Getting started with Road bikes

So, you want to get started with Road biking - but you need a bike, and like us, probably have a limited budget.

Have a read of the following guide:

https://road.cc/buyers-guide/best-road-bikes-under-ps1000#:~:text=Sitting%20very%20comfortably%20under%20that,the%20very%20reasonable%20asking%20price.

Bike-it in Radstock, which is the nearest bike shop to Timsbury (plug there for you Lee Phillips!) stock some great entry level bikes, of more well known brands and models, such as the Cannondale CAAD 8, Giant Defy,  Liv Avail, Giant TCR,  Liv Envie, Cannondale Synapse, and the Specialized Allez , Tarmac and Ruby. 

If you can prove you are in the TCG Facebook Group, Lee Phillips will give you 10% off in-store purchases for TCG riders. They are fountains of knowledge, and have both ridden with the TCG so know what we are like! 

http://www.bike-it.uk.com/road

Avon Valley Cyclery in Bath (next door to the Train Station) also stock great brands such as Giant and Whyte bikes. They also give a handy 15% discount to anyone in the Timsbury Cycle Group facebook group. Speak to Luke Ludwell or Kevin Booth. Kev knows the TCG.

http://www.avonvalleycyclery.co.uk/

You can find very good second hand bikes also on Gumtree and Trade-it, but these tend to be around £350,. There are some bargains about though, so ask us on Instagram and we will try and spot you one if you want! Some of the ones previously mentioned above would also be good. 

You definitely DON't need to spend £3000 on an expensive carbon bike to keep up - that is just absolute marketing nonsense. If you are fit, just a decent second-hand bike, that is about £300-£400, will see you keeping up easily.

Once you have bought the bike - you'll need some pedals to go with it.   Shimano M520 are ideal.

Clothing - Getting Started.

Lidl and Aldi sometimes do Cycling gear, but be careful as only certain items are "quality" and worth getting. These are:

Jerseys, Base Layers, (Top and Bottom) Gilets, Socks, which are all excellent. The rest of their items such as the Jackets, and shorts and tights, are not good quality and not worth having. 

Other brands we have had a lot of success with are:

Decathlons BTWIN range is excellent value, and very well rated against much more expensive brands. They also do an excellent helmet range. Search online for reviews and see for yourself:  https://www.decathlon.co.uk/C-781259-clothing  

Alpkit and Go-outdoors in Bristol have good value stuff.

Endura, Altura, Vermarc, Lusso, Merlin Wear and Giordana - These are available from many on-line retailers such as Merlin Cycles, or locally at Bike-it (with your 10% discount) or AVC (with your 15% discount).

There are also some recent new "bargain hunting" specific sites worth looking at - a really good one is www.bikebargains.co.uk and also search on google for "Road.cc buyers guides"

If you want to push the boat out and and get the really Uber cool stuff - look for Assos, Ale, Morvelo, Stolen Goat. And get yourself some Oakley sunglasses with the PRIZM lenses too! (Helps to spot the potholes! Seriously they do!)

Also Vinted has tons of stuff cheap as chips, and you can collect from the inpost lockers round the back of Timsbury co-op!

That should be enough to get you started. Main thing is to get a road bike and come out and ride with us!! Any of the people in the Timsbury Cycle Group will have plenty of opinions on bike gear, so feel free to post questions on Instagram.