Look around for second hand bargains, I'd say. And, at our age, fit is
even more important than ever.

Not actually true. FIt is always THE importent thing. SO how can it be
more important?

You would be right if it could of course

Dave


What I mean is, at a younger age you can get away with some discomfort or
inefficiency, as you age your body is less tolerant & takes MUCH longer to
recover from injury or stress.

I'd venture that most (not all) younger cyclists has NEVER had a professional
fit (I exclude the readers of this NG, as we're cleverer than anyone else )

But most older cyclists will have, due to aches & pains they wish to avoid
getting repeats of, or aggravation of old injuries.

--
Karen

And thanks to Tam at aus.bicycle for the cool new nick

"Sometimes I think I have a Guardian Idiot - a little invisible spirit just
behind my shoulder, looking out for me ... only he's an imbecile" - Jake Stonebender
  #10  
Old August 23rd 06, 12:48 AM posted to aus.bicycle
Theo Bekkers
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,182
Default Road bike for a 60+ years bike rider

Duracell Bunny wrote:

What I mean is, at a younger age you can get away with some
discomfort or inefficiency, as you age your body is less tolerant &
takes MUCH longer to recover from injury or stress.

I'd venture that most (not all) younger cyclists has NEVER had a
professional fit (I exclude the readers of this NG, as we're cleverer
than anyone else )
But most older cyclists will have, due to aches & pains they wish to
avoid getting repeats of, or aggravation of old injuries.


I get the impression you think 60+ is old. :-)

Theo
Hoping to be as young as my dad when I turn 92.


 




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