Any recommendations for a road bike?

[Wallace]

I am planning to do a triathlon later in the year and dh would like to buy be a bike for my birthday.

Any suggestions? I am not much taller than 5ffoot 2 and dh's budget isn't huge.

Thanks

[Clure]

My DD bought me a lovely roadbike for doing triathlons 2 years ago. He paid around £500 but you can get good bikes for well under this

try wiggle
and Evans are good
good luck with the triathlon. Which one are you doing? I'm doing London in August

[Wallace]

Thank you, I will have a look at those sites

I'm only doing a local mini triathlon - it's called a try-tri. I run anyway and fancied some variation.

Good luck with the london one - sounds serious!

[Wallace]

The Dawes ones are quite cheap on Evans

Any idea what frame size I would need for my shortness height?

[Twink]

Hi Wallace. I did my first tryatri on my ancient mountain bike (but I did take the child seat off) it then took me ages to get dh to suggest I needed a road bike for my birthday - it's always better if he thinks these things are his idea

I've got a Specialized Allez which I love, it's slightly on the small side but I prefered it to the next size up. It's an XS and I'm 5'4" & it cost £500. There's a women-specific version called the Dolce which a friend has & is pleased with.

Are you just 5'2" or can you sretch to 5'2.5" ? This size chart has 5'2" as a boundary between XS and S.

Now is a good time to buy as the new models are coming in so last year's will be discounted BUT because of the poor pound:dollar/Yen exchange rate, prices are higher.

I always use my local independent bike shop, I've got to know them well. If you've not got one and are thinking of going to Halfords say, avoid most of their stuff and look at the Boardman range. The Giant Defy range have had good reviews and a wide price band (Defy 1 is most £, Defy 4 least)

[Twink]

Dawes frames are bomb-proof! Best thing to do is just to go and try them out and see what is comfortable.

[Clure]

I agree with twink about going for a women specific bike, especially if you are on the petite side. I'm 5' 1 and think I went for a 49cm or poss a 50cm size frame.
One of the positive things about this which I'd not considered is being able to reach the brakes comfortably as I've got fairly small hands. A couple of my friends went for a non women specific road bike and found brake reach uncomfortable and had to have their brakes set up adjusted
I went for a "Trek" and I love it. Its light and good for getting up some speed!
I found it took a little while to get used to (only having ridden mountain bikes before) but once i got used to it I wouldn't go back to riding a mountain bike (except when I'm pulling DD's child trailer!)
also they definitely give you the edge over mountain/hybrid bikes in triathlon

[Castiel]

Do you have an independent shop locally? Ours is fabulous and they really know their stuff. They should be able to really talk you through what you need and are better for aftercare/continuity of service.

I am married to a triathlete and spend hours and hours in the dratted place but they are lovely and dh knows them so well they give his bike a good service and tune up for free now.

I have a road bike I used to commute to work (16 mile round trip) and adore it. Have to use my MB more now as live on a farm up a long unmade track and have a 2.5 stone child in a crossbar seat. My roadbike was about £400 iirc.

How's the triathlon training going? I run too but couldn't do the swim leg of a triathlon. I'm thinking about getting together with some family members to do a relay instead.

Is it sprint or Olympic distance you're doing?

[Cosmosis]

If you can, try and find a shop that has a fitting jig as they can find the proper size for you.

I have a Ribble road bike, they're worth looking at as v good vfm. I'm 5ft2 and have a 44cm which is the smallest they do. It's a bit hard to compare sizes brand to brand though as they seem to size them completely differently - I was looking at a Spesh and it was a 49cm frame that I needed in that size.

[Wallace]

Thanks for all the advice. I have shared it with dh who has been sneaking off to phone our local bike shop (I know it was the local bike shop because he got me to look up the number for him )

I like the look of the Dawes - probably swayed because I had a Dawes kingpin when I was about 7 and used to ride it down treacherous paths and even steps. It wasn't even trashed by the time I grew out of it - I think you are right, Twink, their frames are bombproof!

My tri is a short one. I think it is 300metre swim, 10mile run, 3 mile run.

I haven't started training yet, it isn''t til september though.

[Clure]

The bike leg and run look lovely - fantastic surroundings, that really makes for an enjoyable event!!
I've never done a pool swim as part of tri, only open water.
Totally freaked out and had panic attack first time I had my open water induction