Looking to start the hobby

[u/smo0th_fb]

I ride regularly on a Giant escape for general fitness. I was looking to get into road cycling with the intention of eventually racing and was wondering what a good starter would be. Also any recs on other gear (suits, clip-ins, and stuff such as that)? I am a college student so I haven’t got the room to drop 1k+ on a bike, I’ve mainly been looking a lot on marketplace and other 2nd hand options. Any older models that could make good starters and reasonable price ranges for said bikes? Also not 100% on sizing but I am 5’10” if that helps. Not looking for anything crazy, any old aluminum frame will do for me.

[u/Cycle-Path-401]

A 10-15 year old Aluminum or even Carbon bike with rim brakes and decent groupset (i.e. Shimano 105 or similar) can often be found for under $500. You'll probably need another $300-400 for new tires, chain, some basic tools, pump, helmet, gloves. bibshorts and jersey. Then ride. loads.

[u/sargassumcrab]

Your size is about a 56 (L).

Really any old road bike will do. Look for one in good condition. No red rust, reasonably clean, seat and bars in more or less the correct positions. A Domane AL would be great, but any road bike that has better than Tourney is fine, even a vintage steel bike. If you want to ride it to school, or keep it on campus, I'd recommend a cheapish ratty looking bike that can take fenders and racks. Plan on paying for a basic tune-up. If it's old it might need new cables and brake pads.

The Black Bibs offer inexpensive shorts, but their budget model has a pretty thick pad. Try some helmets at a bike shop and get one, a few big vents are better than lots of tiny vents. Also get some gloves. Get a $50-100 U lock from Kryptonite or Abus. Always lock both wheels, especially on campus.

[u/thegrumpyorc]

There are lots of kinds of racing, and lots of kinds of riding. You're probably going to change your mind about what makes sense for you many times over the next 2 years, so focus on reducing cost while buying quality (if older) parts for now.

A used road bike of any sort that fits you will do. Fit is important. At 5'10", you are probably looking at frame sizes around 54cm in road bikes if your legs and torso are of equal length. 53 could work, 55 might. 52 could, as well, depending on the bike and your proportions. Generally, Medium or Medium/Large frames. You're better off slightly small versus slightly big if you have to choose (because it's easier to make a slightly small bike slightly bigger). But probably look at 54s.

Any road bike will do. Ideally, an "Endurance" frame, which basically just means "drop bar bike that isn't hella uncomfortable like a race bike would be." That will usually give you options to make the bike more aggressive over time (by removing spacers or flipping the stem to drop the bars lower) if you get more flexible and build up your core and want to be more aerodynamic, but it will be a good general purpose bike.

Under no circumstances should you get a triathlon or time trial bike. Even if you plan to do triathlons. You buy one of those as a second or third bike, and only after you've done several races and start to feel limited. They are single-purpose machines that are dramatically bad at being normal bicycles.

Rim brakes are fine if the rims are in good shape. And speaking of wheels, they should be 700c (the standard road bike size for the last 35-40 years). If a bike says "27" wheels, it's old af. If it has "650b" wheels, that can be lovely, but your tire choice will be limited. Stick to 700c for now.

People WAY-overthink groupset. If it shifts, you're good. One thing groupset IS good for is being a proxy for quality of all the other parts on the bike, though. So if it has a Shimano groupset, look for anything with a Tiagra or better (105, Ultegra, and Dura Ace would be better). If it has SRAM, Rival is basically 105, Force is Ultegra, and Red is Dura Ace. You do want a wide range of gears, though. Ideally, you want a 1:1ish ratio in your low gear. So if you have a 50/34 compact double crank (the most common) up front, an 11-34t cassette on the back would give you 34:34 as a low gear, or 1:1. Some racier and older bikes had bigger cranks on the front (maybe a 52/36, for instance) and smaller cassettes on the back (like an 11-28). You will curse yourself for that on hills.

For brands, the big 4 (Giant, Trek, Canondale, Specialized) are what you'll see the most of. If they have the groupsets mentioned above and they have 700c wheels and fit. But there are lots of other great brands (and some terrible ones), so just ask here.

As for pedals, you can start with flats. I've done 100-mile rides on flat platform pedals. If you get into "clipless" (which is a weird term because you actually DO clip your foot into the pedal with clipless--it's called that because people used to use toe clips, and these clippy shoes used pedals without toe clips), there are many options, but it's going to be more about the combination of shoe and pedal. You can get used to any combo. and after one or two falls (you WILL have a zero mph fall when your forget you're clipped in), it will become second nature. But don't sweat that to start, unless the bike comes with clipless pedals. If it does, you'll need a shoe that supports the proper cleats. Entry-level shoes on sale are usually about $80. Cleats are another $10-$20.