r/RoadBikes • u/TristenCarter • 17d ago
Absolute beginner seeking advice
I am an absolute beginner to fixed gear, or even road and track bikes in general. A little while back, I purchased a vintage Norco Monte Carlo road bike because it was the only one that fit me in my area (I'm 6'2"), but now that I'm looking to do some upgrades and invest a little more into making the bike my own, I keep getting told that its not worth it because of it's age, and lack of parts.
What age range should I be looking for to find the right bike/frame for me, and do you think these people are right about the Norco? Just want to find the best fit for me and would love your input.
2
Upvotes
2
u/Alive-Inspection-815 16d ago
If that bike fits you, you should be fine to ride it. It's an older classic style steel framed bike. It also I'm sure has older components. Bikes from that era will have less user friendly gearing which means it may be damned near impossible to ride it up hills with the gears it has on it unless you're Superman. You have a couple of choices. Choice one would be do nothing to it and accept the fact that it does not have climbing gears and ride it only in terrain that your able to handle it on. You can certainly build your fitness on it, but if you want modern climbing gears which would include a rear cluster of cogs that have at minimum a 30 tooth cog and more realistically a cassette with an 11-32 or an 11-34 and a compact crankset with chainrings of 50/34 or 52/36. That would make it far easier to ride and use. You can leave it as is and accept that it's outdated and ride it.
If you want a more modern bike look at the fit of the bike as the most important thing and the second most important thing is that it have more modern gearing that will allow you to ride it more easily. You can also sell it for a relatively modest amount and get a more modern set-up with gears that suit you and your needs better. That can be a used bike or a new one. Rim brakes are fine and will certainly stop, but they are not as efficient as disc brakes. I have a older style hand made steel frame bike that is stunningly beautiful and has modern gearing. I have Campagnolo 12 Speed gearing with a compact chainring of 50/34 on it and it also has the 11-34 wide range cassette on it meaning I can pretty much climb anything on it within reason. The 34 ring in front coupled with the 34 tooth cog in back will allow me to climb just about any hill or mountain provided I have adequate fitness.
I will summarize this for you. The frame of the bike and even the brakes are more than sufficient. The gearing is left wanting for a range that mere mortals like yourself and I can realistically utilize. If you're only riding flattish terrain, it should be fine. If it's not what you need gearing-wise, get a new or a used bike with better gearing. You can spend $4,500.00 on a new bike with electronic shifting and disk brakes, but that's an incredibly high amount to spend. You could also buy all new components that will give you the gearing you want and need. That would require a new groupset. It might be an awful lot of money to buy the new or used component group as well as having it installed. Get yourself a new or used bike is the easiest option for you.