Road Biking Help

no idea... buy a specialized... i guess...

you need:
1 road bike
1 pair clipless peddles and shoes.

how much do you want to spend?

Don't break the bank with a carbon bike. There's tons of road bikes out there that will do the job for someone new. I've had a diamondback expert for the last 5 years and have put maybe 5,000 miles on it, most of mileage in the last year and a half. If you're in a hilly area go with a 27-speed (triple chainring up front, 9 cogs in the back). That's about it, find a bike THAT FITS and just ride. I'd be weary of anything under $400(only because the components CAN'T be good at a price like that), but wouldn't touch anything over $1,500(incase you find out that you don't love road riding and now you have a sick bike but won't ride it, of course the resale can be pretty good if it's a SICK bike). My $1,000 road bike has done me great over the last 5 years and only now am I thinking of getting an actual road racing bike.

Oh and clipless shoes/pedals are really important if you want to log tons of miles. Overall depending on what you do you could spend as little as $600 or as much as $2600.

Whoops, advice, just go to as many local bike shops as you can and look around, try things out, find something you like.

thats pretty good advice right there^^^^

make sure you get your bike properly fit to you. Mine was a little off and I got tendonitus! Just go to a store and they will size it properly.

yeah if you want to start from bmx, chances are you can probably hold it down a liittle bit from all the standing up and sprinting and whatnot

so if you spend like 1000 on a bike, you'll get all that you need but definitely invest in some decent pedals and stiff clip-in shoes.

if you feel you're up to it, www.bikereg.com, and you can see where all the races are near you so you can go and watch the pros race and learn a bit. maybe you'll see me there.

I have a seven. If you have the money they are so worth it. They are custom built for your body and mine is titanium and carbon and it weighs like 16 pounds

definately go to a bike shop and talk with the people there. they tend to be pretty helpful. if you ride alot of bmx, and are a decent mechanic that likes working on bikes, you could probably get an older bike for very little cash. otherwise, if you plan on having other people fix it for you, you should spend somewhere in the 500-1000 dollar range. i love working on bikes and this year i have put over 1500 miles on a 36 year old bike that i got for free.

and word about the clipless pedals and shoes, they are definately worth it. make sure you get the right cleats for your pedals tho.

get a simple trek road bike. go with a simple steel or aluminum frame.

get a simple bike like the speciliazed allez base should run you around 700-1000 bucks USD. good bike to start road riding with.

I would recommend a bike with a carbon fork and possibly upgrade to a carbon seatpost it will take a tone of the bumps and vibrations out of the ride and you will be much more comfortable doing long rides. bike shorts are key, they may look gay but are mad comfortable. try to shoot for a bike with at least shimano Tiagra componets maybe eveb 105. the clipless peddles and shoes are a great idea as well but take sometime getting used to how they feel and the motion to unclip you don't want to take a crash while clipped in. avoid K2 bikes most of them are shit, look at cannondale and novara. novara is the REI brand bike but they are built in the same factory as specialized and giant. Since REI sells them directly they don't have a middle man and can sell a nicer bike for less money.

good luck and remeber its about having fun

This is key. They don't even look that gay though, and the coolness is key(literally, they keep you nice and cool) The only problem with road cycling is that if you want the good stuff, you're going to pay for it. So if you want to get serious, be prepared to dump some serious cash into it.

Stop on in at Glacier Cyclery, they'll help you out. Personally, I think mountain biking is where it's at.

yea plus they will save your ass, literally. the small seat can start to hurt after a long time and bike shorts are padded down thurr. look at lemond bikes, my bro got one for under $1000 i think and it has held up nicely. oh and as far as riding go with a buddy that can bike a ways, so you can talk to someone, plus it helps to set a pace.