New Road Bike - First Thoughts

[theleader]

So I got my Focus Cayo a few weeks ago - my first road bike after a lifetime of mountain bikes. Only taken it out three times so far, but it is enough for my legs to have remembered what they're meant to be doing. I'm really enjoying it so far; the riding position isn't as difficult as I thought it might be, although my arms and shoulders are suffering a bit. These are my thoughts so far:

First point - at about £330 per ride, it is not yet good value for money. And that's ignoring the £500 of other bits I bought so I could actually ride it (pedals, shoes, helmet...). I will need to ride it some more.

I'm really enjoying the fact that on steep hills I can't just keep changing down and getting slower and slower. It's much more fun to have to push myself; I'm trying to get into the mentality of 'can I change up and accelerate' rather that 'have I got a lower gear to fall back on?'. I do run out of gears on the downhill bits, but I'm probably going fast enough by then.

Road SPDs are a pain compared to MTB SPDs.

My glasses are useless - I find that I end up looking through the frame across the top rather than through the lenses. This could be because I haven't really got a decent riding position yet. Or it could be that my face is badly arranged.

In general the speed and responsiveness appeals to me so much more than the comparative comfort of my Stumpjumper ever did. I can't wait for the weekend to get out on the road again.

[anonymous-user]

glad you are enjoying it, £ per mile is irrelevant, its about per mile. Do come back and let us know when you are running out of gears on the flats....... assuming you have a proper chainset (53/39) this might not be a while!!!

[RRS_Staffs]

I was a fit MTBer when I got on a road bike 4 years ago
Or so I thought.........

I never thought it would happen but I now ride 95:5 road versus MTB

Oh and what glasses are you using?
I used to scoff at the cycling specific stuff eg Oakley until I realised that they actually work

Cheers

[theleader]

RRS_Staffs said:

I was a fit MTBer when I got on a road bike 4 years ago
Or so I thought.........

I never thought it would happen but I now ride 95:5 road versus MTB

Oh and what glasses are you using?
I used to scoff at the cycling specific stuff eg Oakley until I realised that they actually work

Cheers

Glasses are like these. But older.

I'm going to be 100% on the road for now. But I hope that once I've got over the initial excitement of a new bike, I'll go back to my MTB occasionally.

[rhinochopig]

RRS_Staffs said:

I was a fit MTBer when I got on a road bike 4 years ago
Or so I thought.........

I never thought it would happen but I now ride 95:5 road versus MTB

Oh and what glasses are you using?
I used to scoff at the cycling specific stuff eg Oakley until I realised that they actually work

Cheers

I guess it depends on your riding I suppose in both disciplines. I went from 32 miles a day commuting on a road bike on a fairly hilly route to between 15-20 in a morning 5 time a week on a very very hilly route on my MTB (for fun as I worked from home). I was much much much fitter from the MTB riding than I ever was on the road bike.