noob questions

(sorry my last post reads really sniffy!)

haha no problem!

I'm a total noob looking to buy a bike, and trying to decide between a road, hybrid, or touring style. I am looking to do longer rides on paved surfaces, in a hilly area (bay area). Friend of my swears by his Surly Crosscheck because of how rugged it is. I rode it once and loved it, but it strikes me as maybe being too heavy.

don't do like i did and buy a hybrid if you think you'll be at all interested in cycling more than in the city. i got the bug real quick.

going to buy a pompino

i got one. is nice.

yes hello. i would like to buy a bike for purposes of recreational riding on various paved trails in the area as well as possibly commuting to work on days when it is not ridiculously hot. i am guessing some kind of light weight, hybrid thing would work. but i know NOTHING about bikes, pricing, shopping for them, how to pick out what's good, etc. halp!

for reference: this store is across the street and the people who work there are reportedly very good/helpful, though it is also rumored to be quite pricey. at any rate, i could certainly hop over for being measured or browsing different types of recommended bikes.

can anyone recommend a place in chicago to check out bikes? i am broke. maybe a coop or something

i had a bike that was like a psuedo-mountain bike made for cruising around urban areas, so like some of the bikes posted at the beginning of the thread, and i sorta suspected that ppl had recommended those to me so their bikes look better. im probably crazy, but it seemed like most of my friends had bikes w/ thinner looking skeletons that traversed ground much more quickly. sorta felt like these bikes were recommended to me so they could feel like pros, lol. i do still have the frame from this old bike (the rest of it -- pedals, tire etc -- were destroyed by bike pirates when i left the bike out too long)

Theresa, I really like the two bike stores by the key bridge. The one nearer the bridge is a little less serious roadie store but the people in both of them seem really nice. REI is good too, especially if they have a 20% coupon deal on (plus you get 10% back at the end of the year for being a member). About 50% of the people I know have REI own brand bikes, Novarra.

Worth going to a store and talking to someone about fit. I notice from the website of one of the stores I mentioned above (http://revolutioncycles.com/) that they have a "ladies night" where they'll feed you wine and sell you a bike.

I would recommend a "flat bar road" or hybrid bike unless you find you like drop handlebars. I'd err away from a heavier step through frame with an upright position. You could go singlespeed in DC although I think gears are preferable, IME some of the trails kickup a little and you might not find doing rides like the one along the C&O canal trail to great falls quite so enjoyable. (that said my friend did DC to pittsburgh on a singlespeed in 4 days last year so what do I know)

Or you could just spend a big pile of money and emulate Mrs Hincapie

http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=xi78s9bab&v=0018sxp1v_8zeOW5m-5MUKBTbVs_SxLnXD9sgGh8LICdJdlHUujENS1AmAo-d-EoyzxbH_BkNdNfIIBOO8kbGlPD-PH6Bis81ymv3A4kbJGO6m9vSoccaVCSLjr2qN-KfMwOCaJZ8puwKQ%3D

def don't want a singlespeed (btw i don't live in dc proper - not sure if that makes a difference for you recommendation). for my future commute, part of it would be on the mt. vernon trail, and part on old town alexandria roads.

how does pricing work?

check out a civia

how does pricing work?

― tehresa, Sunday, 12 June 2011 17:50 (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

you go in trying to spend 3-500 and try not to spend 1500

Revolution seem to be several branches across the DC metro area. I'd stick with my recommendations bike wise.

maybe i should rephrase. what is a good price range for a decent bike for a beginner who doesn't want to spend mad $ but is willing to spend enough to not have a pos?

A couple of years ago my wife, a friend in Chicago (with advice from her friend who owns a bike shop), and a friend in Minneapolis (with advice from her bike nerd boyfriend and his pro bike team mechanic brother) all ended up independently getting Kona Dews for their city riding / commuting type bikes. They seem to be solid, decent enough components-wise, and priced pretty reasonably at around $400 or so for the lowest end models.

Since then some other people I know have gotten other Dew variants for the not a road bike but not a mountain bike niche and everyone seems to be happy with them.

Kona Dew is not a bad choice. You should be able to find something good for around $500 (Dew is RRP $429)

hey tza - here's my advice:
1) get a hybrid bike with a rigid fork (not a suspension fork) - suspension on bikes at that price range is overly heavy and doesn't suspend all that much anyway. spend between $350 - $550 and get a bike from one of the big names (trek, giant, specialized, etc). the civia bikes that gbx recommended are very nice as well - not sure how they compare price-wise, though. most bikes under $500 are made in one of only a handful of chinese factories, so how the bike feels to you when you test ride it is more important than any specific parts, or any reviews you find online.

2) all the big name bikes enforce minimum advertised price, meaning that you won't get ripped off from one dealer to the next, or at least not that much. also, it's not just about the bottom line: it's worth $50 extra to go to a shop where the people are helpful and nice and will adjust your brakes or shifting on the spot, as opposed to a shop where the prices are rock bottom, but the salespeople are dicks and tell you that even simple service work requires you to leave the bike for 3 days. see if shops have any deals on accessories (some shops offer 20% off accessories with a new bike purchase, for instance).

3) if you can, and this is a former shop employee speaking, support a local independent bike shop rather than REI. obviously if they're rude or condescending to you, than forget it, but independent shops are getting squeezed by big box stores on one end, chain bike stores on one end, and REI on one end (3 ends?!). novara (REI-brand) bikes are on the level of trek et al at that price range, so if you find the best bike and the best service there, then go for it - but at least give the bike shop a chance.

good luck!

1) get a hybrid bike with a rigid fork (not a suspension fork)

Agree on the LBS thing, too.

thanks for all this info, dudes! I haven't had time to even start looking yet but sooooon!

Not really got any noob questions, just a declaration of noobiness: decided to get a bike. just been eyeing people jealously lately as they ride by on a clement morning. unfortunately i have a lot of outgoings just now with holidays etc. so might be a while until i can fork out the money, by which time i may have missed the summer, well what passes for a summer here. ah well.

oh yeah, and i think i'll probably get a fixie. don't hate me because i'm a hipster.

put a bird on it

sorry, i meant brake. put a brake on it

and a bird

haha, i will, and if i go out in heavy traffic i will also don a helmet.

no ipods either.

Jim, srsly: so many people own bikes but never ride them. Ask around your similarly-sized mates and see if any have a bike they don't use they'd be hapy to lend - you can promise to return it to them fully servcied and rideable, say.

good idea, but in my case i'm not sure it will be much use, i know some people who have bikes, which they ride and can't lend, and i know some other people who have horrendous mountain bikes they rode when they were teenagers in the 90s sitting in their garages, who are generally at least a few inches shorter than me.

feeling pretty annoyed that we gave away my grandad's old road bike a couple of years after he died, was a flying scot.

not annoyed, annoyed at myself for not taking an interest at the time, i know some worthy dude got good use out of it.

Me again. Have paid off my Marin hybrid, having accidentally ridden about 1800 miles on it in the last 12 months. Commute is only a few miles a day but often go out for an hour in the evening or several hours on a weekend.

Now I can get another bike via same salary-exchange Cyclescheme. Am thinking I want to go faster, for longer, mainly on roads, but want flexibility to hit a tow-path and mount a pannier or two (not for weeklong touring, for example, but maybe with camera gear etc) when I want. Wife will allow me to go to about £700; anymore than that and I doubt I'd have a wife anymore. Will be keeping the Marin for pootling around and nipping into town sans cleats (got 2-sided pedals with a flat side)

Have bought and loved SPD pedals and shoes, no problem with them at all. Also fixed bar-ends to the Marin for more flexible hand positioning / help up hills. Don't really like hills but sometimes can't avoid an 850 foot ascent; tend to stick to undulations. Really like the idea of drop-bars. To the point that I'd say they were essential. Likewise double-sided SPDs so I can clip-in faster and not be flipping pedals round and round at traffic lights.

Said all this to the guy in the bike shop, and said I'd been thinking about light tourers. He recommended a tricross; looked at several, tested a couple for a mile on city roads, liked a Specialized Tricross best.

Advice?

Aren't Tricrosses really heavy? Can't deny they're functional, though.

I'd go for the raciest bike you can find that can still fit panniers and mudguards. The Genesis Croix de Fer is a cross bike that is prettier and a lot more appealing than the Tricross, but probably dearer (you realise £700 becomes £1000 when you take into account the tax benefits, right?) - I'd get one if I was in that market.

The Specialized Tricross has an aluminum frame, carbon forks and seat post, and was way lighter than the tourers. A couple of the other tricross bikes in the shop were much heavier. I reckon it was quite a bit lighter than my Marin.

And the £700 is definitely my tax-benefit-inclusive limit...

Tricross is the Spesh brand name fyi - cyclocross or just cross (or cx) is the type of bike.

Fair dos - Tricross owners do seem, anecdotally, to love their bikes, so I'm sure it'd be a great purchase.

Aha re; cyclocross. Guy in shop used it the way people might use 'hoover'.

Haha! Spesh will be pleased. Which reminds me, I see they've opened a new concept store in Covent Garden - Tempted to pop over there one lunch break.

ok so now i have money. and my new office has a gym w/ locker room!
now i must hunker down and figure out what bike to buy because parking is expensive!

nick i got a specialized crux recently to race cyclocross on - it's like a less sensible tricross. no rack and guard mounts, double crankset rather than the triple that the tricrosses have got these days, frame angles are a bit different to make the handling livelier. anyway i like it enough that i'm probably going to sell my road bike. the tricross sounds like it'd be right up your alley.

you should also look at more versatile roadies that will probably offer better braking with road calipers than the tricross' cantis, can take rack and guards, but still have a relaxed position - giant defy (aluminium) or kona honky tonk (steel) come to mind.

Hi Nick, ride me

bloomspot is running this deal today and it's making me angry at cute hipsters who don't wear helmets.

They are beautiful. However, I'm not sure the gearing would deal with Devon hills - we did Peak Hill out of Sidmouth today which is 550ft in half a mile...

Just seen a Tricross Sport kitted out with rack, fenders, and Brooks Flyer at one of the bike stations on campus. I want one, but a little more minimal. Oh yes.

I have ordered one.

i rode this and the 7.5 the other day. 7.5 obviously nicer, and way out of my price range! i think the 7.2 would be fine for my purposes, but dadrza thinks i could do better for the price (it was $529 at my local shop) and thought i should have something with a better derailluer. anyone know of anything comparable?

i am getting antsy to pedal to work now (parking is $6/day!).

i went a-shoppin' with a lady friend of mine on the weekend who's after a bike - she looked at a 7.something at the trek store, but didn't test ride. "i want a ladies' bike, it has to be pretty!"

tza that rear derailleur is the base model shimano one, you'd probably go up to ...probably deore XT as the next step, i think. that's pretty solid gear. maybe see if the shop could do an upgrade deal, they can be flexible with this stuff to make a sale sometimes.

there is a 7.3 that has a deore but it's also another $100+ dollars, and i don't really want to spend that much. dude didn't seem overly eager to wheel and deal... also i think the 7.3 doesn't come in 17", only 17.5, which would probably be too big for me. sigh. this is hard!

the margin on bikes in that price range is pretty thin, so most shops won't bend over backwards to make the sale for you. honestly, i wouldn't worry about the derailleur - you likely wouldn't notice a difference even if you put on a top-of-the-line model, unless you replaced the shifters, cassette, chainrings, and so on. getting hung up on one component doesn't make sense unless you're spending top dollar and have really specific preferences. if the 7.2 fx wsd fits you, i say buy it.

right i mean i think that was just one of his concerns, only one that i remember at the moment!
i did google a bit and the bike gets good reviews from people who own it and use it for commuting. honestly i doubt that i would really notice a difference in any of these parts because i don't know anything about bikes! i know the $999 bike felt a lot nicer/smoother to ride but i also wondered if that was psychological.

was the $999 exactly the same frame size and shape? cuz if not, maybe it just fit better. fit is it!

the 7.5 has a carbon fork.

but both were 17"... not sure if the shape was ~exactly~ the same.