Advice for a newbie to road cycling

[carl aka sn1p3r]

I want to get into road cycling again after a 10 year break from roadie stuff (yeah, yeah, I know, Tour de France got me interested and all that and it might just be a fad etc but...)

I am a regular commuter and do around 120 - 150 miles a week now (on my mountain bike) and I've been out with the Sunday MTB Addiscombe crowd as well. I am changing jobs soon and will be home based after my initial product training month so I need to do something serious about keeping up my fitness.

What sort of level bike do you suggest I go for and what s the pace like on Sunday's? I live in Coulsdon so it'll take me 30 seconds to get to the station but if I don't want to hold people back (that's if you roadies wait for your fellow cyclists that is, hehehe).

I've been looking at the Specialized Allez range starting somewhere in the range of £400 but I'll probably be looking at buying at least something with Shimano 105.

Any suggestions welcome - budget around £1K but slightly flexible.

All advice very much appreciated.

Carl

[Elliot M]

Hi Carl, I reckon you'd probably do OK in the medium (17mph av) group but you could start in the slow (15mph) one just in case? I would perhaps take the shortcut to the cafe and avoid the through and off speed session to start with.

I am only on road rides infrequently but make yourself known to Monty, Alex or Tim and they will take care of you.

1000 quid? No idea I've never spent that much on a bike! Seriously though, yes I think that is the light aluminium frame, carbon fork, 105 groupset level.

Maybe have a look at what Geoffrey Butlers are offering -- I think there are quite a few Bianchis around that mark.

Elliot

[siwickm]

If you are confident about your sizing then maybe have a look at the second hand bikes in the back of cycling weekly. If you can find your size you may be able to find something pretty tasty for £1,000 second hand.

You could even take a risk on ebay. I bought a second hand duffer bike which I have used in the winter on the training rides, and I use for commuting which cost me £90. Gets me there and back just and weighs a ton but is pretty good training to work on something heavy.

Good luck in finding a gem.

Cheers

Marek....