I’ve never owned a road bike but want to start biking as a way to get in better cardiovascular shape and it also looks super fun. I don’t know much but tried to do a fair bit of research before looking into used bikes in my area. Is this Jamis Quest a good first bike? I was thinking of offering $300.
I live in the Midwest so mostly flat with occasional small hills. Not planning on going on gravel atm so just smooth roads. I guess the closest category I would fit into is “endurance”? Seems like a 1×9 setup for gears would be fine since elevation changes are minimal and I’m new anyways.
I’m a little over 5’11” with a ~33in inseam. My understanding is that a 57cm bike would be a good fit. I assume I would need to buy pedals separately if I wanted to use shoes that clip in?
Thanks for any and all help/suggestions!
by theswedeness
5 Comments
Any functional road bike is worth at least $300. This one looks like it was made around 2005 or so, but it’s made of good quality steel. Not bad all things considered.
For the use case you describe, this is a great fit. Should be pretty low maintenance as well. Those look like nice platform pedals, but yes, you would need to get special shoes, cleats, and pedals if you want to clip in.
Do you live in a hilly area? You might want a smaller chainring than the 40 tooth this one has. Otherwise it looks like a solid build.
Totally solid bike, great choice.
As a cheap beater bike sure. If you want a proper road bike experience you could do better