General Cycling Discussion - Need opinions: Bianchi Avenue, Marin Kentfield, Fuji League

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relyt
01-17-04, 07:24 AM
Hey all.

I'm looking into purchasing my first bike. It will be used around town (college student, no car, etc.) My commute is about 2 miles, through a relatively quiet area of town.

I have been looking at bikes, and have come up with these 3 as candidates:

Bianchi Avenue
Marin Kentfield
Fuji League

They meet my criteria of being simple, inexpensive bikes that are still of pretty good quality. I don't want a bike that I will outgrow. I also don't want a biek with any type of suspension. The Bianchi and Marin both have seatpost suspensions, but I figure that if I dislike them I can remove them fairly easily and swap in a normal post.

I was wondering if anyone had any opinions on these bikes, or experiences to share about them to help me decide between them. My price range is a max of $400 for a bike, so if anyone has other suggestions, please let me know. The Fuji is actually a road bike, and the others are hybrids. I'm not sure if a road bike is what I need, especially since it is my first bike, and the Fuji has drop bars. Any suggestions about that?

Thanks all!

halfspeed
01-17-04, 09:02 AM
Hey all.

I'm looking into purchasing my first bike. It will be used around town (college student, no car, etc.) My commute is about 2 miles, through a relatively quiet area of town.

I have been looking at bikes, and have come up with these 3 as candidates:

Bianchi Avenue
Marin Kentfield
Fuji League

They meet my criteria of being simple, inexpensive bikes that are still of pretty good quality. I don't want a bike that I will outgrow. I also don't want a biek with any type of suspension. The Bianchi and Marin both have seatpost suspensions, but I figure that if I dislike them I can remove them fairly easily and swap in a normal post.

I was wondering if anyone had any opinions on these bikes, or experiences to share about them to help me decide between them. My price range is a max of $400 for a bike, so if anyone has other suggestions, please let me know. The Fuji is actually a road bike, and the others are hybrids. I'm not sure if a road bike is what I need, especially since it is my first bike, and the Fuji has drop bars. Any suggestions about that?

Thanks all!

At this price range, you will outgrow anything if you get serious. So, unless you are willing to do a lot of research and buy something used, resign yourself to the fact that you may be spending more later. Given that, I'd go with the hybrids rather than the road bike because the hybrids are more suited to the kind of riding you plan on doing =now=. Plus, if you do decide to get a road bike later you'll still have your hybrid for city riding.