General Cycling Discussion - Help identifying bike type I should purchase

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charlesduke
07-25-09, 03:03 PM
I currently ride a fixed gear bike around the city. I use it for transportation, commuting, wandering/personal enjoyment. I'd like to get a geared bike however. I am interesting in doing long distance rides, non-competitively, for my own enjoyment/alleycats. I find the road bike style geometry very satisfying, and even if I am not competitive, I like to really mash, and go fast. I am not particularly concerned about bike weight, I just don't want it to be ridiculously heavy -- mainly got carrying it up to my apartment. If I had to say one area i'm most interested in, it'd be touring. Also, my budget is like $1000, give or take. I also like a classy ride, i'm not into super techy looking stuff. Any suggestions? I don't mind buying used. Thanks.

I was looking at the Masi Speciale CX, and the Surly Long Haul Trucker, but they seem like they'd be really heavy. Or are they reasonable?

knobster
07-25-09, 03:07 PM
I'd suggest seeing if you can find something like a Specialized Tricross Comp. With road tires, it's about as fast as a typical road bike, with knobby tires, it's pretty capable on hard pack trails, put some slightly larger road tires on it and you could easily use it for touring or commuting. Has rack mounts both front and rear and a third water bottle cage mount. Comes in about 20lbs and has 105/Ultegra mix of components.

I have one myself which is the reason I like them so much. Perfect bike in my opinion. I picked up a year old one for $900.