+1 on avoiding the trendy/yuppie bike shops. They're usually just there to "push product" and although indivdual members of the staff might be enthusiasts and helpful, ultimately you'll pay way more than you need to and get substandard results.

Get a decent bike (steel is nice but hard to find new - that ain't bad, just sayin'), not the latest trendy uber-light carbon fiber featherweight velopsycho 6000 or whatever. A good bike. A budget of $1500 for bike, shoes (go clipless, nothing else), helmet (don't skimp), gloves (road rash on your palms sucks), etc. should be plenty. Then either geek out and learn a lot about geometry and sizing/fit, or have a GOOD (non-yuppified) bike shop do it for about a hundred clams. Get a couple spare tubes, tire levers and a CO2 pump too. Having to call wifey for a ride because you flatted 50 miles from home with no spare is a sure way to sleep on the couch.

Then go ride your ass off. Then ride some more. Then some more. Get up to about 150-200 miles a week. Do that for a few months. Get a heart-rate monitor for about $50 and start working interval training into your rides. Do that for a few months.

You'll be in the best shape of your life after that and be able to drop the poseurs like a pair of panties on prom night.

roadies...pppffttt.

<BR>.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1219197034.jpg

If your knees are not in the best of shape, I would recommend Speedplay pedals. While mine are not the high end of the line, they have been very durable and allow a lot of rotation that takes the stress of my knees.
The only down side is the clunky "cleats" that are a pain to walk in...
Good time of the year to buy, end of the summer season. Find a good shop that will work with you and the amount you want to invest in this...
Good luck in your search...

In 1980 and 1981 I was pretty fast, on sprints, centurions, and on the Encino velodrome. Not the fastest by a long shot but very fast.I made a little money at it.
I rode from north Anaheim to La Jolla in just over 7 hours.
I wore racing clothes with my team paramount jersey when I was competing and I wore it proudly. But I didn't wear it while training. I wore some touring shorts and a tee shirt and my touring shoes.

I live 1 block from the Santa Ana riverbed bike path and I see hundreds of wanna-bes on that path every time I ride it. People who think a credit card makes them a racer.
It doesn't. They have expensive bikes, too expensive. they spend hundreds on the costumes but haven't earned them.
I can blow by the pretenders like they are standing still on my low performance, heavy, cheap bike. Sometimes I get spanked by a real rider but not as often as you might think.

Back when I was working at the bike pro shop I made $5 each for repairing sew-ups for the club. I could do 10 a night once a week watching TV.
I also laced wheels and made a custom set for Eric Heyden once. That was good money when I was in college.
As far as your 220 psi tires? I've been out of racing a long time but that seems over the top. When I was racing 130 psi was the max on sew-ups, 110 on clinchers.
My point was that I could crank up the pressure in my fat tires and smoke the posers with their 700Cs.

Too many people out there think that buying the state of the art stupid-expensive equipment makes them fast. It doesn't.
If I still had it I could climb on my 1975 Schwinn paramount road bike and smoke most of the riders I see on the bike trail, even though some of em are 25 years younger than me and spent thousands more on their equipment. IIRC I spent $420 on my 5 year old Paramount. That was big money then.
How many of these guys who are dressed up like they are entering the tour de France have ever seen a real track bike, or rode one? I have.

The point is be a rider, not a poser. Fast without the costume is allot cooler than slow with the costume and a $3000 bike.

I'd spend money on a good bike from a bike shop. I'd spend money on bib shorts and your balls and ass will thank your for it. I'd spend money on gloves (full finger gloves even in the summer so when you fall, for sure you will fall, your finger tips will be protected so you can still post on PPOT). Lastly, I'd spne money on a great helmet. The rest of the gear can be mid grade or less.

Thanks for all the advice, here is what i have done at this point.

For starters I've purchased nothing still researching. I did go to a nice shop that had many brands to offer, Felt, Trek and Specialized for example that were mentioned. Before we started talking about bikes I asked about fitting and a couple other things that were mentioned in this thread.

They have a fitting area in their shop. It seems to be a very thorough fitment process, taking about 2 hours. Including getting out a message table and measuring your flexibility and a bike simulator hooked to a computer that allows them to make minor adjustments and see how you react. Its at no charge when you purchase a bike from them. When they fit the bike for you they will not make you purchase the correct size parts and send you home with a bag full of useless items, they'll just swap them. They will also pay for your first year to the local road cycling club.

So, now to the bike. He took a simple inseam measurement and found that im a 57.1 which is right in the middle, just my luck. But, then we move onto price and budget. I was impressed that he still spent over an 1 1/2 hour with me after telling him i wanted to stay in the sub 1K range. It limited me to about 4-5 bikes to choose from though. I did ride a 54 & 56. The 56 was much more comfortable. He just wanted me to feel the difference. I really like the Trek 1.2 & 1.5. I've been a Trek fan and have owned Treks in the past. So I'm leaning that way at this point.

Oh, I also learned real quick on my short test rides that a $100 pair of shorts are going to be worth every penny. In the middle of a 30 mile ride when you're in those $50 shorts you'll probably be willing to pay $150 for a nice pair. I think that putting money into shorts and a helmet of course are two obvious worth while purchases. I may just stick with the standard straps that come on the peddles and make my next purchase a pair of shoes and peddles with clips. Again, taking ppls advise and start slowly.

I'll keep you all posted. Thanks for all your help so far!!

Reese

I was a pimple face punk out at Encino many nights hanging out, but never raced, from 83 to86. What's your name and Cat., I might have seen you raced? Were you one of those guys that raced against Meat head or the Rainer brothers. Those guys were fast.

I know what you mean about equip., just like the wax and shine guys that can't drive straight with thousands into their motors.

Tubular? The cool duds that ride the river trails don't ride those. They don't know how to repair them. I love tubulars. pump them up rock hard and thry ride amazing.

Fascinating what you claim you could do 28 years ago. I was impressed then.

Now, lets travel through time to the present? Again, apples to apples. Your old favorite equipment is childs play to what is available today. In saftey, comfort and bio-mechanical fit. Tufo tires and ceramic bearings allow me to "sail" forever on the flats with a 15 mph tailwind. Your Schwinn would not do that ever, except in a near hurricane down a vertical mineshaft. I am not boasting about my abilities, I am a slow rider compared to most, but when you want to boast you might try comparing apples to apples. It otherwise looks just like what it really is: Bruce Springsteen "Glory Days".

As for your advice of being a "rider not a poser", you do realize that advice would eliminate at least 85% of the rabid neo-cons here (who never served in the military) and probably 90% of the Porsche owners here also.

It is his money and desire, let him discover the fun and go his own way. Even if it is a poser by your judgement. After all, he did not ask how to please you.

Still, there's no better feeling in the world than to drop some fat guy who's riding a $6,000 Cerevelo or whatever on a hill climb when I'm out toodling about on my mountain bike. I'm not a hardcore or super "in-shape" rider either (not yet anyway, but I'm working on it) and it always makes me laugh to myself. It's even better when I've got some sort of obnoxious jersey on or (best) by jean shorts and a baseball hat.

The best thing to do in cycling is never let the other guy know for sure how much you've got "in the tank". Keep 'em guessing. If you plaster yourself with team kit and uber-expensive crap you're askin' for it, unless you've got the quads to back it up, which most of these clowns don't.

I am in the exact same boat as our original poster. I too went to a nice bike shop, did a little measuring and fitting, looked at some Trek and Specialized bikes which do look very nice. I also saw some Colnagos, Bianchis, and a Pinarello which were blood stirring. I have been checking out Craigslist and Ebay for some used deals as well. Any advice for buying a used bike, maybe something a bit more high end then one could normally afford new?

I too will be budgeting for better shorts after reading some of these posts. Yikes!

If you put it in those terms, and test everything with the finest measuring instrument. Yes. You have better bearings and can roll easier, but safer, bio mechanical fit??? If I decide to turn the gas on after a turn up a steep hill, I don't care what you have, you will still have to jump just as hard , if not harder to catch me. If I crest the hill, then, I am long gone. Comfort is sitting on the couch not racing. Racing is about suffering and playing with someone's head. I took my old 25 year old Casati with clips (campy super record, and cable sticking up and all) and my old Adidas shoe and raised hell on one of the local training rides once. I did ok, as a metter of fact, i did just as well as if I had my regular bike. Yes Carbon and etc... This was when I was riding a few times a week. I was no way near racing fitness level.

I don't unerstand why people think that if you ride a bike, you have to have riding shots and color matching etc... all the are doing is they are going for a easy ride on the bike path to the local starbucks. Like the guys who drive with driving gloves doing 65. Its ok, their choice and money. Who am I to say.

You have pro rider friends. You know in cycling its mostly a head game then strength. Equip. play a small percentage. Give me the oldest piece of garbage, I know where to make you hurt and when to jump you to win. Game face is important.

I would start with a used 10 speed from a yard sale and put some new tires and make sure the brakes work good.

The bike may be heavy and old but if you are looking to get a work out and enjoy the scenery I think it's the way to go.

The point was and is what the original poster wanted was advice on equipment, not opinion as to whether someone else would consider his choice "a poser". Equipment choice should be personal, it is his money after all.

I agree you need little in the way of fancy equipment to ride fast or well. But proper fit and newer designs of peddals can and do increase the bio-mechanical safety of riders. Proper fit and more capabile modern equipment can prevent many injuries and prolong your riding career, as poser or TDF winner.

Hey, just my opinion, but if somebody is into bike riding for exercise only? No need to $pend a ton...vintage steel will get your heart pumping, your butt sore, and give you a workout as well as a bike you spend thousands on...

Now is a good time to be looking. Places are starting to dump the prices on the 2008 models if you want to buy new.

I just bought this for about $1500 for this reason (a few months ago they were $2200-$2300). It's what I got to replace my recently-stolen vintage steel Pinarello Catena Lusso, which I loved dearly. It'd probably be a little bit overkill for a starting out rider, but the point is you can get some pretty nice deals in the next month or two probably:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1219261913.jpg

BTW Campy just came out with the 11-speed full carbon Chorus line. The full setup is about $3,500. Don't even think about it. But god, it's nice to drool.

Reese, forgive the nasty boys in here, they just have strong opinions.

You can get an entry level Trek with Shimano hardware for just a few hundred to see if being a roadie is for you or not. DO get fitted as it will help avoid injuries to the knee. Any decent shop will put you up on a wind trainer or some such support and give you the basic fit check. Just ask them to do it , I'm sure they will oblige.

I'm 56 and wear spandex UNDER baggies. No one should be subjected to a man of my years in spandex. But those tight pants sure help my aging thighs a whole bunch. AND if you do get into higher mileage, spandex is by far the most comfortable thing to have next to your skin. I do 20 miles on a week night after work and regular shorts will work their way up my butt after the first five.

They make cycling shorts now that look kinda' like cargo shorts on the outside and have the spandex/bib parts on the inside that are cycling-specific. They're very nice and I own a couple pairs. Purists would call them "Fredish" but I disagree - they're a lot less likely to give you a complex going out in public with. I don't really like the thought of going out in just spandex cycling shorts unless I'm seriously racing or something (and I'm not). So I guess I'd rather be pegged as a Fred by the so-called "purists". I don't really care what the roadie snobs say anyway. :) Just my $0.02. Do whatever you want.

Guess I'm Fredish too PoP. But what is that?

It's a term used by so-called roadie purists to refer to anyone who isn't part of their clique. I've heard it thrown around a few times. It might be in the urban dictionary - dunno, haven't really looked.

Jeremy,

If you like I can help you out with the whole bike thing. You have my in # your computer. I don't know what your budget is, I might be able to get you a Bianchi at cost. I can help you with the fitting. If you are looking for a use frame, I can show how to check it. Heck I'll go with you if you want. After all, you guys did help me with my car. call me and we will talk its the least I can do for you.