Hybrid to road bike: Riding a Carrera Virago

Mark Pawlak    Cycling     bikes, Carrera Virago, cycling, cycling equipment, cycling gear, Evolving Cyclist Project, Halfords, Road Cycling

There’s no easy way to say this, but riding a Carrera Virago for the first time was far from a happy experience. On regular commuter roads it was skittish, and after just 15 minutes I was feeling every divot and granule of road gravel through my wrists. And I nearly crashed it!

Carrera Virago on its first outing

Reaching to squeeze the brakes, I couldn’t get them to bite and ended up in the back wheel of a scooter. Upshifts to the big ring took too long and I couldn’t tell if I’d gone up or down a gear on the range at the rear.

Well, the issues weren’t with the bike, but with me. Going from a comfy hybrid to a £1,000 carbon fibre road bike is not straightforward, and I just needed to get the bike set up properly and revise my riding.

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