First Road Bike - Focus Cayo

[GTIAlex]

So for a couple of years now I've been toying with the idea of getting a road bike as I've always enjoyed cycling, a bit of XC down some local trails and over Cannock chase but felt like I wanted a road bike so I could up the miles and get out everyday.

After a recent job change and a christmas bonus coming up I started to look for new bike for around 600-900 and felt it was a bit of a minefield with what to avoid, which components to get hung up on and which to compromise on, felt a bit out of my depth.

As happens with these things I soon realised you can obviously get much more for your money online secondhand and after a few weeks scouring ebay and forums, taking advice from a old university friend (whos just completed a solo ride from London to Istanbul), I ended up winning this...far more bike than I'll ever need? All the gear no idea springs to mind at the moment.



Focus Cayo with Ultegra groupset and brakes, payed £650 which I think is a fair price especially when considering my original budget.

Ebay advert stated that it has very recently received the following:
New Shimano Ultegra front derailleur, rear 10 speed derailleur, chain, and cassette.
New headset
New bottom bracket
New polymer brake and gear cables
New bar tape
SRAM carbon crankset, nearly new compact chainrings
Pro logo saddle
Fsa bars and stem
Mavic Aksium wheels

Lacking pedals I fitted my MTB pedals quickly yesterday and took it for a spin and what a fantastic bike, it seems to fit well, shifts are silky smooth, happy so far!

First on the list is a set of clipless pedals and shoes to match, dont wan't to spend too much, seeing my first set as testing the water so probably going to plum for...

http://www.halfords.com/cycling/cycling-parts/peda...

with

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/r064-road-cycling-shoes...

[GTIAlex]

Okay went with that set up, fitted today and went for a ride got on really well with it, will take a bit of practice to get the clipping in slick but sure it will come with time.

Great to get out on the country roads near me, shame about the massive headwind though!

[Magic919]

My wife has one of those. She likes it.

[bakerstreet]

Nice looking bike and a good price too. Chainset looks to be either SRAM Apex or Rival .

[mcelliott]

That's a great bike OP - I really do like Focus bikes. A friend who I ride with in France has two and swears by them. The only thing I would change are the tyres, Schwalbes are pretty crap - switch them for a decent set of Conti GP 4000s.

[GTIAlex]

Yeah tyres are very worn so they are going to be the first thing to be swapped out, worn to the point where theres bits of thread coming off them and some nasty looking cuts in them, so only pottering about on them at the moment.

Just bought a bike rack for my T25 campervan project as well, making plans for some serious riding 2015 with Mr London-Istanbul.

And obviously now I need to buy some suitable winter gear...I always choose the expensive hobbies

[GTIAlex]

Magic919 said:

My wife has one of those. She likes it.

Loving the look of that!

[GaryGlitter]

I've got a Cayo Evo, it's living in the dining room until April at the earliest.

[GTIAlex]

GaryGlitter said:

I've got a Cayo Evo, it's living in the dining room until April at the earliest.

Whys that?

[GaryGlitter]

Carbon fibre melts when it gets wet, surely everyone knows that.


Winter bike has been in use since October, complete with mudguards. PX Carbon will be wheeled out at some point in Spring and then Cayo will be used for Sunday Best.

[GTIAlex]

GaryGlitter said:

Carbon fibre melts when it gets wet, surely everyone knows that.


Winter bike has been in use since October, complete with mudguards. PX Carbon will be wheeled out at some point in Spring and then Cayo will be used for Sunday Best.

Definitely got a bit of N+1 on the go then there!

Ive got a winter car and two summer cars, can't be having a winter and summer bike, or maybe I can hmmm

[GTIAlex]

Really getting into this now.

Got some cheap winter gear in the wiggle sale so have been out over the Christmas period a couple of times and now I'm back at work i've got a good routine of getting home and going straight out on the bike before I sit down and get comfortable

Only doing 5-6 miles at a time at the moment, either up or down, very little flat. There are some nice routes by my house.



Today was the first day where I really enjoyed it as I can already see an improvement in my fitness and was able to maintain a good pace and not feel rough afterwards.

Planning to slowly keep uping the miles and ease myself into some big rides if/when the weather improves slightly

[Mark83]

Another Focus Cayo owner here!

[GTIAlex]

Would love to do some trips abroad, just bought a vw camper and a bike rack for it so plans are being made as we speak for the summer