New with some questions
05-18-08, 01:41 PM
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New with some questions
Hello everyone,
My name is Andy. I live outside of Buffalo, NY and I have a few questions about biking and I hope that I can get some advice (I apologize as I am sure that you get these questions all the time on these forums). I guess I should give a little bit of background so that I can get as much help as possible. I am originally from a fairly rural area and I used to ride a mountain bike (a 2003 Gary Fisher Tassajara) around the local snowmobile trails and horseback riding trails. Nothing too serious or but enough to have some fun. I moved out to the Buffalo area to go to graduate school about 3 years ago and there are no trails nearby and with my busy work/school schedule I don't have alot of time to travel to find trails. This means that my mountain bike has pretty much just stayed in the storage unit since we moved out here since it feels like I am riding through wet cement when I tried to ride on the road. My girlfriend and I would really like to find a physical activity that we can both easily fit into our schedules (we are both also looking to lose some weight) and maybe help us find some new people/friends to hang out with and we decided that cycling would be a very viable option. So here are some of my questions:
If I were to swap out the knobby tires on my mountain bike would that give me the fast feeling that I am really looking for in a commuter type of bike? I would like to be able to go as fast as possible, but I am somewhat on the heavier side (like 230-250lbs). I don't really see myself doing anything rougher than riding on the road, paved bike paths, and maybe the very rare hard packed walking trail so I would like a little bit of versatility if possible.
We can probably only afford approximately $1200 if we were to buy 2 bikes. I am looking for more of a commuter type of bike as I only live about 5-6 miles from where I work/go to school. Are there any good bikes that you could recommend that would fill this role well? I will probably be putting on more miles than my girlfriend as I hope to be riding to work/school as much as possible. She is looking for something more low key. Something that she can ride after work and on the weekends. We went to the bike shop yesterday and she liked the look and feel of the Trek 7100 WSD. She likes the idea of a Women's specific design as she feels she has short legs. Are there any opinions as to other reliable, low priced women's that people have had good luck with?
I apologize for the wall of text and I appreciate any and all input that you can give me.
Thanks,
Andy
My name is Andy. I live outside of Buffalo, NY and I have a few questions about biking and I hope that I can get some advice (I apologize as I am sure that you get these questions all the time on these forums). I guess I should give a little bit of background so that I can get as much help as possible. I am originally from a fairly rural area and I used to ride a mountain bike (a 2003 Gary Fisher Tassajara) around the local snowmobile trails and horseback riding trails. Nothing too serious or but enough to have some fun. I moved out to the Buffalo area to go to graduate school about 3 years ago and there are no trails nearby and with my busy work/school schedule I don't have alot of time to travel to find trails. This means that my mountain bike has pretty much just stayed in the storage unit since we moved out here since it feels like I am riding through wet cement when I tried to ride on the road. My girlfriend and I would really like to find a physical activity that we can both easily fit into our schedules (we are both also looking to lose some weight) and maybe help us find some new people/friends to hang out with and we decided that cycling would be a very viable option. So here are some of my questions:
If I were to swap out the knobby tires on my mountain bike would that give me the fast feeling that I am really looking for in a commuter type of bike? I would like to be able to go as fast as possible, but I am somewhat on the heavier side (like 230-250lbs). I don't really see myself doing anything rougher than riding on the road, paved bike paths, and maybe the very rare hard packed walking trail so I would like a little bit of versatility if possible.
We can probably only afford approximately $1200 if we were to buy 2 bikes. I am looking for more of a commuter type of bike as I only live about 5-6 miles from where I work/go to school. Are there any good bikes that you could recommend that would fill this role well? I will probably be putting on more miles than my girlfriend as I hope to be riding to work/school as much as possible. She is looking for something more low key. Something that she can ride after work and on the weekends. We went to the bike shop yesterday and she liked the look and feel of the Trek 7100 WSD. She likes the idea of a Women's specific design as she feels she has short legs. Are there any opinions as to other reliable, low priced women's that people have had good luck with?
I apologize for the wall of text and I appreciate any and all input that you can give me.
Thanks,
Andy
05-18-08, 02:02 PM
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Switching out the tires would make you feel faster, though not as fast as a road bike. Spend the money on some slicks with Kevlar, you'll be ok. This way, when next winter rolls around, you have a frame that will take the knobby/studded tires to get around in the snow.
05-18-08, 02:08 PM
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[QUOTE=no1mad;6716819]Switching out the tires would make you feel faster, though not as fast as a road bike. Spend the money on some slicks with Kevlar, you'll be ok. QUOTE]
You will be fine with the slicks.
Once you get some miles in you will know better what rode or commuter bike you want.
You will be fine with the slicks.
Once you get some miles in you will know better what rode or commuter bike you want.
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05-18-08, 02:50 PM
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Y'know, if they'd had WSD bikes about 25 years ago, my beautiful but 5' 0" girlfriend might not have given up on cycling... and on me as well. Nah... Who am I kidding... She probably would have left anyway... but at least she'd still be cycling...
The bike makers are realizing that women will buy their bikes if they can fit comfortably on them. These days, you'll find plenty of decent women-specific bikes out there: road, hybrid, and mountain. Bicycling Magazine runs a buyers guide every year, and they've featured several of these in the past couple of guides. You can probably still find it online (Bicycling.com) or your LBS probably has a copy somewhere on the counter.
BTW, WSD bikes aren't just smaller framed... Many have shorter-reach brake levers, shorter crank arms, narrower 'bars, and some even feature 24" wheels... Weird tire size, true... but if it makes for a more confident fit on the bike, it's worth it.
I rode Trek for decades, and the 7100 is a pretty good choice. But while you're shopping, why not look at Cannondale.com, Specialized.com, Giant, GT, etc, etc... Their web sites all feature a selection of WSD bikes.
As for your tire question, I used to ride downtown and back everyday on a levee-top dirt & gravel road. I rode a Trek 7900 hybrid fitted with Performance Cross ST-K tires. These were "street tread" with a Kevlar belt under the tread surface... They looked kind of like street motorcycle tires. Cheap, less than $12 ea at the time, and durable, around 8K mi before they were unsafe to use any further. These smoothies worked just fine on the dirt road, and were excellent once I hit pavement on either end. Go with something like these, and you'll have at least some dirt & gravel control.
Eventually, you could buy another set of wheels... check your LBS, they're bound to have something leftover from a customer who upgraded. I've seen used nothin-wrong-with-em wheels for as little as $50 the set. You could mount knobbies on one wheelset and smoothies on the other, and switch from work to play mode in five minutes.
Good luck out there... Hope this helps.
The bike makers are realizing that women will buy their bikes if they can fit comfortably on them. These days, you'll find plenty of decent women-specific bikes out there: road, hybrid, and mountain. Bicycling Magazine runs a buyers guide every year, and they've featured several of these in the past couple of guides. You can probably still find it online (Bicycling.com) or your LBS probably has a copy somewhere on the counter.
BTW, WSD bikes aren't just smaller framed... Many have shorter-reach brake levers, shorter crank arms, narrower 'bars, and some even feature 24" wheels... Weird tire size, true... but if it makes for a more confident fit on the bike, it's worth it.
I rode Trek for decades, and the 7100 is a pretty good choice. But while you're shopping, why not look at Cannondale.com, Specialized.com, Giant, GT, etc, etc... Their web sites all feature a selection of WSD bikes.
As for your tire question, I used to ride downtown and back everyday on a levee-top dirt & gravel road. I rode a Trek 7900 hybrid fitted with Performance Cross ST-K tires. These were "street tread" with a Kevlar belt under the tread surface... They looked kind of like street motorcycle tires. Cheap, less than $12 ea at the time, and durable, around 8K mi before they were unsafe to use any further. These smoothies worked just fine on the dirt road, and were excellent once I hit pavement on either end. Go with something like these, and you'll have at least some dirt & gravel control.
Eventually, you could buy another set of wheels... check your LBS, they're bound to have something leftover from a customer who upgraded. I've seen used nothin-wrong-with-em wheels for as little as $50 the set. You could mount knobbies on one wheelset and smoothies on the other, and switch from work to play mode in five minutes.
Good luck out there... Hope this helps.
05-24-08, 02:07 PM
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Thanks guys
Hey everyone,
Thanks for all the great input. I figured that I would update you all. We finally made our decision on what bikes to get and picked them up today. Somewhat against my better judgment (although deep down I think I wanted a new toy) I bought a new bike instead of slicking my mountain bike for a commuter. I ended up going with a Haro Roscoe (https://www.harobikes.com/mtb/bikes/roscoe.php#whofor). My girlfriend got this (https://delsol.harobikes.com/lxi71.html). All and all I think we made out pretty well we ended up getting both bikes and she got a pink helmet like she wanted for $900 + tax.
Neither one of us have ridden a bike in quite some time but I was so excited about getting them that I dragged her out for a ride right away. I think we over did it though and we will definitely be sore in the morning. We decided to take the scenic route of what will be my daily commute (15 mile ride after a year or so of not riding probably was a bit excessive). The distance didn't seem to bad on the way there, but the way back was pretty tough. I must say though that the Roscoe feels very fast to me compared to what I have ridden in the past and I look forward to abusing my body some more in the future.
Andy
Thanks for all the great input. I figured that I would update you all. We finally made our decision on what bikes to get and picked them up today. Somewhat against my better judgment (although deep down I think I wanted a new toy) I bought a new bike instead of slicking my mountain bike for a commuter. I ended up going with a Haro Roscoe (https://www.harobikes.com/mtb/bikes/roscoe.php#whofor). My girlfriend got this (https://delsol.harobikes.com/lxi71.html). All and all I think we made out pretty well we ended up getting both bikes and she got a pink helmet like she wanted for $900 + tax.
Neither one of us have ridden a bike in quite some time but I was so excited about getting them that I dragged her out for a ride right away. I think we over did it though and we will definitely be sore in the morning. We decided to take the scenic route of what will be my daily commute (15 mile ride after a year or so of not riding probably was a bit excessive). The distance didn't seem to bad on the way there, but the way back was pretty tough. I must say though that the Roscoe feels very fast to me compared to what I have ridden in the past and I look forward to abusing my body some more in the future.
Andy
05-24-08, 03:56 PM
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I ride a Gary Fisher also. Forget spending the $$ on a new bike. You don't have to. Get rid of the Knobbies and get some 26' road tires. You don't need anything special or expensive. Road tires will make a world of difference. I ride road tires in the good weather and Nokians in the slop of winter.
