Jackalopemonger

The bicycle I loved and rode for 5 years was stolen last night! While my roommate and I were throwing a house party, no less! It is to cry!

So now I need to get a new bike and I don't know what to look for. My old bike was a Specialized Crossroads, a hybrid bike with curved tubing. It served me well but it's definitely time to move on and get myself a new bike that's better suited for my needs. What I am looking for now is a commuter bicycle that:

- can carry a full week's groceries - that means the capacity for front and rear racks.

- is suitable for touring, although not necessarily specialized just for that purpose.

- is relatively low maintenance and low cost (limit of $1000, at the very most). I don't need fancy brakes or ten thousand gears.

- has mounts for water bottle cages and a pump, and can carry fenders, because fenders are a wonderful, wonderful invention.

- is a road bike. Drop handlebars are in!

- can serve as an all around, multipurpose bike. I have a souped up single-speed mountain bike for winter riding, but I expect to be using my new bike in all weather except if it's a downpour or a blizzard.

Two bikes that I've heard good things about and might suit my needs are the Jamis Aurora and Bianchi Volpe - these are also available at the LBS, which is nice, because I am mostly car-free and can't travel out 30 miles to pick out a bike. So if anybody has suggestions for bikes I ought to look into or owns one of the above bikes and can give a good review, I would love the help. Thanks!

~Ben

P.S. I have learned my lesson. From now on, I am always locking my bike up, no matter where it is parked.

schnee

How about building up a Surly Crosscheck? That bike is a bit heavy (grade of steel isn't the lightest) but it has braze-ons for everything and room for awesomely huge tires. I know a few folks with 'em and they love the fact that they can run everything from a stripped-down fixed gear (thanks to semi-horizontal dropouts) to a cyclocross racer (room for huge tires, canti brakes) to a full commuter (fender, bottle and rack-mounts galore).

If you want something a bit more comfy, the Long Haul Trucker has a more slack geometry that's almost Euro-touring.

You'd have to build it up / choose everything yourself, but it's an option if you're up for that.

spidercyclist

There are a lot of bike out there in your price range.
I ride the redline 925 single speed bike . It is a good bike at a good price . By advice is to test ride . The one you like and go from there . Have a good nite .

Falkon 

Raleigh One-way 200 is a crazy nice single speed commuter.
Trek Portland is a nice looking bike.
Fuji Cross and Touring bikes are both very good
Felt SRD92 comfort road bike is just plain awesome.

NeezyDeezy

Either you're not aware of high capacity rear panniers, or you eat like a horse.

Good suggestions so far, I like the Fuji touring for what you need. https://fujibikes.com/2006/bikes.asp?id=143

sometimes you can get them used even

unkchunk

Sorry to read about your loss. Another thing you might want to consider is getting new friends. Seems like the old ones just aren't worth it, if one can wonder off with your bike and none one notices.

gizmocat

I use a Trek hybrid 'step through' to do what you do.

You might also look up a Breezer Uptown 8,

or a Giant Cypress DX (replace the saddle.)

and get a good lock or two! good luck

The_B.O.C.

if i were you, i would go with the bianchi san jos8 from harris cyclery. i'd love to have one of those.

CBBaron

In my opinion two excellent choices given your desires. Also a Surly CrossCheck can be ordered (complete or frame only) by nearly any LBS but they are less likely to be in stock. I like the CrossCheck for the ability to run fixed/single speed and the extra room for wide tires.
Try all of them and go with the one you like the best (or can get the best deal on).
Craig

cooker

Apparently the Trek Portland, while sold as a commuter, isn't set up to accept full racks and fenders. At least according to a poster in another thread.

I ride a used Trek 520 tourer. That would work for you.

branman1986

Sounds like you need a tourer, I'd go with the Bianche Volpe, Fuji Touring, Jamis Aurora, used 520, used t800 or t2000, used crosscheck or lht, etc etc...

I'm currently riding a Fuji Touring and I really like it, though I doubt it would feel too much different than the Aurora or Volpe(it's cheaper though)

aadhils

Get a cyclocross or a touring bike with an xtra cycle. That'll keep ya up and running...

humbug

+1 for the cross-check. the criteria you list describe that bike almost to a T, including your price range. the volpe and the aurora are nice bikes too, but i own a cross-check so i'm biased.

kbabin

What about building up a Nashbar touring frame?

https://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...eid=&pagename=

Jackalopemonger

Wow, there have been quite a number of replies! Thank you to everyone who has given advice and suggestions, I really appreciate it.

Although the idea is tempting, I'm probably not going to be building a bike up from a frame, just because that would be more expensive than buying a pre-made bicycle. Same deal with getting an Extra Cycle, plus that would add unnecessary weight to my bike when most of the time I just need to ride around town.

If anybody here rides a Jamis Aurora - how is the gearing for you? I was told that it's a bit on the high side and not well suited for touring.

I think I'm going to look further into the Jamis Aurora, Bianchi Volpe, Surly CrossCheck, Fuji Touring, or Trek 520 (if I can find it used). They seem to be the most versatile bikes of the bunch, being able to fulfill a double role of touring/commuting.

The San Jos8 sounds wonderful for commuting, but I don't know how well it would hold up for touring. Has anybody tried this? The Trek hybrid, Breezer Uptown 8, and Giant Cypress DX look like good commuter bikes as well but probably not suited for touring, plus I'm looking at getting drop handlebars.

Thanks again, and if anybody has any further suggestions I'd be glad to hear them.

~Ben