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Bike dilemma - new, used, frame only..i'm obsessed

OssyOssy Posts: 22
in General Chat
The powers that be at my council have just backtracked on the cycle to work scheme which was supposed to start this month ('problems with inland revenue' - yeah right) and I have been told it might not happen for a while....grrrrrrhhh.



I have 'tri fever' at the moment and after completing my 1st tri last sunday (fairly disastrous - overdid it in the swim) I realise that I HAVE TO GET A ROAD BIKE or life will not be worth living - I competed on a mtb with slicks.



I don't really want to spend £1000 (but could) as am aware that the fever might wear off in a year or so. What do I do?



Have an offer of a giant tcr frame which I could build up (never done this before - is it easy?)



Could go 2nd hand but am struggling to find anything decent.



Or could go the whole hog and buy new - am reluctant to do this.



Any advice muchos apreciated!!!

Comments

  • BopomofoBopomofo Posts: 980
    fairly disastrous - overdid it in the swim


    Tee hee. Every beginner who is right now obsessing about getting exactly the right kit, what psi to put in, how many times should I say "Oh crap!" on the start line etc needs to read this! You WILL cock up in some way. Blowing up in the water is a favourite, closely followed by blowing up on the bike after about 2km. Takes a long time to get used to the sheer excitement of race day.



    Anyway, be careful about the costs of a self-build. One of the advantages a full bike has is that the manufacturers buy a lot of drivetrain components etc and get them v. cheap. For just about any bike on the market the cost of building the exact same spec is much higher. I tried to price up what my £1000 Dolan would have cost to build myself, and I got up to around £1400 in parts alone (though I was only looking on wiggle)



    Oddly, the computer that I'm typing this on would have cost £2500 for the spec I wanted, but building it myself it came to £800.
  • OssyOssy Posts: 22
    Bopomofo wrote:
    fairly disastrous - overdid it in the swim


    Tee hee. Every beginner who is right now obsessing about getting exactly the right kit, what psi to put in, how many times should I say "Oh crap!" on the start line etc needs to read this! You WILL cock up in some way. Blowing up in the water is a favourite, closely followed by blowing up on the bike after about 2km. Takes a long time to get used to the sheer excitement of race day.





    Exactly, i thought i was going to be sick on the bike after approx 4 km followed by a stinking headache - it was like i had actually not done any training.
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