Help choosing a bike from a complete noobie

[Evan5177]

Thanks again for all the replies guys.

At the moment I'm thinking of just taking my time and being patient while just trying to expand my knowledge base about bikes and hopefully I'll be able to come to a more informed decision in the near future, I'm going to visit some bike shops around my area and have a talk with them and just see what they think and recommend and then I think I'll be able to make the best decision. Thanks again for the help!

 

[dsut4392]

By the way, Ribble do the cyclescheme so you can get a bike through them my brother had to look about 100 miles from his place of work to get his roadrat, it doesn't have to be local.

I was going to say the same thing, but then looked at the bike shop links posted further up thread. If the OP is looking at LBS in Cork, that puts him in Ireland...although they work on the same principle, I don't believe the ride-to-work/cyclescheme programs overlap between the UK and Ireland.

 

[42x16ss]

I'm with rgmerk on the Sora vs. Tiagra thing - my first road bike had Soras on it, and I hated the thumb switch.

I'm a little sad about that, because it means I'll probably never be able to properly enjoy the "wonder" that is Campy because of that preference.

The difference in feel between the Sora thumb switch and most Campy groupsets (even Veloce) is huuuuuuuuge.

Just saying

 

[Bustedknuckle]

I know the owner of a LBS quite well; he says he could not exist without selling stuff through Craigslist and Ebay. Very often he sells take-off components, excess inventory, test bikes, old season bikes, and the occasional trade-in bike.

I'm the owner of a bike shop and I don't do this at all. It depends and for me, service and custom wheels are the largest part of my revenue. I focus on stuff you can't get online or over the phone. BUT the 'standard' bike shop, that takes bikes outta boxes and sells them..it is really hard. Particularly when the lowest margin item in a bike shop...is a bike.

 

[kuoirad]

The difference in feel between the Sora thumb switch and most Campy groupsets (even Veloce) is huuuuuuuuge.

Just saying

Oh, I don't doubt. And someday I do hope to give Campy a try. But I *really* like having the two levers under my fingers.

 

[avanti]

Oh, I don't doubt. And someday I do hope to give Campy a try. But I *really* like having the two levers under my fingers.

I would love to use Campy but the thumb switch gets in the way of my grip while riding the hooks. Does the electronic campy gets around this?

 

[King Boonen]

Except if the rider doesn't want to waste time learning to fix his bike, then suddenly an LBS is a MUCH BETTER DEAL after the first or second maintenance.

I don't understand why consumers are so happy about spending a whole lot more later.

Maybe, but surely it depends how much you save? I've seen savings of well over £500 on bikes online. I think it's unlikely you'd get £500 worth of free parts/labour from a bike shop. I'm happy to pay for labour and any LBS that treats you differently because you didn't buy the bike from them is a shop I wouldn't want to do business with anyway.

I'm happy to change my opinion if someone can point out the error of my ways though!

 

[dsut4392]

I'm happy to pay for labour and any LBS that treats you differently because you didn't buy the bike from them is a shop I wouldn't want to do business with anyway.

One of our LBS behaved like this - been in business for decades, but they closed down a couple of months ago having burned through their goodwill (IMO). Yes, there was likely more to the story as well, but I know numerous people that just stopped going there because of the dirty looks they would give you.