This is my first post, so I hope I'm in the right forum. My wife and I bought our last bikes in college. We are in our early 40's and wanted to get a pair of bikes to get in shape this year. Our criteria were comfortable bikes for running errands, going on the occasional well paved trail, and maybe a 10-mile ride on the weekend. Since we don't want to worry about the bikes, and only plan to keep them for a year (we're moving out of the country next year), we wanted to keep it inexpensive ($200 or so), but couldn't find any used bikes at stores. I didn't really know what to look at, since the last time I bought a bike, they were nothing like what's available now. (Holy smokes, shock absorbers and 21 speeds? What next, spoilers and automatic transmissions?)
Anyway, we ended up buying new, my wife got a Giant Cypress for $239 and I got a new, closeout 2003 model Specialized Crossroads for $199.
I preferred the Specialized over the Cypress and the Raleigh C30/C40 (which seemed to give a sluggish ride).
Did we do even vaguely reasonable in our choices?
Thanks for any response, and then I can start digging in with my particular questions!
Bill
Hunter
04-27-04, 11:56 PM
The question is do you two like them? That is what is important. Also just because you move to the country does not mean you need to stop riding. Keep riding those bikes!!
seely
04-28-04, 01:28 AM
(Holy smokes, shock absorbers and 21 speeds? What next, spoilers and automatic transmissions?)
Anyway, we ended up buying new, my wife got a Giant Cypress for $239 and I got a new, closeout 2003 model Specialized Crossroads for $199.
Bill
Actually can you believe you can setup a roadbike with 30 speeds (3x10) and a mountain bike with 27 (3x9)... oh and Landrider makes an automatic shifting bike! :eek: Still working on that spoiler though. ;)
Anyways sounds like y'all did fine, if the bikes are what you were looking for, you're comfortable on them and you enjoy riding them, they are perfect! I second what the previous poster said about keeping them for more than a year. In pretty much every other country in the world bikes are a much more standard form of transportation than here in the US, and you may find yourselves wanting to ride more wherever it is y'all are going than here even. What you can do is have your local bike shop break down and box the bikes, and then you just send them to yourselves Fedex, and have the bikeshop there put them back together. Some of my friends do this when traveling overseas and doing bike tours, and recommend this vs. flying with the bike sometimes.
Anyways enjoy the bikes and ride, ride, ride :)
The Terminator
04-28-04, 04:12 AM
Congratulations! You are doing just what I did last year. I got the family some bikes, and started riding after 20 years. I dropped 20 pounds last year, and I cut my season fairly short. I started riding late this year, but I hope to drop at least 30 pounds this year. We all got bikes, my son is 9 now, but I was the only one who got the addiction.
I can't stay off of mine. A good bike is so much fun to have and take care of. Any advice I would give, is to take it slow for the first couple of weeks, and don't get caught up in how many gadgets, hydrations systems, or whatever that you can get. I bought so much stuff, and ended up only taking the bike and the water bottle most of the time. Enjoy!
blueline
04-28-04, 05:38 AM
Reiterating some of what has already been posted, other countries are both more ameneable to bicycling as a form of transportation, and it may be more difficult to get a bike that fits you at a good price in another country. We lived car-less in Japan for 4 years and our bikes were a mainstay of our transportation support (including buses, trains, walking, and friends with cars). There were plenty of bike shops, but the bikes were all designed around the Japanese, not a 6'2" American. The prices were reasonable on Japanese commuter bikes, but I couldn't readily find something that fit me at all well. We could have bought an inexpensive used car, but when you factor paying for a parking spot, ~$3.50 per gallon for gas, driving on the left, dealing with Japanese cops, high cost toll roads, heavy traffic on local roads, etc., I just didn't want to deal with it.
In Europe, the gas prices are just as high, paid parking, the commuter train networks usually excellent, etc. It also appears to me from poking around the web that although it may be easier to buy bikes that fit you and your needs, that the prices are considerably higher (at least on U.S. models).
Of course there are some countries in which you may wish to skip the bikes and go straight to an armored car...
DnvrFox
04-28-04, 06:06 AM
Congrats on the bikes. They are both good quality name-brand bikes, and if you like them, you got a good deal.
I have over 8,000 miles on a similar bike I bought 6 years ago. Keep those bikes - take them with you.
Good luck.
(FYI, you are both quite young - my wife and I are in our 60's). Biking is forever.
Bill B
04-28-04, 11:28 AM
Thanks for all the positive reinforcement! The thing is, we're moving to London next April for a year. We won't have a car there (taking the tube everywhere), and I'm not sure how easy it is to bike in London anyways (getting it into taxis or tubes or trains to go to parks and such).
Also the cost of having the bikes boxed, shipping them to London, having them reassembled, then a year later having the bikes disassembled and boxed over there, then shipping them back, and having them once again reassembled could be more expensive than just buying two used bikes over there, using them for a year, and selling them.
Sure is fun in the meantime though, and I don't plan to go without biking if it's possible in London, I just don't think I'd bring the bikes with us. And as far as being young, that may be true, but my rear end feels about a thousand years old at the moment.
Thanks for all the help, and I look forward to posting more,
Bill
ChiliDog
05-02-04, 09:22 PM
Hey Bill, before you two take off for the UK, start reading "Cycling Plus" magazine. It's a super cycling magazine aimed at all kinds of riders and published in the UK. Available at Borders, Barnes and Nobles, etc. or most good book stores. It will give you some insights into the great cycling culture over in the UK...I jealous! :) Lastest edition just came out last week...wonderful magazine.
Bill B
05-02-04, 10:40 PM
Thanks for the info, ChiliDog, I'll look into it before we go!
Bill
Rick G
06-02-04, 08:01 AM
Hey 'Bill
I did just the same as you.the wife and I wanted to start riding again {cause we were tired of walking} it has been about 20 years for us.I also made it easyer for us to take our 2 yr old with us.
We went to the local walmart though,did not have the bucks for really nice bikes but we like them anyway.have been riding now for a couple of weeks.both my wife and my backsides are telling us about it.have bought a gel cover for both our seats.still stugling with that little problem.I am thinking of raising the handle bars so we sit up more maybe that will help.we have enjoyed every minute on them though.look forward to the ride everynight.the 2 youngest kids love goin too.I am hoping around the first of sept.to make a long ride.there is a little town about 8 miles from here that I want to ride to and back.but I have alot of work befor that.
If it were me I would take the bikes with me to the UK.lots of riders over there.
anyway have fun and enjoy the riding,I do
Rick GHi all,
This is my first post, so I hope I'm in the right forum. My wife and I bought our last bikes in college. We are in our early 40's and wanted to get a pair of bikes to get in shape this year. Our criteria were comfortable bikes for running errands, going on the occasional well paved trail, and maybe a 10-mile ride on the weekend. Since we don't want to worry about the bikes, and only plan to keep them for a year (we're moving out of the country next year), we wanted to keep it inexpensive ($200 or so), but couldn't find any used bikes at stores. I didn't really know what to look at, since the last time I bought a bike, they were nothing like what's available now. (Holy smokes, shock absorbers and 21 speeds? What next, spoilers and automatic transmissions?)
Anyway, we ended up buying new, my wife got a Giant Cypress for $239 and I got a new, closeout 2003 model Specialized Crossroads for $199.
I preferred the Specialized over the Cypress and the Raleigh C30/C40 (which seemed to give a sluggish ride).
Did we do even vaguely reasonable in our choices?
Thanks for any response, and then I can start digging in with my particular questions!