I think you’ve gotten some good advice so far. I’m in the market right now to replace my 5 year old Trek 1000. For the most part, unless you are racing, the advantage of carbon fiber is comfort. The reduction in weight is a pleasant side effect. Aluminum is light and cheap, but its very stiff and the ride can be a little harsh. A good beginner bike is the Trek 1.2 . It is a newer version of the bike I am replacing. It has carbon forks and seat post.
Now I’m looking for something with full carbon fiber. The ride is supposed to be excellent. (I’ll find out this weekend) Another benefit of a carbon frame is the shapes tend to be more swoopy and high tech looking. This is the bike I am going to try to ride this weekend. 2007 Scattante It’s the cheapest full carbon bike I’ve seen.
As others have said, the fit is very important. It will have a big effect on how much you enjoy riding. A good shop will spend at least 30-40 minutes measuring you and making adjustments to the bike after you buy it. If the salespeople just want to stick you on a bike and send you out the door, go somewhere else.
Yep. Carrying my lighter bike is much less of a chore than carrying my old heavier one. Even picking it up to put it in a van or on the back of the car or down the stairs or into the storage shed is simply a lot less work than it was with the heavy bike.
To answer the original question, a lightweight bicycle feels much faster and more responsive. It’s a much bigger difference than just the reduction in total rider/bike weight. I’d rather carry 10 pounds on my back than ride a bike that is 5 pounds heavier.
A cheap heavy bike just isn’t as much fun to ride as a light responsive one is. And a bike that’s parked in the garage isn’t going to provide you with any exercise. Decent quality bikes are just more fun to ride.
I would recommend a reasonable quality steel (chro-moly) frame. Aluminum is a little harsh if you’re not really keen on the little incremental gain you get from the lighter weight - though the extra stiffness of an aluminum rear triangle also improves the efficiency of energy transfer as less of the force of your pedalling is wasted in flexing the frame. Weight is more important at the rims and tires - for the money, nothing adds a little jump to how a bike feels to ride like a light set of tires.
Good quality shifting components are also critical. The best stuff here is mostly pointless if you’re not a serious racer, but components below a certain point in quality can seriously detract from the riding experience.
And if you’re going to ride at all seriously, invest in real cycling shoes with clip-in pedals. Makes a huge difference.
My Trek 520 is made of steel (as God intended 
). The 520 is a “loaded touring” bike - which means it designed for holding heavy panniers. Steel was chosen not just for ride, but also the “if you are stuck in the middle of Romania you can find someone to weld it” factor (at least that is what I have heard)
It also has wider (700x37?) tires than perfomance road bikes (though not as wide as a mountain bike)
I don’t do any touring with it (well a supported ride in which I carry about 10 pounds of stuff), but it is more tahn adequate for my needs.
Brian
Oh, absolutely. Tinkering is fun! I replace parts that wear out and upgrade stuff, but it’s easier and definitely cheaper to do that when you have a good starting point that will allow you to do so.
What I menat in my previous post, was that if you already know what you need/want don’t settle for less than that with the idea that you’ll gradually upgrade to your goal. Decide on the bare minimum what you want and don’t compromise (or aim a touch higher).
I made that mistake with my first road bike. Eventually, I really wanted to upgrade to indexed combination shifters, but I had a 7-speed and my derailer wouldn’t work with the shifters… so I’d have to upgrade the other doo-dad,… oh, but there’s no room for that, so first I’d have to replace the entire thing-thing… which would mean also changing the doo-hicky… I was looking at $400 in upgrades for a $600 bike. :smack:
I should have just waited and saved up for the $900 bike that already had everything I wanted. That’s what I meant. Tinkering is fun. It’s exciting to add new shiny stuff to your bike, but don’t buy one that doesn’t meet your needs with the idea that you’ll gradually make it work.
My steel frame bike is still so light that I can actually put it on my back and ride my moutain bike across town with my road bike over my shoulder. People look at me like I’m a bike thief.
Cuz I’m just that damn tuff! That and I’m old, fat, and not in a real hurry. Really, it’s not that heavy. I love my steel. Steel is real, man!
I get what you’re saying now - BTDT on the compatible components thing. Definitely buy what you need, I just don’t get into the “buy the most expensive because you can” thing. IMO, a carbon fiber bike for a beginner definitely falls into that category. YMMV.
Dude, that is totally awesome! I may have to give that a try. I keep trying to figure out how to get two bikes across town without a car.
I’ve also been wanting to use our mountain tandem to tow a trailer full of beer around the trail, sometime when it’s busy, just for the fun of it. Somewhere I’ve got a “bike speaker” (freebie) that I’d have to hook up and blast music out of while we’re at it. That damn thing (with batteries) probably weighs as much as your road bike.
I know some people who upgrade the frame, transplanting some or all components from the old bike.
I would recommend getting a bike with decent components to begin with. Components you can live with until they wear out, or unless you decide you want one with a different functionality (e.g. different gear ratio).
There seems to be a lot of assumption in some of the answers here, while really I’m not sure your OP gives enough info to say what’s right for you.
You mention a road bike for exercise purposes. By this do you mean you’re going to be doing road racing, or is it more just general onroad cycling? Do you want to be able to carry any gear with you? Do you want multi-day reliability, where you can tour around and feel confident your bike won’t let you down.
There’s lots of great bikes out there, and fantastic frames in a range of materials - but the one that’s best for you, really depends on what you want to do with it.
Which is why it’s perfectly reasonable for me to own 4 bikes, whatever my wife thinks.
Maybe that’s the case where you are, but in the UK steel hardtails are still well respected, and there’s a big growing trend for retro hard forks and single speed in the UK.
I still have (and deeply love) an Orange Clockwork steel framed hardtail. The steel frame means it soaks up bumps way more comfortably than my modern hardtail, and I was thinking about replacing it’s now very old forks with a rigid set, and single speeding it, just for a nice, simple and reliable setup.
I really don’t understand the idea that steel is too heavy for an mtb frame at all.
I agree. It’s a tool for a user with a lot of finesse. As a novice, you probably won’t reap the benefits of a carbon bike. Also, if you think you may end up using the bike for trips around town, you’ll have to be really careful about security. Those expensive bikes are higher targets for theft. I would never leave my road bike locked to a bike rack, for example, unless I’m sitting where I can watch it. When I take it out, it’s for long rides on country roads.
Fianceephone owns 4 also (I only have three). Two road bikes and two mountain bikes (one of which is a beater for general, all-over-own use).
It depends on the steel alloy in your bike. For frames, there are generally two types of steel used. High-tensile steel (aka “hi-ten”) and chromoly steeel (previously mentioned). Hi-ten is very durable and less stiff than chromoly, but you need more of it to keep the frame from buckling beneath you. Hi-ten bikes are also rarely butted (“butting” is varying the thickness of a given tube to improve its strength and decrease wieght.) Hi-ten is a lot cheaper to produce, so it’s the material of choise for craptacular entry-level bikes and it’s used a lot in basic cruisers for people who just go from point A to point B. These cheap bikes tend to be ridiculously heavy and you have to work really hard.
Chromoly (aka “cromo”) is a more refined steel. Cromo tubes are heat treated and butted, the more expensive bikes are “triple-butted”. They are noticeably lighter than hi-ten bikes. While they’re heavier than an aluminum frame, you could probably manage just fine on the trails with one. My first mountain bike was cromo, and it worked fine for me. But now that I have a lighter bike, trying to ride my old one feels like I have a brick in my pocket. The lighter bike is more responsive when I have to hop over a log, and I don’t have to struggle as much going up a muddy hill.
grin Yeah, I know some of those, too. Buy a bike, upgrade all the components, buy a better and/or trendier frame, move all the components, lather rinse repeat.
I also knew a guy who drove the “same car” for 25 years. When the engine wore out, he replaced it. When the body wore out, he replaced it. Since he always was just “repairing” his car, it was always the same car. Perhaps this could work for those who have non-understanding SOs.
Like I said, I’m not suggesting going completely cheapo. But a beginner rider is not even going to know what gear ratio will work best for him, so there’s no sense in spending $500 on a top-of-the-line setup, only to realize after riding for a few months, that it’s not right for him.
My MTB is a very nice Trek chromo. I love the ride that steel gives. The tandem is aluminum and, even with front suspension and flex from the long tubes, is still a very harsh ride. We haven’t quite worked ourselves up to dropping $6K for a full suspension tandem.
We’ve got enough bikes to outfit a small army. I only have 2 1/2, myself. My sweetie has 3 1/2, I think. I dunno who the rest of those belong to. 
Trek makes some nice steel bikes. Even their hi-ten beginner bikes have a nice feel and balance, and aren’t as heavy as you’d expect. My first mountain bike was a Raleigh cromo and it was “unpleasantly heavy”.
A buddy of mine bought a new bike for mtb racing, so we hit the trails with me on his old bike, an aluminum Trek hard tail. It was so light. At the time I was used to my old Raleigh that could keep up okay. But on his aluminum Trek, when I went to jump a little creek, I heave-hoed like I was expecting the weight of my steel bike and got a way bigger jump than I was expecting:
“Whee! I’m flyin’! I’m flyin’!.. Oh shit oh shit oh shit! I’m flyin’! I’m flyin’!”
Still have the scars on my elbows. 
I’m going to give you my story, with the caveat that I am waaaaaaaay off to one side of the spectrum and not typical.
My bike is almost 30 years old. For you young’un’s, that’s before carbon fiber was in most peoples’ vocabularies, much less their bike frames. It’s heavy and (oh horrors!) it’s a coaster brake!!! :eek:
I have a blast on it. I have been assured many times that this is impossible and that when I get older or in a few years or whatever I will come to my senses and get a “real” bike or a “better” bike or whatever but that hasn’t happened in three decades. Hey, maybe I just actually like my bike, hm?
It’s simple. I don’t have to make many decisions while riding. To go, pedal forward. To go faster, pedal harder. To go uphill, pedal harder (I live in Indiana - I think I have to go to Ohio to find an actual hill so it’s very seldom a problem). To stop, pedal backward. Very simple. Very little to break, go wrong, go out of adjustment. Every so often I have to replace the tires which is actually the hardest part - everyone wants to either sell me skinny tires that don’t fit, or tells me to “throw out that piece of garbage” and get a new bike. Actually, I found a local bike store where the help was tickled pink to see an old-fashioned bike and found me suitable tires without pressuring me to change my ways, lovely guys.
Anyhow - I love taking it out for a 1/2 hour or hour ride through the neighborhood. I don’t need to go faster. It’s mainly a way to get outside, get some fresh air, and get a little exercise. I did “splurge” on getting a helmet and a rear view mirror when when I’m on the road with it, but mostly I’m on easy bike trails. I don’t have to prove anything to anyone, I’m doing this strictly for fun. Oh, and sometimes I’ll bike to the local airport to go flying instead of driving, which is why I installed a small luggage rack, so I have a place to put the flight bag while cycling. It’s totally uncool, no one has ever tried to steal it, and it will likely last the rest of my life.
I love my bike. People have tried to GIVE me a “better” bike and I return them. My bike is all the bike I need or want. Most people would NOT be happy with my bike, this is true, but I am.
So, what I’m saying here is buy the bike that fits YOU. Not just your leg length but your budget, what you want to do with it, what it looks like (if that’s important to you), whether or not you have tinkering urges for it to fulfill. If you have any interest in racing or very long trips a lighter frame might be a very worthwhile thing. If you ride like I do it’s a waste of money.
Coo-oo-ool! You’ll be happy to hear that single-gear bikes and fixed-gear bikes are getting to be more and more popular amoung the purests. (And fixed-gear bikes often don’t have ANY brakes!)
Swallowed My Cellphone, 
.
My first MTB was a old used Diamondback. It didn’t really fit and was heavy as hell, but it was enough to get me hooked. When I went to buy a real bike a year later, I picked up this little Trek that had sat on the shop floor for a couple years. (I think it was a special order that wasn’t picked up and they hadn’t been able to resell, so I got a sweet price on it too.) That first flight was amazing!
Broomstick, that’s terrific! Part of our stable since we moved into town are several old cruisers that we picked up out of the trash and fixed up. Heavy as all get out, rusted out, baskets, fenders, coaster brakes, the whole deal. We love 'em for quick trips. Not only are they simple and fun, but I don’t worry about them being stolen. If someone’s that desperate, they probably need the bike far worse than I do, and we’ll just get another from the trash.
We frequently ride this race. I much prefer riding the tandem, because then I don’t feel nearly as stupid when the old geezer in blue jeans on the ancient coaster bike breezes past me! 
There’s almost always several at that race that have been riding for years and can put many a youngster to shame.
::Claps:: to Broomstick.
I’ve only had my bike since 2002. Every time I read these threads I feel like my bike may be inadequate - it is a $250 Raleigh. I got it at a bike shop, but it is heavy & cheap. I just cannot bring myself to replace it. It is perfectly fine the way it is. I don’t road race, or do heavy off road riding. I ride on bike paths and on occasion on the roads, but for fun, not speed. I commute to school on it once in awhile when it isn’t freezing out. I could probably justify buying a newer, lighter bike since I do ride it daily in the summer, but why? I love my bike.
Optimal Bike Ownership Formula: N + 1 = X
where,
N = # of bikes currently owned; and
X = # of bikes one would like to own.
Lighter weight and higher quality components go together, yes, so it’s difficult to isolate weight and quality into two separate purchasing decisions.
Lighter bicycles feel much more energetic than heavier ones. You can feel a really light bicycle trying to climb out from under you and race ahead. The effect is especially noticeable for weight on the tires and rims. It used to be very nice to have two pairs of wheels for a road bike - clincher tires for rougher riding, and sewups for really beautiful rides on clean smooth roads. The feeling you get when you first start out with the sewups is incredible. But I don’t think sewups are as popular these days, are they?
Why is this? I agree a pound on the bicycle is much more noticeable than a pound on your body, and doubly so for tires and rims. I think it is because you wiggle the bicycle around more than you do your own center of gravity, especially when you are out of the saddle. It’s like waving a tennis racket around. I’ve thought about it often, and am not sure, but this is where I wind up.
So, in any case, I find riding a lighter and higher quality bicycle so much more enjoyable and encouraging, so much more conducive to taking more rides and going further, that I advise some indulgence in a somewhat more expensive bicycle than you might have planned. That being said, you can get all the exercise you want on a heavy bicycle, and on a lower quality one if you are lucky and mechanically inclined.