Bicycle recommendation

[germdoc]

Recently there was a discussion about cyclocross bicycles. I am thinking of getting a new bike and was interested in this type. I know some of you guys are very knowledgeable, so here are my specifications:

--would like to start riding primarily on roads with lots of hills, possibly with a group. I need a fast, lightweight, comfortable bike for fairly long distances

--in warm weather commute to work 2 miles each way

--from time to time will ride on crushed gravel trails, but not planning any major off-road stuff. I have an old mountain bike as well I can use if necessary.

--am considering training for a triathlon, that is, a half-triathlon--this is maybe the least realistic of my goals...

--need to watch how much I spend, so let's say ~$1000 for a goal. I will be looking at used bikes as well.

Any thoughts? Are these all mutually exclusive criteria?

If I get a road bike, can I get another set of rims with fat tires and gears and switch it out on the few times I do ride on gravel trails? (Wisconsin has hundreds of miles of trails on old railbeds, in fact started the rail to trail movement. In my experience about half are paved.)

Local dealers have a pretty full selection of Trek (based in WI BTW), Specialized, Haro, Lemond, Giant, but probably not so many European brands.

Whaddya think? Any links to specific bikes would be appreciated.

[cabinetman]

Take a look at Jake The Snake.
.

[jon_ramp]

Many cyclocross bikes have aluminum frames. Wouldn't be my first choice if I were buying one bike for many types of rides. If you want to switch wheels for different types or riding, make sure that the frame and style of brakes can handle a wider tire. Also, if buying used, depending on the age of the frame, the spread of the rear triangle may not accept the wider 9 and 10 speed cog set/hubs of today.

For more research, you may want to check out rivbike.com.

[JR]

A cyclocross bike might well provide the versatility you're looking for. As in many things in life, it's a compromise.

A 'cross bike will tend to be stiffer than a regular road bike. It's also a little heavier. So on long rides you might get tired sooner.

It might do well on the trails, although it's hard to say without knowing the trails in question. The relatively narrow tires, as compared to a mountain bike, will make them susceptible to pinch flats on rocky terrain.

A conversationi with an adult at the local bike shop might prove fruitful. You should plan to buy from a LBS, unless you are absolutely certain of the the bike you want, it's size, and options. Good bike stores will assure your bike fits and will perform as you want. Go during the day and talk to the manager to get the best advice. Saturday mornings the shop will tend to be filled with mom's and tykes and high-school aged staff.

You can expect to change tires or entire wheel sets as necessary to attack varied terrain. As has been mentioned, the frame and brakes setup will limit the choices. If you get a bike that allows larger tires, it's easy to go to skinnny. If you get a bike designed for skinny tires, you might not be able to go to fat. Wheelsets can be expensive - three hundred dollars and up, once you put a gear set and tires on.

HTH,
JR

[eddy merckx]

Hi Jeff

My advice would be to get a road bike rather than trying for a compromise. In bikes, the better the bike works for road, the worse it works for off-road and vice versa. Since you already have a mountain bike, that's what I'd use for gravel, etc. It will be much better.

That will free you to get a full-on road bike. A grand will get you a pretty decent bike from any major manufacturer. Just make sure you talk to somebody at a shop who knows how to fit road bikes. The fit is much more important than the brand or even the parts. The older the bike fit guy, the better, since a 25 year old will often want to make you fit the bike like you're gonna do the Tour de France. If you visit a few shops, you'll quickly find out what the shop's priorities are.

I would also plan on another 200 bucks or so for some clipless pedals and shoes. If you're training for a triathlon, you might as well make yourself as efficient as possible. It makes the bike more comfortable too.

Best of luck,
Eddy

[germdoc]

I agree with the last comment. I am leaning toward getting a dedicated road bike, as it seems to me the crossover bike is geared more toward really rugged terrain and would be pretty stiff and uncomfortable on the road.

If I did a lot of trail riding I guess I could get another set of rims with fatter, knobby tires.

[HarmsWay]

I was the one thinking I wanted a cyclocross bike. After seeing a few examples (Kona's 3 lovely Jake bikes and the Specialized Tricross line), I decided it wasn't really what I was after. They are very stiff, unforgiving framesets for a light guy like me even though much of that is offset by the cushion of a larger tire volume. Since I'm not in a position to offroad them anyway, I decided I was better off getting a light road bike that would take a 28mm tire. I'm still looking by the way, but I've got a new test ride list that I hope to get through this week.

You say you want a fast & comfortable bike that you can commute with during the week and race on weekends. Oh yeah and ride on crushed gravel trails. I agree with Eddy that you should not try to compromise - although my wife could probably do that list with her new Specialized Sirrus for CDN$800. If you've got a mountain bike, keep that for the commute and gravel trails which are the two requirements that are at odds with the fast & racing ones.

Everyone's idea of a comfortable bike is different. For me an aluminum frame with an aluminum fork is too harsh (although light weight). A steel frame & fork is a bit softer (and a lot heavier). Carbon fibre can give you a frame that is stiff where it needs to be without a harsh ride. It's also very light weight. Unfortunately it would be outside the $1k. Many bikes now use an aluminum frame with a carbon fibre fork as a good compromise. Some also use carbon fibre seat stays. The Sirrus mentioned above does that. My wife is enjoying hers a lot. It's a flat bar bike but the Sequoia appears to be a similar frame with regular road bars. Also keep in mind saddles have come a long way in the past decade in terms of improving comfort on long rides.

This is not a bad time of the year to buy a bike. I was looking at 2008 bikes that the LBS was prepared to sell at close to a 20% discount. The models and size choices may be limited. Check out used bikes as well.

Bob

[docrowan]

I chose to go with two bikes - a simple steel road bike and a high-quality hybrid for touring/recreation. Most hybrids I've seen are very low-quality, I was fortunate when I found mine. I owned a mountain bike long enough to realize I hate riding on single track - not enough coordination to jump, turn, shift, and pedal at the same time between two saplings and over a rock. Other than "technical" singletrack, my hybrid takes me anywhere I want to go - paved, gravel, or dirt. When I toured Germany I swapped to 1.0 tires rather than the 1.5's I normally use, made a big difference. I thought about getting a second set of rims, but I realized that it didn't take a lot more time to swap the tires once you have the wheels off, and I didn't need to change often enough to justify the extra expense.

My 10 year old road bike allows me to hang with anyone near my fitness level, which is not much any more. I used it in a couple of duathlons and passed plenty of people on the bike portion that ran faster than me.

I'll echo the comments about fit and add component quality. Too many cyclists I talk with are clearly overweight by about 50 pounds, but spent $3 to 4 grand on a bike just so it would be 2 pounds lighter. I've had a chain break 10 miles from home and lots of flat tires, my 2 pound tool kit saved me from several very long walks home. Hard to fix broken derailleur lugs, gears, crank arms, cables, etc. in the field. Spending for component quality can help reduce these kind of problems.

I chose to concentrate on fit, component quality, and comfort. You're more likely to ride a bike that feels good. Also, plus one on the weekday bike visit and talking with someone who knows what they're doing.

[HarmsWay]

Any luck finding a bike Jeff?

[JR]

FWIW - the LA Times had an article on road bikes designed with a more relaxed geometry and less vibration.

http://www.latimes.com/features/heal...,5272770.story

[HarmsWay]

Love the looks of the S-Works Roubaix. Actually any S-Works bike. I just bought a Cervelo RS that would also fit in the relaxed category.

[germdoc]

I am quite enamoured with the Trek line, particularly since they're headquartered in Wisconsin. I like the 1500. The replacement model 1.5, apparently, has had several components downgraded, so it's not as good a value.

So, I'm watching and waiting and checking craigslist and saving my money.

[HarmsWay]

That was my impression of the Treks I was looking at too -good bikes but not great value. I rode my trusty old Trek mountain bike to work today. Still great after 20 years although it's sort of like that favourite axe story. Original parts only include frame, fork, stem and handlebar (all steel).

[drumpriest]

I have to agree Trek has made good bikes for a long time, but they are seriously overpriced at this point in comparison to their competition. The Lance years have allowed for that, the name recognition is there. I recently bought a new road bike, ended up with a Felt f3 series bike. I like it well enough, but my real recommendation is to go ride a few. Don't limit yourself until you have ridden a representative cross section of what is available.

The right bike will feel right to you, my best advise.

[HarmsWay]

Part of the problem with test rides is making sure the test bike is a good fit. A good bike store should have something in place to determine this although some will be more sophisticated than others. Since I'd been riding seriously for 20 years I was going to skip the fit part but then decided for various reasons it was worth the effort. I'm glad I did. My optimum road bike position had changed quite a bit since I'd last ridden a road bike 12 years ago. My LBS first set up their fit machine with my previous geometry then gradually tweaked it to where they thought it should be based on my expected riding style. Then together we tweaked it back to a compromise for comfort and power generation. The machine and computer interface is quite interesting. At this point they had all the necessary geometry measurements to set up a bike. The process took about an hour and cost $100 which is fully refundable if you buy a bike from them. They were able to determine which of the bikes I was interested in could be setup with those measurements and voilà! I was able to do a hard 2 hour ride with the test bike, which I bought then I rode a couple hours the next day. As I said, I'm glad I did the fit. The process to find a bike for my wife was much more time consuming and hit or miss.