The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
Help me pick a bike
Jimmy King
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Alright, it's time to add biking to my exercise. I have a few wants/requirements here. Suggest some likely decent bikes and a size for me.
* Most riding will be done in the city for exercise to augment running
* Want to be able to go offroad, fairly rough, when life allows
* Want to be able to do dumb stuff - jumping things, etc. I'm old, nothing crazy, but I also never really grew up
* Trying to keep it under $1000 new, ideally WAY under. But, I don't want to spend $500 and not have something that makes me happy. 100% open to buying used as well once I know what I am looking for.
* I'm 6'2" or just under, 32-34" inseam (seems to vary) - I've read everything from needing a 19" to 22" frame
It seems bike terms have changed some since I last purchased a bike a million years ago. It looks like I am looking at something in the realm of Trail Bike, Hybrid Bike, possibly Cyclocross (but those seem to get expensive quick and may be a bit too road oriented). Last time I bought a bike the term Trail Bike meant one of those things that mostly looked like a mountain bike, but wasn't intended to ever jump or otherwise leave the ground or ride anything much rougher than a well groomed, family day out oriented bike trail.
Some recent light research on random blogs and looking at local bike shops and rei online suggest that something along the lines of the Canondale Quick or Canondale Trail series bikes may be a good fit.
* Most riding will be done in the city for exercise to augment running
* Want to be able to go offroad, fairly rough, when life allows
* Want to be able to do dumb stuff - jumping things, etc. I'm old, nothing crazy, but I also never really grew up
* Trying to keep it under $1000 new, ideally WAY under. But, I don't want to spend $500 and not have something that makes me happy. 100% open to buying used as well once I know what I am looking for.
* I'm 6'2" or just under, 32-34" inseam (seems to vary) - I've read everything from needing a 19" to 22" frame
It seems bike terms have changed some since I last purchased a bike a million years ago. It looks like I am looking at something in the realm of Trail Bike, Hybrid Bike, possibly Cyclocross (but those seem to get expensive quick and may be a bit too road oriented). Last time I bought a bike the term Trail Bike meant one of those things that mostly looked like a mountain bike, but wasn't intended to ever jump or otherwise leave the ground or ride anything much rougher than a well groomed, family day out oriented bike trail.
Some recent light research on random blogs and looking at local bike shops and rei online suggest that something along the lines of the Canondale Quick or Canondale Trail series bikes may be a good fit.
0
Posts
Also while my buying knowledge is a little outdated mountain bike companies tend to bring out new gear on a yearly basis, whenever the new seasons bikes arrive last years goes on sale. If memory serves me right Canondale was one of the companies bringing out their next year bikes really early, so it may be their 2021 models is not far off.
Finally. This is a great place to find user reviews of bikes and gear, it will let you scout out possible weak points of possible bikes that you fancy.
https://mtbr.com/user-reviews.html
On top of specific bikes in my price range thoughts on frame size would be much appreciated. I alluded to it in the first post, but wasn't super clear. Recommendations I see on the web are all over the place.
And yes, I'm 100% for buying a way nicer bike than I could normally afford used (or just paying Huffy prices for a decent bike). I have done some digging on craigslist and the results were surprisingly low, so I'm not holding my breath on used, but am all for it if the right bike pops up.
https://www.specialized.com/us/en/shop/bikes/active-bikes/fitness--hybrid-bikes/crosstrail/c/crosstrail
Edit: As long as the frame is stable and is designed to go off road I suggest you buy separate tires if you're going to be going real rough.
Really, I'm thinking 3-4 days/week on roads and light, well maintained trails is honestly what I'll be doing. There might be "something" to get a bit rough on there, but I have my doubts. I'm talking open the garage and start pedalling, so local residential/city, city park paths, etc.
It's looking like my biggest challenge may be that bicycle production seems to be more or less shut down along with everything else.
Diamondback, Trek, Giant, and Specialized all have bikes which look like excellent fits in both the gravel/adventure category and in the hybrid category which I'm keeping an eye on to actually be available.
That Specialized Crosstrail, Trek FX-2 and Checkpoint AL3, Diamondback Haanjo 2, GT Grade Elite, GIant Roam Disc 2, Revolt 2 or Toughroad SLR GX3 are I think the top picks on my current short list. Almost all on the higher end of what I want to spend, but if I can swing it, I'd rather drop $800-$1000 on what I need than $500-$600 on something I'm unhappy with.
I also own a Specialized Hardrock (with RockShox in the front) from 1999.
Also, you will never use a 21-speed bike in the city. You go uphill, you'll use gear 3 or less. Going downhill, you won't want to go 40 mph and get hit by a car. So I find the 7-speed adequate for city and paved trail use.
I find myself riding the Infinity more. Do not discount the value of an aluminum frame and thinner wheels (Hybrid 700c, for city riding).
https://www.infinitycycleworks.com/product/boss-three-unisex-hybrid-7-speed/
Seconding this. A good, expensive bike is sort of like a guitar. You don't want to get one until you know exactly what you need. I'd suggest getting something cheap or second hand at first, get a feel for what you like and want in it after using it in your usual environment, and then later on get one that fits the bill better.
As an example - personally I have 6½ bikes. If I had more room for them I would have more.
My point is really that no bike is perfect for anything and if you try to find a do-it-all that bike may in reality only be so so for anything.
So if the main thing is commuting on pavement don't get a mountain bike or if you do make it a light one with little or no suspension and tires that are less than 2" wide and with little to no knobs on the thread - wide tires with knobs are great off road, but a drag on the road and using them on road wears them out quickly. Also the way you sit and the width of the handle bars are different off and on road, on pavement you will want a narrowed handle bar and sit more leaning forward as this reduces wind resistance and on road you do not need shift you weight around so the saddle can be taller.
Never a truer statement.
I base my moving decisions off how well my bikes will fit in the new place.
Next up: new pedals. The ones which came with the bike are for tiny baby feet.
Now on alu vs. steel, there is so many things that influence comfort and for example the handle bar, saddle and seat post can change things a lot. Just slightly tilting the saddle or lowering or raising it or rotating the handle bar changes things and that is before even replacing parts. Do say if you'd like more info.
I'm currently in the process of fiddling with saddle position and height to get that right. I think I have a weirdly short inseam for my height. Fortunately, the seatpost has markings every millimeter, so it's easy to make specific adjustments back and forth until I get it right.
The steel vs aluminum things is not a big deal right now. Bikes in my price range were almost all aluminum frame. I had little choice there, but felt ok going more road oriented than I had initially intended because of that. The steel frame bike I was borrowing was a ton less rough to ride on grass, rough gravel, etc. But steel frame bikes just don't start getting good until spending way more than I was willing to or having more patience with the used market than I have.
I'm definitely up for any pointers on things I might want to adjust or experiment with, though.
After some experimenting you will get a feel for what works and what to try, but don't settle with a setting that is just okay. Get it to okay, go for a good ride and bring the tools needed, so that you can fiddle with it more. You may find that it only takes a tiny thing to go from okay to good.
Not too long ago aluminum was the new exotic thing and steel frames was the cheap ones (apart from the high strength steels ones that is), now there is so much choice.
You can mix materials, like for example with an alu frame it can make sense to run a carbon handle bar and or stem and likewise you can go with a carbon seatpost.
A short article on carbon vs. aluminum handlebars:
https://reviews.mtbr.com/carbon-versus-aluminum-handlebars
Note - they can be found for reasonable money:
https://aliexpress.com/popular/carbon-mtb-handlebar.html
It is hard to be specific without being there in person. Best I can think of is really to remember one can adjust a lot one a bike to get it just right, as most can be done with just one or two allen keys I'd suggest to simply carry one so you can change things + when doing make sure to not tighten the screws to little or to much 8-)
Should you find that you can not get it just right, then maybe look at replacing one or more parts to make bigger adjustments doing so can alter lots. Here is an overview - disregarding material just on the types of adjustments possible.
Finally something almost to silly, but perhaps often forgotten - the air in your wheels. In general the higher the air pressure you run the less rolling resistance you'll have, so I suggest going with the max pressure it says on your tires that is until you go off road because then you want to lower the pressure to get more grip. You'll find the air pressure in the wheels changes how the bike feels and you can experiment with perhaps running a little less in one end. The minimum pressure is also printed on the tires.
Pedals will likely be the first thing replaced - the current ones are absolutely tiny for my 12.5 2E shoes. I have a solid 1.5 inches of shoe dangling off the side of each pedal with the inside rubbing on the crank and will occasionally whack my heels on the frame while pedaling. I need to be able to shift my feet out a bit more. Definitely going to stick with flats there for now. I already spend an obscene amount of money on running shoes and struggle with shoes due to very strangely shaped feet. I have no desire to add another specialty shoe to the mix.
Seat I'm considering replacement but want to find a local place with butt measurer or rig up a measurement here at home. I cannot get my sit bones happy with the seat and being a generally wider framed person I am wondering if this super crazy skinny saddle just needs to be a bit wider. I'm not ready to just aimlessly drop money on that without some measurement for guidance, though.
On the saddle. Hard to say, it can just be a question of tilting it a couple of degrees however it can also just be one that is no fit for you. I'll second Jimmy King on WTB and Selle Italia.
Now pedals one thing to consider with platform pedals, they have a major draw back in that one does not have the free rotation of ones feet that clipless offer. It may sound odd, but with clipless your feet can rotate a few degrees and naturally your feet will do that through a revolution and this keeps your joints from instead having to take the flex. Platforms are okay, but for a lot of riding I would say clipless is much better.
Got my pedals replaced, too. I ended up going with Raceface Ride pedals for now. I'm not doing anything crazy offroad, I just needed a bigger platform in general. These are plastic/nylon, so won't wreck my shins or calves so bad if I miss (I still have scars and bad memories of taking Triple Traps to the calf in my teens). My feet feel so much more stable on these.