notfred

We get a ton of "what bike should I get?" posts from new riders here, so obviously a lot of people are worried that they're going to buy an unsuitable bike.

I'm wondering how many of us have actually done this.
Did you buy a mountain bike, and then realize that it was just way too slow to ride on the road every day? Did you buy a hybrid and discover that straight handlebars were uncomfortable for you?

If you can post your stories, maybe we can get a collection of actual problems people have had when choosing a new bike, and maybe some of the beginning commuters can have a better idea of what to look for in a new bike.

Also, if you're bike purchases have always turned out well, you can post that too, maybe it will help to alleviate some worries people have about buying the wrong bike.

ax0n

I bought a mountain bike from Wal-Mart. All of my previous bikes (as a kid to late teen) had either been old bikes (that I wish I still had! GRRR!) or cheapo x-mart bikes. I figured a bike is a bike. I figured wrong.

Bike: NEXT Power-X DS26 (Dual "suspension", 26" wheels)

What was wrong with it?
Both suspensions bottomed out constantly (probably had to do with weighing 240# at the time)
The chainstay was slightly bent from the store
Within 6 weeks, the rear hub disintegrated.

When that bike died, I picked up two used mountain bikes and kind of shuffled things around on them. Both were steel-frame Diamondbacks from the 90s. One is hardtail and the other is rigid. The hardtail came with slicks and the rigid bike never got ridden a mile in its life, still with the OEM knobbies.

I did some parts shopping/swapping and built a flat-bar, slick-tire hybrid out of the rigid and a great singletrack and winter beater out of the hardtail.

The hybrid works well even for my 28 mile round trip commute when I need to use it. My primary machine now is a Trek 1200 road bike with lights, rack, panniers and Fenders.

swwhite

I bought a Trek 4300 for my main commuter. I wouldn't say it is "wrong," because I do like it. However, it never occurred to me to check to see if it could take fenders. I just assumed that all bikes could. This one has no fender attachment points for front fenders. I got by with zip ties and all is well, but it still irritates me once in a while.

My current thoughts for an ideal commuter would be an Xtracycle or Big Dummy because many times I stop at the grocery store on the way home. With a cargo bike, I could do a major grocery run as part of my daily trip home from work which would seem like a major time saver.

Banzai

I bought a road oriented hybrid...and soon discovered that flat bars over any distance were not cutting it. I tried lots of modifications, but could never get it quite perfect.

Then I built myself a cyclocross bike that's been a great commuter. Heavy as sin, but highly functional.

tjspiel

I posted some used bike buying tips earlier. Unfortunately when buying a road bike for my wife last year I was unaware of about half of them.

My wife and I were signed up to do a triathlon later in the summer and even though it was mostly for fun my wife wanted a road bike. She wasn't willing to spend much money on one however. She really liked my 80's Peugeot and that's what she looked for on CL.

She came back home all excited one Saturday morning last spring. She had seen a Peugeot at a garage sale only a few blocks away that fit her and it appeared to be in really good shape. She didn't buy it because she wanted me to check it out. They were only asking $40. So I get in the car with her and by the time we arrive someone else had bought it. She moped the rest of the day.

A week later she sees another one on CL that's 49 cm (her size). It's out of town a ways but she insists on going to check it out. So we do and when I first see it, it's clear that the bike is nearly 30 years old and is a low end machine. The tires barely hold air and are bulging in several places. She rides it, and I do too. It shifts, but it's rough.

She asks what I think and I say: "I don't know... if you're looking for a bike like mine, this isn't it". But she really wants it, and I don't press the issue. So we buy it for $50.

I've learned a lot since then. It never occurred to me that the wheels might be steel and how bad braking would be when they were wet. So after new tires, I started hunting around for a used set of alloy wheels and found some. Then she wants to deal with the shifting problem. "I'd like it to click into gear like yours. I can just put on new shifters right?"

"Umm, I think it's more complicated than that." I say.

But she's my wife and I have a reputation as a fixit guy to hold up so I learn what I need to learn, buy what I need to buy (used when I can) and after many hours of work she has a 32 year old Peugeot with hyperglide 6 speed indexed shifting.

After that work plus new cables and cable housing, it's turned out to be a nice if not exactly light bike. But it took many hours and much more money than the initial $50 investment.

If I had to do it over again, it would have made a lot more sense to spend some extra money up front on a better bike.

That's why I'm a little leary of recommending a cheap bike from CL instead of a Denali from Walmart. Any modern shimano derailleur is going to be better than that 30 year old Simplex that was on my wife's bike. Decent bikes are out there on CL for decent prices, but you have to know what to look for.

DataJunkie

My first non walmart bike was a marin hybrid. It was very uncomfortable for the distance I was riding and not durable. Anyhow, since I purchased it at REI I returned it and went with a touring bike.
I have had a fixed gear, the touring bike, and a mountain bike since the hybrid. All have been better to commute on than the hybrid. Jack of all trades. Master of positively absolutely none.

Jeffbeerman2

My first serious adult bike was a trek 1200. Max tire size is 25mm without fenders.

When I started commuting I learned very quickly how stupid that bike's design is, for anyone but a serious racer.

the trek 1200 is a great stable-bike, but a poor only-bike. If you need a bike to ride only on windy dry days, I highly recommend it.

I'm going to add a contrast here too. I was kind of a comfort bike snob til I bought one for my girlfriend. There is nothing better, if you are not in a hurry or on a long trip, than an upright geometry, step-through "comfort bike". they're the best way to enjoy the ride.

careya123

Amen. I bought a Trek 7500 hybrid for a 3.5 mile commute. It's slow and uncomfortable. I've taken it to two different bike shops to see if the brakes are rubbing or some other thing is causing it to be so difficult to propel forward. Nothing. My friend's mountain bike is twice as fast with knobby tires. Go figure.

idcruiserman

Several bikes on CL that didn't quite fit right. And one that fit great.

Pinyon

I've had a couple of Sears/X-Mart bikes that I ended up hating after the first 2-3 months in my youth, but my biggest miss-adventures were in buying really decent race bikes that were too "nice" and expensive for me to be comfortable with. I know this may seem strange to many people here, but I spent more time worrying about minute paint scratches, super-security locks (4-5 lbs of chain to protect my super-light bike!), whether or not my expensive rims were still true, the shifters were in perfect working order, etc. I took even took corners more timidly.

I keep my bikes in excellent repair, but I've had just as much bad luck with mid-to-upper end road race bikes, as I have with X-mart bikes. That is mostly because, while I'm not fast, I like to ride HARD. I stop and sprint across most intersections as fast as I can (less time in the intersection translates into less time for cars to hit me by accident), and expect any bike that I ride to be able to carry me and all of my work clothes and gear for commuting, regularly handle things like railroad crossings, bad or broken pavement, riding on gravel in hills, etc. The parts on race bikes that I traditionally tore up include rear rims, spokes in general, rear hubs, chains (must change every 2500-3000 miles or so), handlebar tape/cork (move/rub around too much), and bottom brackets (well...not after 1998 or so). I always ended up switching components out for tougher and heavier models, which pretty much meant that I had turned my nice race bike into a road commuter rig with big 36 spoke rear hub-rim assemblies, most likley a rear rack, etc.

After a while, I just admitted to myself that what I really needed and wanted was a decent non-race, road bike that I don't have to worry about, and just works. I'll trade a little extra weight for durability and reliability, any day.

bkrownd

No wrong decisions, but no one bike has ever been everything I wanted.

Decision 1: In grad school (1994) I got a Trek 820 for around-town and commuting and such. It was perfect for the punishment and neglect I lavished upon it for a decade, and erased the bad memories of that horrid 12-speed I had as a kid.

Decision 2: Fuji Absolute vs. Novara Buzz (2004). I went with the Absolute because I thought it felt more comfortable, and I think it's a better climber. However, I occasionally wonder whether I would have preferred the disk brakes on the Buzz.

Decision 3: Jamis Nova vs. Fuji World (2006). I got the Nova for $400 less because I couldn't see any compelling difference between them, aside from the Nova having a lighter more noodley frame. I don't plan on cycling with really heavy loads, so that isn't a problem. However, I don't like the carbon fork that came with the Nova - may eventually put a disk brake capable steel fork on it.

You can't have it all. (unless you got cash to burn, of course)

bigbenaugust 

I bought a 2003 Giant Rainier in the off-season because it was a screaming deal with the Performance sale and the Veloswap coupon ($520 for an $800 MTB). In the intervening 4.5 years, after mountain biking and commuting on it, I have come to realize the following:
- it is a size too large, so even with an 80mm stem and the seat all the way forward, it still feels too long.
- The disc brakes are fussy. (Call me a retro-grouch.)
- I only ride it like 2-3 times a year now that I have a dedicated commuter again (I have had one almost the whole time and only commuted on it occasionally.) and it's too large.

So the moral of the story is... pay attention to fit and don't let the salesmen snooker you into the wrong size.

pinkrobe

Bad bike choice - yeah I've got one, no, two.

Bad choice #1 - 1987 Bianchi Axis
I bought this off of some woman in the burbs. She had ridden it six times, then stuck it in the basement. It was completely stock, other than the Brooks saddle. That meant ancient canti brakes, bar-end shifters and narrow drop bars. It was also new, other than the dust on everything. It was a little small at 52 cm, but I ride a 54cm road bike, so I figured that sliding the seat back and getting a 130mm quill stem would do the trick.

OMG. I tried to use it with the bar-end shifters, but I never ride in the drops, so it was a giant PITA. I said "**** it", and slapped on an old 8-speed rear, a flat bar, Suntour XC Pro thumbies, my old Avid SD Ultimate levers and some pieces of a pop can as a shim. This was okay for a while, but I kept modifying it. Next were fenders, then v-brakes, then some 28C Contis, a new seatpost [I got rid of the Brooks after day two], grips, new saddle. Eventually it was converted to a single speed using a magic gear. No matter what I did, it was still an unpleasant ride. My friend Ibby described the handling as being "like a nervous cat in an alley full of dogs". Well put. I would describe it as sketchy, with a feeling like it had a 75-degree head angle or something. It was also a rough ride. Narrow-diameter steel tubing should flex when you look at it, but this frame was just plain nasty. I retired it in favour of the Bone Shaker, a 1995 Specialized M2 Pro that was stiffer than the hinges on the exit gates of Hades, but was still more comfortable than the Axis. Go figure.

Bad Choice #2 - IRO Rob Roy
I sold the Bone Shaker [rebuilt as a regular road bike] to cover the purchase price of the Rob Roy in May of 2007. The Rob Roy was done and gone by October. Here is the sad tale.

Chuck D says "Don't Believe the Hype", but I did anyway. The RR had been touted as a real scream to ride, and a cheaper alternative to the Surly Cross Check. "Steel is real!" Even better, the frame was the same colour as my car. Matchy-matchy!! I received my Rob Roy in late April, and built it up as a flat bar SS/FG with a flip-flop rear hub and most of the SS/FG parts off of the Bone Shaker. Then I rode it. Equipped with the same wheels, brakes, saddle and bars as the Bone Shaker, I was astounded to find out how bad it sucked. Heavy, dead-feeling [even compared to the 11-year old aluminum Bone Shaker], with a really flexy fork, it was a recipe for disaster. After five months, I said "**** it" and put it up for sale for about what I paid for it. It sold in under 24 hours. I used the money to build my old Trek 8500 XC mtn bike frame into what is the nicest-riding commuter bike I've ever had.

Thanks for reading!

CN: steel CX bikes suck.

mystery905

I bought a CCM Falcon mountain bike from Wal-mart that seemed ideal at first. But then I noticed the 'drag' on pavement due to the knobbies. It also had a non-standard frame and was difficult to use with a bicycle car rack, and to mount anything on it such as a u-lock.

I returned it, and for about the same money, I got a CCM City Express Comfort Bike which was last year's model on clearance (normally $200+), and included: slick tires, rear rack, fenders, radio/horn/light.

I immediately noticed the difference in speed on smooth pavement.

Manetheren

I bought a Marin hybrid as an upgrade from my old Diamondback MTB. It's a better bike, faster, with better shifters and brakes. However, I just can't get used to the bar position. The Diamondback bars were straight across, while the Marin's are curved very slightly back. The grips are also cramped, with not enough room for the full width of my hand between the bar end and the shifter. This wasn't an issue with the Diamondback because it had twist shifters (which I hated). I bought the Marin in a seeming fit of idiocy - I didn't take any other bikes for a road test. I can't afford another bike for a long time now, so I'm stuck with it. The worst part is that I get numbness in my ring and pinky fingers after riding for more than 15 minutes. The rest of the bike is great for my purposes, but I wish I would have tested some other brands.

jwbnyc

Both my mistakes were bikes a size too large: not just the frame, but the the bars and cranks as well. Both were recommended by the LBS.

Lessons to be learned? Find a really good bike store. Don't be too hasty in coming to a decision on what size bike to get. Take some time to figure out what size bike you should be on. It does no good if you can make some changes to get a good fit on a particular frame if the cranks are not the right size. The advice to buy a size up in order to get the bars higher for comfort is bogus IMO. If you want the bars higher get something with a longer head tube in the right size, not something "a size up".

Also, give some serious thought to what you want to do with your bike. Buy something appropriate. For me the purchase of a Hybrid, in one instance, was a mistake. It was not comfortable over the distances I needed to cover.

Ultimately, how well a bike fits is hard to determine completely until you have lived with it for quite a while. Taking the bike for a test ride will only tell you so much. Educate yourself and then find someone who really knows what they are doing to give yourself the best chance of getting it right in one.

Catweazle

I purchased the right bike despite the advice!

I was cautioned against buying the Avanti Expedition comfort hybrid when I mentioned it in 50+, being told I'd be better served with a faster bike free of the suspension and with 24-speed gears rather than the 21-speed 'megarange' kit it had.

After giving serious consideration to the advice I ended up deciding to go with the original idea and the available budget instead. The $100 or so extra needed for what was advised was about a 25% increase to a very tight budget, and the Avanti isn't actually a poor quality bike despite its low cost.

I'm glad I did, because the hybrid serves my purposes very well indeed, and I'd envisage it continuing to do so for a while yet, until I'm ready to add to the stable. It's a heavier ride for sure, but not so much that it's too far slower than the flatbar road bike I also occasionally ride, and it's robust enough to handle going off the bitumen without problems.

What suits suits. People have differing needs.

Comfort grips can help because they allow subtle hand position changes to have a rather big impact. Bar extenders can help too. But if numbness is happening after only 15 minutes riding perhaps you need to look at the bike setup and your riding position? Seems to me you must be clinging too tight or having too much weight on your hands.

BCRider

I bought a moderately high end hardtail and picked the size of frame I thought I needed. It rode fine and all but just didn't have the magic out on the trails. I figured it was me until I test rode a different bike with the same setup but with a different frame. It was like night and day.

I ended up getting one of the Supergo Access frames because the goemetry looked right. It's a lovely bike and works with me more like I expected a hard tail intended for free ride like duties to ride like.

walterk46

My "mistake" bike was a Trek 7200 hybrid. What I didn't know when I bought it was that swept riser handlebars were all wrong for me. Here's how to "assume the position" of my old bike: Hold your hands over your computer keyboard as if you were going to type. Now, without moving your arms, rotate your left hand counterclockwise and right hand clockwise until both of your wrists hurt. Hold that position for 20 minutes. That's what it was like. I was pondering whether to switch to a flat bar or drop bars when the old Trek 7200 was stolen outside my office. Problem solved, I guess. Been riding road or CX bikes ever since.

savethekudzu

And here I went with a Trek 7000 (same handlebars as walterk46) as a replacement for my first adult bike.

Briefly, I had one of these:


https://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11203064

I would maintain that it's not a bad bike for the price. But it's not the bike I needed for commuting. Too heavy, and I definitely did not need the full suspension. But for a casual rider on fairly flat terrain, it would be fine. And I still like the way it looks.

For my purposes, the Trek 7000 was a step up from this, a bike better suited to my needs... especially since I've now added SKS fenders, a Topeak rear rack, lights, etc.

ac220v

Just shows that not everything works for everybody. I like swept risers (if they aren't too "swept" and are wide enough.), flats are so-so and drops... Well, not with my back

ax0n

That's odd. I'm not in shape, and I'm not a spry young kid either. With the exception of snow, my '06 1200 (with fenders and a rack) is a great daily commuter machine for my 29 mile R/T. It's got more of a touring than racing geometry, a huge gear range, and ample eyelets. I've never raced, with the exception of reeling in and picking off a few slow commuters on occasion.

Having said that, I know what you're riding now, and I'm sure a posh setup like yours would permanently spoil my opinion of the 1200 but really, the best advice I've ever seen given is to go ride a ton of bikes (and more than just around a parking lot) to figure out what works best for your situation.

No "serious racer" would race on a 1200.

Jigsaw

I bought a used Townie off of CL. This was a very comfortable ride and was just what I needed after many years of not biking at all. After a few months, I learned it had too many limitations. It was heavy and slow, and the 3-speed gearing seemed to be lacking some steps in-between. I sold it last month, and am currently looking at finding another bike, such a Specialized Sirrus sport or KHS Urban Xtreme.

This is a great thread, and helpful for me while I'm still looking.

e0richt

I wanted a bike and thinking that the road bike that I had before,(it was 86.00 k-mart special...) during the bike boom of the 80's, was kind of uncomfortable... and based on recommendations at the LBS, I purchased a trek 7100 multi-track...

at the time I tried it, it seemed fine (but I only got the "parking lot" check out...) but later, I started feeling the weight of the bike... I sometimes was able to get it up to 18mph but I only tended to avg 13 mph on it... It actually started to feel like I was pedaling a motorcycle because of the shock on the fork and the seatpost... as I was getting more fit from using it though, I determined that I wanted a road bike.

I went online to ebay and bought a dawes lightning sport... it is a "retro" kind of bike, 14 speed, indexed stem shifters, chro-molly frame and fork... but it was new and had a warranty rather than a used bike...

I love that bike, I have about 1200 miles on it so far...

I still have the trek hybrid and I also now enjoy riding it but I don't put the mileage on it that I do the
dawes. I only really use the hybrid for "easy riding" or if its bad weather out...

what is interesting is that the hybrid cost more than the dawes...

I also bought a walmart Denali "road bike" (if you can really call it that...) but I found that the low end stuff on it made it frustrating to use and it was also pretty heavy... so I got rid of it...

climbhoser

Two mistakes:

1. Even though I've been an avid rider for many years, when I got back into commuting I bought a cheap road bike from Target because I didn't have much to spend. My oh my what a POS. No detail needed.

2. I had my heart set on a Surly Crosscheck, and bought one this January used for a great price. It had flat bars, which was fine, and it fit well, but for the distance I commute (36 mi. RT) it gets uncomfy quick. So, I did a drop bar conversion last week only to find that I can't find a short enough stem to make it comfortable. I have an 80 on there now, and I still need 2 inches closer!

So, my mistake was buying the wrong size. It was my mistake, not the bike's, but I'm paying dearly.