New rider here...I need advice.

I'm looking at buying a bike and accoutrements (yes! I get a chance to use that word!) after having not ridden a bike for ten years. I'm looking at the Giant FCR3.
Apart from a helmet, gloves and a pair of shorts, what do I need? What might be useful? After looking at bikes the other day, apparently I'm better built for men's frames. Any changes I should consider? (My boyfriend's a cyclist, but since all his cycling buddies are male, he's not always helpful.)
(Small words, please. I know next to nothing about bikes!)

You're good to go!

Oh, a water bottle. Or two. And a repair kit (and the skills to use it, so that you won't be despondent if you have a flat tire on your own).

The rest is gravy. Like bike shoes and automatic pedals (or just toe cages of some sort if you prefer). And bike jerseys with pockets (to carry food and other stuff).

Welcome to TE! We look forward to reading about your cycling adventures!

A really good thing to have is a portable pump. Most everyone here's favorite pump is the Topeak road morph.
it's lightweight and even I can use it to pump up my tires.

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Originally Posted by Owlie

what do I need? What might be useful?

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You don't need special shoes.
You don't need a special shirt.
Not right now, anyway.
Mimi's road pump is a good idea and perhaps a small pack for under the saddle (or a handlebar bag) to carry tools, cell phone,camera, snacks, and lipstick;)

I'd add sunglasses to the list.

Changes you might consider: a saddle. Stock saddles are often not very comfortable. Narrower handlebars. If you're getting a men's bike, you might find that the bars are too wide. You might also find that they need to adjust the brake levers to accomodate you if you have smaller hands.

Good luck and have fun with your new bike!

and sunscreen :)

Really, you don't need much. Riding a bike is fun by its little ol' self.

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Originally Posted by Zen

You don't need special shoes.
You don't need a special shirt.
Not right now, anyway.
Mimi's road pump is a good idea and perhaps a small pack for under the saddle (or a handlebar bag) to carry tools, cell phone,camera, snacks, and lipstick;)

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I agree.

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Originally Posted by indysteel

I'd add sunglasses to the list.

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Yes as well to eye protection and sunscreen!
Pebbles fly off of trucks right into your face sometimes, or bugs hit your eyes at a high speed too- use eye protection.

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Originally Posted by BleeckerSt_Girl

Pebbles fly off of trucks right into your face sometimes, or bugs hit your eyes at a high speed too- use eye protection.

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Can anyone recommend something that works well with glasses? (Not going to switch to contacts--I'd poke my eye out.)

I might have missed it being listed, but patch kit too? Also reflective tape and lights if you'll be riding at dusk or night at all.

I also just picked up a new bike and found a mens model fit me best with no accommodations needed. My hands and body proportions worked fine as the bike was, though I picked up a bit wider saddle to suit my wider spaced sit bones.

Happy biking!

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Originally Posted by Owlie

Can anyone recommend something that works well with glasses? (Not going to switch to contacts--I'd poke my eye out.)

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Here's what I use- they are great:
http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showp...1&postcount=13

Agree with the previous postings on the needs: water bottle, repair/patch kit, and sun protection (sunscreen+sunglasses). If you wear prescription glasses look at Oakleys and Giro: they both allow you to order prescription lenses for your shades - and Oakley has transitions too, so you can use your glasses as vision glasses inside and vision sunglasses outdoors :)
Good luck and welcome aboard!

Yeah, sunglasses. You're wearing regular specs so maybe this won't be a problem for you, but I'd been riding for years off and on with sunglasses on and one day I got a wild hare thinking I didn't NEED them, it was overcast that day anyway.

No sooner did I take them off than I-am-not-kidding-you a huge bug of some sort smacked right into my ocular region. Like a bullet. Well, like a RUBBER bullet anyway.

I have never had a bug hit me before or since, but I always go bespectacled now.

Instead of a frame pump I go for CO2 cartridges and a little adapter that goes with them. I'd never patch tubes. Too lazy. I just carry a spare. Then again in 2x4 yrs cycling we have had a collective 1 flat.

There are niftier sports glasses with Rx inserts, that's what I'd go for.

Make absolutely sure the frame is the right size for you. Err on the side of small. Triple or at least compact gearing.

I've been talking to the people that I'll be riding with, and their advice is basically "get a road bike." This makes sense, as both of them will be riding road bikes and I don't think I want to completely wear myself out trying to keep up with them. On the other hand, I'm not sure I want to sink that kind of money into it just yet. (I don't know what I mean by "that kind of money", to be honest. Just that the low-end road bikes cost more than the FCR3.) That, and I have a feeling that the posture that road bikes put you in would kill my back and shoulders.
Thoughts?

Total newbie here, so for what it's worth I'm in the same predicament as you are. The person I will be riding with most of the time has a road bike. I also don't want to sink "that kind of money" into a road bike, but also don't want to stay behind. I ended up buying a hybrid. If it turns out that I really like cycling and stick with it, then I'll 'graduate' to a road bike. I suppose I can always sell the current bike or maybe they do trade-ins? I've no clue about that.

Anyway, yesterday I rode with my friend and I can see he is not going to stick with my slowness eventhough he was very accommodating. He is training for a tri so I understand. We've decided that we'll go out for X amount of time, he'll be ahead, and at a predetermined time we will both head back (our rides are all out and back at this point). I think that should work. I'm used to running alone, so I've no problem with riding alone. I just better learn to change my tires and patch a flat! :p

As a newbie, water bottle and sunscreen seem of upmost importance to me. Sunglasses are a given as I live in Florida.

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Originally Posted by Owlie

I've been talking to the people that I'll be riding with, and their advice is basically "get a road bike." This makes sense, as both of them will be riding road bikes and I don't think I want to completely wear myself out trying to keep up with them. On the other hand, I'm not sure I want to sink that kind of money into it just yet. (I don't know what I mean by "that kind of money", to be honest. Just that the low-end road bikes cost more than the FCR3.) That, and I have a feeling that the posture that road bikes put you in would kill my back and shoulders.
Thoughts?

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Sounds like you need to go to a couple of bikes shops and test ride different kinds of bikes so you can start getting a feel of the differences.

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Originally Posted by BleeckerSt_Girl

Sounds like you need to go to a couple of bikes shops and test ride different kinds of bikes so you can start getting a feel of the differences.

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This will occur, once finals are done. :D

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Originally Posted by Biciclista

A really good thing to have is a portable pump. Most everyone here's favorite pump is the Topeak road morph.
it's lightweight and even I can use it to pump up my tires.

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Definitely, I've had several other pumps, none of which ever lasted very long and at least one of which disintegrated in my hands the very first time I used it.

I've also had at least a couple that I wasn't strong enough to actually use. Magilla Gorilla could pump his tire up with one of those, but I didn't have a chance.

Some frame pumps lack a pressure gauge, or the one they have breaks or is inaccurate. Hence the separate pressure gauge I carry in my seat bag.

I've had the Topeak for a long time now, and I can actually pump my tires up, it doesn't mangle the stem, it's giving no sign of breaking, and the pressure gauge is still accurate. In fact a lot of times I'll just pump my tires up with the Morph pre-ride instead of going and finding the floor pump.

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Originally Posted by seychelle

Total newbie here, so for what it's worth I'm in the same predicament as you are. The person I will be riding with most of the time has a road bike. I also don't want to sink "that kind of money" into a road bike, but also don't want to stay behind. I ended up buying a hybrid. If it turns out that I really like cycling and stick with it, then I'll 'graduate' to a road bike. I suppose I can always sell the current bike or maybe they do trade-ins? I've no clue about that.

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Water bottle, of course. :)

What did you end up getting, out of curiosity? As it looks right now, I'll be borrowing a friend's mountain bike for a little while...

IMHO:
1) Helmet
1.1) Pump
1.25) Tire levers
1.255) Patch kit
1.256) Spare tube
1.28) small multitool (hex wrenches, etc)
2.) Sunglasses (you may be able to find a shield-type that would fit over your glasses, and there are some that accept prescription inserts)
3.) Water bottle

The bottle is only 3rd, because every bike I've ever bought (which is, let's see, 8) came with a free bottle.

Numbers 1-2 are all pretty important - difficult to rank (hence the decimal places)..

It looks like a lot of stuff, but not much of it is expensive.

Another useful thing to have is Road ID. Not necessary, but having it puts my mind at ease should something happen to me while out on my bike.

Can anyone recommend a few decent "entry level" road bikes?

I liked Trek back in the day, even though I ended up with not one, but TWO bikes from them that Did Not Fit.

However if you don't have a problem riding a "men's" frame, they made good bikes.

For awhile I was being told (by Trek) that most of their frames were being made in China, but apparently that is no longer the case. I've noticed at least a couple of manufacturers who were having frames made in China have switched back to US manufacturing facilities. Probably due to quality issues, as I have heard about things like ugly welds and cracks developing in head tubes, etc.

You might consider a Trek, if the frame is not made in China.

You can check out the Editors of Bicycling's Choices for 2009 Road Bikes here.

a little notebook and pen/pencil for identifying scoundrels and promising cafes.

Hee hee - identifying scoundrels! I like that! :D

What's your budget?

I'm giving myself to $800-900, depending on how much of my stipend gets eaten up by taxes this summer.

I might be getting myself a Defy 3. I'm waiting until I get back to Cleveland to buy, as the bike market around here seems to be monopolized by a store that charges prices way above MSRP. :rolleyes:

Fuji beat me too it but for me my Road ID is a must have when I ride!

I had a bad experience with a pushy salesman at the LBS, and I'm still on the fence between the FCR 3 and the Defy 3. Of course, he insisted on putting me on a women-specific bike. That worked out well. :rolleyes:
I'm still trying to decide between the two. I've tried out a friend's Defy and rather liked it. It's a question of buying the more expensive,faster bike while I have cash, so I won't feel that I need to upgrade when I'm living on a grad student grant, or going with the cheaper bike now that I may have to upgrade if I decide I like riding, but won't be such a financial drain if I stop riding for whatever reason.

Decisions, decisions.

Also, I have a glove question: How closely are they supposed to fit?

I have the FCR3w and love it!