Buying my first Road Bike

The reason that first sparked my interest in buying a road bike was that I wanted to take part in the Palace to Palace ride which is a 45 mile charity ride from Buckingham Palace to Windsor Castle. All the pictures of the event looked really fun and I had never done anything like it before so thought it would be a great challenge to set myself!

At first I practised for the ride on my Mountain Bike but I soon realised it wasn’t going to cut it. I just couldn’t get the momentum or speed I needed to cover the long stretches of riding. Especially since I was training with my boyfriend who already had a road bike.

I didn’t want to spend too much on the road bike as at the time I thought there was not a lot of places in Liverpool I would enjoy road cycling. (Luckily that has changed since I have joined a community cycling group called Cycle of Life in Liverpool).

 After looking online I went to the Evans store in Liverpool. It was really useful to go to the shop, as my height was just between two sizes of frame, so I got to try different bikes and work out what was most comfortable. Plus the staff at Evans were amazing, they couldn’t do more to help and gave me plenty of advice and recommendations for bikes with in my price range. After weighing up price and quality I decided to purchase a Pinnacle which is Evans own brand of bike. I am 5’6 and ended up with a medium frame. The model is Pinnacle Laterite 2 Womens 2018.

The bike cost £500 which was more than I planned to pay but Evans offers interest free finance over a year, so I was able to easily pay for the bike in manageable monthly instalments.

My bike ready for collection at Evans Bike Shop

I have to say I really enjoy riding this bike. At first it was a bit of a change from my mountain bike but as soon as I started training for the road ride and putting in more miles, I really appreciated what the bike offered. The frame is light, the brakes work well and the 18 gears are perfect to get me up to higher speeds with less effort.

Training for Palace to Palace Charity Ride at Sealand Rangers in Neston

I have now owned this bike for a couple of years and it has withstood the test of time. At first I anticipated I would only use this bike for the charity ride. However I use it pretty regularly now to get to work and also when I go on group cycle rides in Liverpool. I think Pinnacle bikes are great entry level bikes for anyone who wants to get into road riding or even for those who would like a light weight bike for getting around on! I believe they are great value for money as you don’t often get such good quality bikes with good specifications in this price range.

The Journey Begins

So the journey began when I ordered my new bike! A cannon Tango 2 Women Bike 2017. I had the urge to start cycling again for a while, but between University and working I didn’t think I had the money or time. When I was a child I cycled everywhere and I was starting to miss having adventures on my bike!

Since I didn’t want to fork out on a new bike, I dragged my sparkly pink tequila bike from my shed (I am not sure if this is even a make of bike anymore because I can’t find it anywhere on the internet). I cycled around my local Park on my very old bike, which was very small for me and had no suspension. I had a great but uncomfortable time and it was then that I decided I needed to invest in an upgrade.

After much deliberation, I decided to buy the Cannon Tango 2, which was a very reasonable price from Tredz at £479 reduced from £649. In fact it was one of the most affordable bikes I looked at. I loved the colours and the fact there was an option for 0% finance making it only £15 a month! I got my boyfriend to check out the specs because he is an avid cyclist (part of the reason  my interest in bikes was sparked again). Tredz were great in advising what size bike I should get, as I was on the boarder of two sizes, in the end I went for the medium.

Unfortunately I forgot to take any pictures of my Bike when I first opened it, so here is a picture on me at my first ride at Llandegla forest, which my next blog post will be about 🙂

Update! After another look it turns out I did get a picture after the unboxing…