Do you want to start cycling? Then welcome to our new beginner series! In these 5 videos we will help you: find your first bike, set it up, maintain it, know what to wear, build confidence on the road, and find people to ride with. In today’s video, we start right at the beginning; how to choose your first road bike! Manon goes through everything you need to think about when looking for a bike: size, material, pedals and more!
0:00 – Intro
1:00 – What type of bike do you need?
3:06 – Budget
4:24 – Frame material
5:55 – The fit of your bike
7:24 – Components
8:30 – Second hand
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If you have any questions Manon OR you have some tips for new cyclists, put them in the comment section below! 💬
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41 Comments
first step : find a proper bike shop that appreciate your opinion and don't shame you for not wearing lycra or flat pedals
second : if you plan to do any self maintenance, stay away from internally (internal stem) routed cable
My bike is in Alaska and i am in the Philippines and i was wanting to know what's the best and cheapest way to ship my bike. I already went to a bike shop before I left and packaged it up in a box
When buying second hand ask to meet the seller at a local bike shop and have the mechanic give it a quick run through. This is great if you aren't sure which warning signs to look for.
Great series, thanks Manon & GCN. Wish this was out earlier. I've been rocking my Specialized Crosstail hybrid for the past 5 years and just bought a full carbon for my first road bike. Really good tip in the vid. What type of riding will you do? Thinking about it now, I'm going to have to change my route for my commute on the new bike. Ah well get to see more varied roads! Thank again guys
Great shop 73 degrees, highly recommended, great staff, range of bikes, and of coarse great coffee 👌👌
I'd buy a second-hand one in a bike shop. Much less headache for not much more money.
As an avid mountain biker, just got into road biking. Comfort was my first priority. Been 2 months with my Cannondale Synapse carbon 3 and couldn’t be happier. It is addicting…
I bought a Ribble that was new but old stock, really cheap price. These are worth searching out too. Unfortunately it was stolen, so I bought a used De Rosa 😊
Looking forward to this seris, I want to get back into cycling for leisure and seeing these vids is starting to make me want that even more. Thinking of other beginner cycling vids you have done , did Harriet ever do the beginner to 30k route on her own bike like she had hoped?
Is a single speed/fixie a good 1st bike ?
My elbows always ache after riding about roughly 5 kms on the bike.
I recently got back into mtb and wanted to try my hand at cycling. I had a $1000 budget. Ended up getting a brand new giant talon 3 hardtail and a mint condition 2nd hand giant defy with carbon frameset and 105. There are bargains out there if you are patient or lucky enough.
My big box store sat idle for a long time till it didn't, then it promptly fell apart. My first MTB bike was shopped for around the brands that the local shops sold so i could get service when needed. My next bike (road) used info gleaned from neighborhood cycle club aka dad group 🙂 I was able to get a better deal for my second used bike than i did my first. Bike, Trainer, clipless pedals, shoes (to big) $340 🤯
when i bought my first road bike i spent about £500, well it was just over, i could of spent a lot more but i wanted to see if i enjoyed riding a road bike as much as i enjoyed watching the road racing on TV.
All in all with accessories £600 was my total spend, i enjoyed riding & exspecially racing so with an overall future bike upgrade in mind i started to upgrade parts,
firstly a good saddle for good positioning for those long training rides, accompanied with bars & of course white bar tape, (fashionable at the time), a good set of wheels & tyres, which made a massive difference in weight & ride, general upgrades that i could carry over to my next bike with a bigger budget.
For £500 nowadays you can purchase a bike that will do it all with just a few personal upgrades you won't be dissapointed, taking into account what you are most likely to use it for.
2nd hand is the way to go if you want a decent MTB ,you can get a nice 2012 £1500 bike for around £400 🤟🤠💯🙏
Nice & Thanks 🙂
Hi Manon,
A couple of points, When I look at ebay, they always seem hundreds of miles away. Factor in the cost of travel in the price particularly as you might find it unsuitable when you get there. Maybe better to add the extreme travel cost into your budjet for something more local.
Also if the second hand frame is metal, have a look on the down tube in the area of the head tube. A ripple in the metal or even a crack int the paint is a sign that it has been crashed head on into something (eg a car back bumper) even touched up paint in this area is cause for concern since if this has happened the frame may be dangerous and unrepairable. A frame failure in this area would be very serious.
Not to be negative though, there are plenty of good second hand bargains and if you're new then learn cheap and make the second bike last.
Beginners won't be racing and don't need carbon frames. Get a cheap Triban road bike from Decathlon and ride it for a year. Use that experience to decide what your next bike should be.
I am watching the vedio only to see mano❤❤❤😍😍
4:23 1000 pound 💷 😂😂 my bike is 200 dollars 💵 and I think it's too expensive 😢 no I do believe I am poor
Decided to get into cycling lately. Bought a nice used Cervelo Soloist from 2008 to use for indoor trainer.
Everything is great except my butt hurts a lot already after short time of use.
Dont know if I need another saddle, fit the bike better or if its just because im 100 kg guy and i havent been sitting on a bike for ages.
First, it's as usual a good quality video from GCN, but unfortunately some parts are kind of out of touch with a non-rider. At least to me it feels a little bit off: To quote Alex when asked for the price-point: Well under a 1000 Pound mark, more like 500 Pounds… But you are mostly showing off your expansive Orbeas with some Dura-Ace groupset… It's the meme of expectation and reality when you go into the bikeshop after watching that video ;-).
Actually the last bit of the video is the most useful one, at least in my point of view: I actually bought a used 2006 Koga Miyata for 300 Euro on some local marketplace website… I rode it for a few months and then invested in something substancially better. Get something used, but at least "good enough" from somewhere and then you'll see if you enjoy riding a bike like that. Later you can still invest a lot of money in that sport.
Best advice is go to a local bike shop. Period.
I got aluminum frame with carbon fork. Felt safer choice as it is less likely to get damaged in a fall. Also consider in your budget cycling gear, lights, helmet, shoes etc. Have it 12 years
Watching GCN can be like watching Top Gear, I know what superbike I would like and how they would handle in the hands of a professional (or Ollie, as the amateur he keeps pretending to be- your a paid to ride a bike, your pro.) A local bike shop will provide individual help, knowledge of local terrain, backup support for when you need maintenance along with information on local groups rides etc.
I had the choice of 400 quid second hand and looking brand new or 2000 quid actually brand new for exactly the same bike. Not really a difficult decision.
Yeah. "Carbon fibre is strong in certain ways". If there is a weak spot in your frame (mostly at cheaper bikes) it'll unexpectedly shatter like glass. Nice when you're biking among cars! Metal frames can bend and rarely break and are a much better option for any bike. The only benefit is the weight. So if you only drive uphill and you can't loose weight yourself, it's a great option.
I got my first road bike gently used 16 years ago, and that's the one I still have today! I've changed out worn parts over the years, and just now I have brand new wheels, shifters, cassette and rear derailleur. Still no need for a new frame, but I might chage the stem for a slightly shorter one this season. Not getting any younger…
First road bike? – that's easy. Picking out your first set of lycra shorts tops etc – now that takes skill and some form of talent!
Get a good 2nd hand general bike from a good bike store/co op. Go ride it – ride it lots, and then lots more. Get involved with some different activities – your good bike shop/coop will push you in the correct directions, you'll make contacts, learn "bike" speak, bore people at work and at parties. Before too long you will find what provides you with the fun you want and the types (communities) you want to be with – then splash the cash for the NEW BIKE. And you'll have your new bike and a winter/spare – well on your n+1journey of a lifetime.
Look at Ollie's video how to buy a 2nd hand bike.
When I began I took this advice and after some months I bought the 1st of a line of brilliant fun Mountain Bikes. And I had the old bike which I did up and turned out to be a first class tourer which is what I found I also liked doing.
And watch GCN,GCN+,GMBN, GMBN(R)……. OH, and get loads of stickers!
When I was looking to go for my first more speed orientated bike I had little choice due to the 2022 bikeshortage, had to go with a GT grade elite gravelbike that was 1 framesize to big.
Changed the stem so it was a better fit and have now done more then 22000 KM on this shimano claris entry level gravelbike and looking to upgrade it this summer with a previous gen 105 groupset 😀
Maybe not the bike I would have chosen for 1000€ if I had more choice but I truly love it now (and I love the triple triangle design) 😀
Thankyou for this video
I bought my first "real" bike recently, I went from a 99 Univega that was decked out with aftermarkets and an 84 Raleigh Olympian to a Giant Revolt 2. Loved this video Manon, great work! I also loved Bertands take on pricing. Always go cheap when you're first getting into something and if you fall in love, spend the extra money later.
Get a hot chick like Manon to shop with you👍
If you have a friend/co-worker/etc who is an experienced cyclist, ask them to come along when looking at used bikes. They’re probably more than happy to help you get into the sport, and their experience can help immensely.
Surprised there was no mention of taking an used bike into the local bike shop for a looking over.
Save the headache and buy new
I snatched a used Centurion Hyperdrive 4200 for about 400€ last year as my first ever road bike. Had to change saddle, tubes and tires so far. But very early on, something clicked with me – i felt somewhat like :"may this be what i needed all along…? Have i always missed the correct bike by a bit..?!"
I only had crossbikes for the last 15 years or so. And this was an eye-opener.
I'm so glad i gave it a shot !
@25sec Damn Manon, harsh! Poor Alan.
Buy a mountain bike, it’s way more fun.
Forgot bamboo.
Wanted a practical basic bike for shopping. The requirements for me are a step through frame, in winter with snow it's much easier to mount. There is a lot of salt used on the highway so anything but a steel frame. Disk brakes, with a front basket for shopping that doesn't get in the way of the brake cables. That requirement is very difficult to meet, and I don't want cables through the frame thank you. I have one fairly steep hill to climb so three sprockets on the front and six plus on the back. Puncture resistant tires so probably schwalbe marathon plus these will probably need to be added. I've been unable to find one and budget isn't an issue. The local bike shops are full of carbon fibre but nothing in a step through frame. I tried to order a set of wheels through my LBS, "I'll put it through", nothing happened.
I would stick to aluminum when buying a first bike, it's normally a decent bit cheaper.
This video was posted just in time since I'm actually thinking of switching from a MTB bike to a Road bike 😀