Back in the saddle

[Tauto55]

G’day , I feel I’ve stumbled on the Aladdin’s cave of cycling info.
Let me introduce myself . My name is Peter from Ballarat, I’m 59 yo and spent the last 30 yrs desk bound in the PS .
In the past 3 months I have been riding with a Mature riding group . My sturdy conveyance is a Cannondale comfort bike. Great on the trails but a “Labrador “ on the bitumen.
I have reduced my weight down to 109kg from a starting point of 116. My plan is to shrink down to 100Kg. Towards this goal I am looking to buy a road bike spending $1500-$2000. I would be grateful for any suggestions from the members.

[danny the boy]

Welcome! Not many fish biting it seems, you will find plenty of choices around that price range. Your gonna have to make a vital decision whether you will be Shimano, Campagnalo or SRAM, like a tattoo you need to choose wisely . You will pick up a lot just by reading through here for a couple of months and browsing at online ads for bikes. When you have a shortlist sorted out you will probably get a lot of advice on which is a better buy. Don't rush into it, plenty of bike shops will take your $$$ and sell you something not suitable or overpriced.

[mick243]

honestly, any major brand roadbike in the $1K-$2K range is going to be a quite nice bike with a decent fitout, go to as many shops as you can, and see which one makes you want to ride it more. unless you are going to take up racing etc, spending more wont really get you more. (yes, there will be heaps of technically improved bits the more you spend, but will they make an actual difference to your ride? as opposed to savimg 0.1s/K which could mean the difference betwen 1st and 2nd in a race...)

find a shop with good service, get fitted properly to the bike in your price range that makes you think "I want to ride that one", buy it (of course, get the best deal you can) and go ride.

[Tauto55]

thx , I'm in Ballarat and we have several good bike shops , Happy to know i can get a good unit for $2K, Re racing ,my nickname all though Sec School was " Speedy" in the great Aussie sense of the ironic

[paragonman]

Hi Peter, I know you, hope to see you Thursday and we'll have a chat,

Chris.