Got myself a road bike!

[frv]

Birthday soon, keep running out of gears on my hybrid bike so got a nearly new rod bike off Gumtree yesterday. It's a Viking Elite Race Bike, picked it up for £300 in mint condition with a spare tyre too.
Looks pretty similar to this:

viking elite.jpg (35.77 KiB) Viewed 22459 times

I'm not really up on road bikes but apparently it's got reasonable kit in it's price bracket:

Model Type : Lightweight aluminium road race.
Frame Construction :Road geometry Viking top curve. Handcrafted 6061 lightweight aluminium with mudguard clearance. Replaceable dropout. Bottle cage boss.
Forks :Carbon fibre with tapered blades and aluminium steerer. Mudguard clearance.
Wheel Size :700c.
Gear System : 18 speed Sora STI combined brake and gear shifters. Prowheel 39/53T double chainset with 170mm alloy cranks.12-25T Shimano 9 speed cassette.
Wheel Specification :Viking A-350 700c alloy double wall 36 hole black rims with CNC side walls. Black spokes. Alloy hubs with quick release axles. Kenda Koncept 700x23 all black road tyres.
Brakes : Shimano Sora STI brake levers. Alloy dual pivot calliper brakes.
Handlebar and Stem : Zoom alloy ahead stem and Zoom 44cm race bars with black cork tape. Low stack cartridge headset.
Additional Information :Viking VK race saddle, micro adjust alloy seat pin. Sealed cartridge bottom bracket. Steel caged pedals with toe clips and straps.
Weight: 8.8 kg.
Frame Colour : Bright White.
Fork : Carbon.

Did a 9 mile run this afternoon and it's a totally different experience to the hybrid bike. Managed to pick up some Endura 6 panel liner shorts on that ride that I can wear under my normal cargo shorts as I need the pockets for wallet, etc.

[frv]

I've got myself a few more bits of kit. An undergarment (like a vest) to help with wicking apparently and a Louis Garneau Short Sleeve Jersey in bright yellow for visibility. Got them in a sale with 40% off
I've been racking up a few miles and enjoying the speed. Did another 11 miles last night before it got too dark making it about 50 miles since Sunday. I'm obviously just a beginner compared to some of the guys I've seen on Strava.

[ssaaaabb]

Good on you! well done, Cycling is one of those things I loved as a kid, I cycled daily and went 6-10 miles daily as a teenager. I soon aged, gained weight and thought itd be easy to hop back on a bike. I was soon shocked to find how hard it was. 2 miles and I was a shaking wreck!

Im not going back to cycling again, I want to - but Im not fit enough ,I take it you must be fitter then me

The bike looks very decent! and im sure your going to really enjoy it.

Pedal power !!

[Smithsk71]

Looks like a pretty good spec to me Gordon. Carbon fork, reasonably light with decent gears - bargain I reckon...enjoy

[frv]

Thanks Steve and ssaaaabb . Thought I'd better do some more exercise now I'm nearly 50

[frv]

I've managed a few rides since I got the road bike. Just managed my best ever 54.2 miles this morning for an October total of 271.5 miles

Might be doing less as the nights draw in - boo....

[Smithsk71]

Nice work, I didn't get to ride today so stuck on 269.5 including 21.8 indoors!

[frv]

Wow, so close Steve . I'm sure you'll do more than me in November........

[frv]

As I thought I did less miles in November and December.
This year I've started off well now I've managed to pick up a jacket more suited to winter weather and some overshoes to keep my tootsies warm
Went for my longest ride so far this morning - 56 miles.

[frv]

Today's ride. Lovely afternoon
55.7 miles at average 17.3mph

362 miles so far this year