Currently I have a Scott SUB (speed utility bike) 30 hybrid bike – a hybrid bike being a cross been a road bike and a mountain bike. This has widely been derided by other more professional cyclists, from apparently being the worst in the team on the BC Lung ride (although I was one of the fastest!!) to being described as a tank by the shop that services it (despite it being far from that!!!). It does seem clear that expecting this to get over the Rocky Mountains might be going too far (although I have done approaching 4,000 miles on it already).
So the question then is what to get? Most people on the gearup4cf ride last year had road bikes, except I think for David who has a touring bike. The difference between the two apparently is that a touring bike is like a sedan, whilst a road bike is faster. A touring bike is actually made to allow you to carry all your gear – so has lots of mounting points for panier racks – the bags that cyclists carry.
These things seem a bit bewildering at the beginning, especially faced with sales people who’s lives are often totally about bikes! I went to one bike shop on Sunday and they said for sure I should get a road bike. They did say that any shop that won’t let you test ride a bike is one that you should just walk out of and I was glad to hear that! There were various other things I apparently should get too:
- carbon forks
- carbon bar (that was quite a bit more though so maybe not!)
- three front rings
- Shimano flight deck shifters (actually I’m just planing to get those because the name sounds good!)
- Pro fit sizing
At the moment I’m looking at a Specialized Allez Sport Triple but a few more shops to go see yet, however I am minded to buy from the place that does my servicing, which is The Bike Gallery on 10th Avenue.
Raising money for cystic fibrosis by cycling 