My Forum

The only thing that's potentially putting me off getting the 910 in the future is the size of it. In quite a few reviews I've read the main disadvantage that people give is that it's bulky. As a pretty small guy (5'4) it'll be even more bulky on my arm than a normal person. Anybody got any views on that? Do you notice the bulk while running or swimming?

Some good tips. I'm going to research a bit and travel round and try a bunch of different bikes rather than just settle for the limited selection from my LBS.

Has anybody got any input on my last question:

- Unless you're at an elite level, is the quality of the bike actually important or is it really all about the rider?

Thanks SFF - Yeah I was pretty amazed to get down in one piece. There were some pretty hairy moments on the descent, especially as I completely ignored your advice about keeping it sensible!

I thoroughly recommend this kind of race to anybody reading. The combination of trails, hills and dark makes it so much more interesting than your standard race. I found a series of these races here http://www.thenightrunner.com/. Looking forward to signing up for the 10k one in Rivington. That said, I need to test out my flat 5k time too, so will sign up for some 'normal' races in the meantime.

Thanks guys.

So fit is more important than everything else by the looks of it. I'm guessing that at £500 I pretty much ignore all the spec and just got for what fits? If I go up to £1k then the spec becomes a bit more important but is still secondary to fit?

My plan was to get it from a local bike shop so that I could benefit from the 'community' aspect and the personal touch, but I happen to know that my local shops don't really carry any old stock. Also I'm pretty short at 5'4 and availability of old stock and 2nd hand bikes generally seems to be minimal for smaller bikes from what I've seen). This means I might have to go a bit further afield to the bigger shops, which I guess isn't a big problem, but not what I initially wanted to do.

I can't do the C2W scheme as I work for myself. I was going to do it through my gf but her scheme has set dates to apply and I've just missed this year.

It's nearly time to buy my first bike, so looking for some tips.

A bit about myself so you know where I'm at: I'm 31, been running and swimming for the last couple of months with the intention of doing a few triathlons next year (prob a sprint in spring and oly in summer). I was already pretty fit coming into this training schedule, and have had previous running and mountain biking experience, albeit 10 years ago and not particularly serious (also, never been on a road bike). So basically, I'm new to triathlon but not coming in totally from scratch, picked up running and swimming fairly quickly again and expect the same on the bike.

My plan atm is to buy an entry level road bike, so probably looking at around £500-600, with an extra £200-ish on accessories (helmet, shoes & pedals, toolkit etc). So here are my questions:

- Will I actually notice any difference between the bikes I'm looking at in my price range, or is it basically irrelevant which one I choose at that price?

- If I could increase my bike budget to say £1k, what would I get for my extra £500 and would it be worth it?

- Unless you're at an elite level, is the quality of the bike actually important or is it really all about the rider?

Any other tips appreciated, thanks.