Alright bros, had a chat to a srs cyclist friend irl and he told me some stuff. For the cyclists with experience, what are your opinions on the following thoughts?

Firstly he said that alloy frames are great, ridiculously light weight weighing around 10kgs, and that steel frames albeit adding a few kgs can take the price down a few hundred. Im curious though, are steel frames more durable than alloy? And because Im not going to be competing or riding extensive lengths (50+km) , I think the steel frames may be better for my cause. And similar to the point Cloudkicker made about riding fixies for a difficult ride/better workout, a heavier bike will likely have the same effect too, right?


Secondly, he told me that straight handle bars generally bring the price down too, but decrease the amount of positions you can place your hands and thus the positions you can lean into for comfort (will still have a degree of forward lean but not as much), however this doesnt really strike me as too concerning for the same reason as before; I wont really be riding excessive distances.


A lot of bike shops here are dwindling with stock due to the coming of the end of the financial season. Restocking will prolly be august but I really cant wait that long.

Can anyone link me here some good sites? Whether it's for parts separate, or whole bikes? Prefer legit brands that offer warranty. While we're on the topic of specific parts, Im pretty keen to suss out some of the specs 45sz mentioned, but are there any more to be considered?

E/ I dont care if the site ships from Canada or Cali or wherever even tho im based in Aus. Anddd Im probably a medium frame, about ~56-57(?) cm

Go to a bike store and try it out. They have those rods that allow you to try out every bike on full speed.

Then you'll know what you like.

If you're serious be prepared to spend over $5k on the initial fee then accessories

AUS is a well known country for cycling and I'm sure you won't have trouble finding a place

This post was edited by WolfBody on Jun 12 2016 01:10pm

Not spending 5k you mongrel

It's a part of the sport.
Don't waste your time you peasant
You're gonna end up buying a shitty bike and it'll only get you so far. Then you'll put in 1k for one. Then you'll see how far back you are compared to true aficionados. You'll reconsider it all and realize it's a rich man's sport for a reason. Congrats you're still fat and have no muscle. At best you look like a tulip with nearly 2k down with a shitty novice bike

This post was edited by WolfBody on Jun 14 2016 05:25pm

not gonna compete u idiot lol

This post was edited by Lil_Gueto on Jun 15 2016 06:05am

Lol idk what WolfBody is going on about but you can spend $250-$300 on a fixie or $400-$500 on a geared bike and be set for years.



First point is all correct, steel frames are more durable, downside is they are much heavier but doesn't seem like that would be a downside to you with better workout ect.

Second point all correct, my only input would be 1. you can easily upgrade handlebars later if you choose. 2. Nice handlebars with different hand positions can be surprisingly nice and I'd never go back after using them, but if you're looking to spend bare minimum upfront cost then straight handlebars are gonna be in your price range and get the job done fine.

As far as brands my most recent purchase was from nashbar.com , I have been extremely happy with the quality of bike for the price. Unless you can find a good sale most big name bikes are incredibly overpriced for retail so I always have a hard time recommending them when you can get literally the same parts and a frame made of the same material from another manufacturer for half the price with same warranty.

As far as specs, were you talking about average speeds of bikes? Wasn't really sure what you were curious about haha.