Bicycles?

[Lee]

The bike stores I went to all seemed to be against getting the Shimano MB pedals, saying I want the Look style or Speedplay style if I am going to ride and do very little walking (which is what I do). I was all set on Speedplay after talking to one bike store employee, but when I went to get them a different employee was working and he was all for the Look style. I ended up with Shimano Ultegra pedals (they were on sale). I am happy with them, they make a world of difference over those damn toe clips.

I am really starting to despise bike stores. My local one has some really shitty, unhelpful employees, and the other ones seem to be hit and miss depending on who is working.

[Zinfan]

If you aren't doing any walking about during your bike rides then those pedals are better than the mtb ones. They have a larger pressure point so you can transfer power better. Keep any eye on your knees and if they get sore at all you will want to talk to the shop about how to remedy that. I think I mentioned before that lots of my friends like the speedplay's but I perfer the Looks.

[Lee]

Since I think about spring and being able to ride daily, I have been looking at bikes. My Pilot I bought last summer is decent, but I am not overly impressed with the Tiagra front derailluer or the more upright position. It will become my commute bike.

So I want 105 or better components. Preferably Ultegra. Looking at the following, but won't buy until I ride both this Spring. Both are full Ultegra. The Specialized is more expensive, but has a better wheelset. Thoughts?

Specialized Allez Expert Triple:


Trek 5000:

[DonD]

I like the look of that Trek. Sexy bike.

[cheeba]

To me, Trek is the giant monster of the bicycle industry, swallowing up independent developers and ruining their creativity. Specialized, albeit very large, has not shown the same tendency. So yeah I'll always be on the side against Trek .

[Lee]

I like the look of that Trek. Sexy bike.

They have a blue one at the LBS, I think last years model, and it's far from sexy. In fact it looks kind of cheap next to the Specialized.

Now the Specialized Tarmac is sexy, but you pay for that carbon frame, and components are more important that the weight of the frame for me.

To me, Trek is the giant monster of the bicycle industry, swallowing up independent developers and ruining their creativity. Specialized, albeit very large, has not shown the same tendency. So yeah I'll always be on the side against Trek .

Really? I don't know that much about it, but Specialized seems to be a far bigger company, just not as popular here in the states. I kind of want to stick with Trek, just to support an American company, but I keep reading that Trek is overpriced. There is a $300-400 difference in the bikes above though with the only big difference being the wheels (Trek is cheaper). The Specialized is Ultegra, while the Trek is some intro level wheel that I forget the name of.

[cheeba]

Unless something's changed in the past several years (I've not ridden for way too long), Specialized *is* an American company. Hmm now I'll have to look this up.

Edit - Yes, they are.

[Coskesh]

Man, I'm glad you resurrected this thread. I've been looking to buy a bike to get me around town (<5 miles) and maybe do some trail riding on the weekends. Based on the recommendations in this thread (and my limited budget) I've decided to go used and get a mountain bike - opting for spare street tires instead of of a hybrid bike.

I'm looking at 2 bikes on CraigsList that should fit me (17-18inch frame) - a Gary Fisher Hoo Koo E Koo or a Trek 4900. Thoughts or recommendations?

I really had my eye on this Gary Fisher Tassajara, but according to the mfg website, the 19" frame would put the nutcracker right at 30.5 inches (my pants inseem is 31).

Thanks!

[Jeff V]

Lee, with my experience over the past few years, go with the better wheels. At the moment, I'm debating whether to get a fourth set of wheels for my seven-year old road bike (Bianchi Volpe touring bike). The originals (Mavics) had a design flaw and were scoring the spokes, causing them to snap often. Then I had a set of custom Mavics built, but the rims cracked in several spots around the spokes. Now I have a set of Xero X1 Lite, and they too are cracking around the spokes -- the rear wheel can no longer be trued.

I still don't see myself going with an exotic frame, though. I load too much shit on my bike when I ride (rack, bag, sometimes panniers, and, of course, my massive ass) so the weight savings mean nothing. Ever since the time I sheared titanium seat rails, I've been leery about the material strength of anything other than good ol' cromoly steel. And then there's the price difference; better performance always has a price, but in this case the performance gain would be minimal, so the amount I'm willing to pay in premium is commensurate.

[Lee]

You are probably right, the better wheels be the smarter decision. It's just that the price is really getting up there.

Don't you have like 3 bikes Jeff? The new bike will be my nights and weekend fun so I am going to keep it light. The Pilot I will load down with shit so I can carry work stuff.

[Jeff V]

I have two bikes, the Bianchi touring bike and a Trek 4500 road bike. A brother who has a side-business repairing bikes offered to sell my Bianchi via Craig's List if I wanted to go that route. Technically, I guess I still have my old Schwinn cross bike. I told my youngest brother he could have it, maybe he rode it once or twice before abandoning it in my basement. My bike-mechanic brother mentioned he knew someone who might be interested in buying it last summer, but nothing came of it. In any case, I've not been on that bike since I got the Bianchi seven years ago.

Your LBS might be able to work with you on the wheels, substituting a better set on a cheaper bike.

How is the terrain you'll be riding the most? I noticed that the Trek 5000 has a 50/39/30 triple chain ring available...if you're riding hills, you'll want that over the 52/39 double chain ring also sold on that model. The main reason I chose the Bianchi was that it had the smallest triple-ring in it's class at the time. I mostly ride flat terrain, so when I do hit a hill, the smaller chain ring is appreciated.

[itaiyo]

Wheelsets have gotten better and cheaper IMO. And I see nothing wrong with having an extra set. I bought some Performance Bike brand Titan Wheels (bladed spokes, deep-v rims for aerodynamics) for my cyclocross bike (the heavy duty road wheels that came with it had wider rims and made it harder to run narrow slicks). IIRC, they cost me about $160 (it was mad cheap because I'm a team performance member I got a special offer for 20% off any order over $100, and the wheels were already on sale). It's been great having a second set of wheels, one for my slicks, one for my knobbies.

And I know I said it before, but look at the house brands for bikes. It sounds like you've come to the conclusion that you want a better component gruppo (I heartily agree) and don't care as much about exotic frames (ditto, agree) so I think the next step is to not care about the brand name on the frame.

My last bike purchase is IDENTICAL to a Fuji Aloha. Saw the Aloha for $1500 at my LBS. Got my bike for $995 shipping included from bikesdirect.com with a different paint job and the brand name "Motobecane" on it. I'm also a huge fan of the Scattante brand bikes (used to be the Supergo bike shop brand, but they were bought by Performance Bike. PB is keeping the Scattante brand, though, and it's still a bargain).

Of course, after buying my bike online and assembling it myself I dropped $50 to have it professionally fit at an upscale LBS (Would never have bought anything there, too spendy). Money well spent.

YMMV

Damn this post is making me wish so hard for all this snow and ice to melt so I can f'n RIDE!

edited to add: Consider a compact double (50/34) instead of a triple. Still has something like 75% of the gear range of the triple with lighter weight. I put one of these on my cyclocross bike and I'm loving it for climbing. It was way cheaper than having to upgrade shifters/derailleurs to add a triple.

[Jeff V]

edited to add: Consider a compact double (50/34) instead of a triple. Still has something like 75% of the gear range of the triple with lighter weight. I put one of these on my cyclocross bike and I'm loving it for climbing. It was way cheaper than having to upgrade shifters/derailleurs to add a triple.

My concern on that would be it doesn't fit well normal riding patterns (in my case). I rarely go to the large chain ring (only downhill or with a monstrous tail wind), doing 99.9% of my riding on the middle chain ring. In fact, until I took my road bike in for a tune up mid-summer, my front shifter wasn't working and I did two centuries locked into the middle chain ring. I like the option to reach down into a granny gear if a climb is kicking my ass.

Damn this post is making me wish so hard for all this snow and ice to melt so I can f'n RIDE!

Fortunately, or snow storm fizzled here so there's only an inch or so, and that could well melt before the weekend, which is supposed to be pretty decent weather-wise (30F, sunny). I'm hoping to get out!

[magic]

Man, I'm glad you resurrected this thread. I've been looking to buy a bike to get me around town (<5 miles) and maybe do some trail riding on the weekends. Based on the recommendations in this thread (and my limited budget) I've decided to go used and get a mountain bike - opting for spare street tires instead of of a hybrid bike.

I'm looking at 2 bikes on CraigsList that should fit me (17-18inch frame) - a Gary Fisher Hoo Koo E Koo or a Trek 4900. Thoughts or recommendations?

I really had my eye on this Gary Fisher Tassajara, but according to the mfg website, the 19" frame would put the nutcracker right at 30.5 inches (my pants inseem is 31).

Thanks!

as a mountain bike nut, i'll chip in.

I prefer Fisher's Genesis series frames over what trek offers. That said, the HooKoo looks to be an older model than the Trek you listed. Without having the chance to look at them in person, i'd go take a look at the 4900 (which i think looks to be a 2003 model) and take it for a ride if possible. The price is very reasonable for what you should be getting.

Having recently sold a couple of bikes (now left with the one i pieced together on spares) I'm in a similar position with the top tube being close to my nuts. I'd see if you can go ride the Tass up and down the street at least, and get an idea of its size. It looks to be a better bike than the others and the pics make it look barely used.

[Lee]

A double huh? I don't know if I am good enough on hills to get away with a double. Like Jeff I spend the vast majority in the middle gear, but there are a couple of steep hills on my route that I need to step down to the small ring.

[Coskesh]

as a mountain bike nut, i'll chip in.

I prefer Fisher's Genesis series frames over what trek offers. That said, the HooKoo looks to be an older model than the Trek you listed. Without having the chance to look at them in person, i'd go take a look at the 4900 (which i think looks to be a 2003 model) and take it for a ride if possible. The price is very reasonable for what you should be getting.

Having recently sold a couple of bikes (now left with the one i pieced together on spares) I'm in a similar position with the top tube being close to my nuts. I'd see if you can go ride the Tass up and down the street at least, and get an idea of its size. It looks to be a better bike than the others and the pics make it look barely used.

Thanks magic. How much clearance (ideally) would I want on a mtn bike that I"m mostly going to use around the hood and maybe 1-2 weekends a month on a trail? If I'm riding serious trials, I can see needing more clearance.

[magic]

honestly, there's no set number. it's what you're comfortable with. I squeeze by with just about an inch of space in terms of standover height, and all of my riding is on stupidly tight, twisty technical singletrack. The smoothest thing it sees is the gravel parking lots at the trailhead.

[Jeff V]

So the pittance from the insurance company has been received and with a little added investment, I get to replace $2200 retail cost worth of bikes (2) that didn't need replacing this year with a single, $700 or so bike. I will most likely be getting this one:


It's a 2017 Fuji Touring bike and gets high marks for being a best-value type of bike. Were I to replace that Trek 2100 on my own terms, it could very well have been with this bike or a similar model from REI or Trek. When I got the 2100, I was at the height of my cycling powers and it made sense to continue upgrading my ride to better components. But now in decline, lighter-weight components have a high cost and diminishing returns. On the plus side, the gear ratio on this bike is kind to my creaky knees, especially now that I live in a river valley and my rides might not be so flat anymore.

Some day I'll have to replace my wife's bike completely out of pocket, but today is not that day. She hasn't ridden in several years, and it might not be until both kids are riding their own bikes that she'd be inclined to get back to it. And the baby still needs to learn to stand on her own.

[Hrothgar]

I thought all the cool kids had disk brakes these days. This is the updated version of what I've been riding. It looks cooler than mine, but mine's been a beast so I can't complain. Of course, I would complain quite a lot if someone broke my bike.

[Jeff V]

I had disk brakes once, didn't like them, had them removed. Calibrating them drove me crazy, there was about 1/10 mm where everything was in balance and nothing rubbed, I'd hit a bump and I'd be back to infuriating rubbing noise again. In any case, I wouldn't expect them on such a cheap bike.

I'm already poised to hate the bar-end shifters. I had thought them extinct...my last 2 bikes had integrated shifters and those work great and don't require moving your hands off the handlebar to shift. But it was nearly impossible to find a touring bike with integrated shifters -- not only are bar end shifters a lot cheaper, but apparently they are easier to repair on the road (and less parts to fail) which makes them preferred among real bike tourists (those inclined to ride for days or weeks). I couldn't find the right combo of features at any price I could justify; this happens to be the cheapest (and well-reviewed) bike that hits most of the important points.

I did salvage the badly-scratched integrated shifters from the wreck, as well as the brakes. I have a brother who's a bike mechanic and he told me he could replace the bar-end shifters with those integrated shifters if I prefer. We'll see how it goes...I just got a confirmation that the bike has been shipped from the Performance warehouse to the store, they'll put it together when it comes in. Hoping to have it this weekend, my wife is off and I should be able to free myself to do a little exploring in our new 'hood.

[hitbyambulance]

i got a CX bike last November, a 201X All-City Macho Man Disc. i really like it - best bike i've owned by far.