luda1

I'm searching for a bike for myself and keep coming back to this forum looking for information. I know very little about bikes other than I love to ride them. You all seem knowledgable so I thought I would ask your opinion and recommendations. I appreciate any suggestions and information - thank you.

This might be asking too much from one bike but it needs to hit as many of these marks as possible.

1) Lightweight; I'm going to be continually lifting it on and off a car rack.

2) Mostly flat road riding with occasional hills and trails - nothing intense but I don't want to be sitting straight up trying to pedal up a dirt hill with road bike tires. I might do some bicycle backpacking with it also.

3) Durable, something that can withstand being in the weather for extended periods of time.

4) Repairable, I don't want something I'm going to be hauling to the landfill in a few years.

5) Good suspension, easy on the wrists and ass for those occasional rough rides.

6) Price, it depends, I'd prefer to buy used because I think I'll get more bike for my money, but I'll consider new.

ahsposo 

Welcome to the Forums!

Why don't you go to General Cycling at the bottom of the main forums page and post a similar request.

Be sure to give us a general idea of your location. Bike availability can vary from country to country.

My opinion? Light weight and suspension are mutually exclusive. Good fit and rider form is the best suspension.

cb400bill

Welcome to Bike Forums, luda1.

I'm going to move your thread to our General Cycling forum where is will get more viewers.

MRT2

Budget?

delcrossv

I'd suggest you poke around in the "Classic and Vintage" forum for a while and get a feel for older road bikes. They're often very nice rides, and a good value. Find one that takes bigger (like 35c tires) and go have fun.

CliffordK

It is easy enough to find a bicycle that will fit 3 or 4 of your requirements. Hitting all 6 might be tough.

As delcrossv mentioned, a classic road bike can fit a lot of those. And, are actually quite tough. Very repairable, although sometimes hunting for parts can be a pain, but they are generally cheap when you find them. Something that was built for 27" tires probably could take the 35c or so cyclocross tires, but might need long reach brake calipers. But you'd be doing some customizing on it to get it to work right.

Personally I'd look at the more modern cyclocross bikes. Designed to be tough. Roads and moderate off-roads. Reasonably light. Drop bars.
Essentially the cyclocross is a "hybrid" that takes more road features than MTB features (drop bars)
Whereas a "hybrid" takes more MTB features than road features (flat bars, and sometimes front suspension).

There is a movement away from "full suspension", which in many cases is very heavy, and only needed in a few circumstances.

However, there is also an effort to add just the right amount of flex to the bike frames such as the Specialized Roubaix.

So, perhaps consider these as class exemplars, also with increasing cost.

Specialized Crossroads - Hybrid, some with front suspension.
Specialized Tricross - Cyclocross, road, gravel, moderate off-road, generally no suspension.
Specialized Roubaix - Road, gravel, cobbles, designed with a frame to take up some of the shock.

fietsbob

OF course if no dealer selling Specialized you have to pick another brand but the categories the ones Clifford mentions have equivalents from other brands

they all come from Taiwan anyhow. Bike Manufacturers to the Globe.

CliffordK

Oh, as far as weather... it depends on what you mean.

If you park a bike outside in the rain for extended periods, the chain and other parts get rusty. Perhaps the old friction shifters of the classics are more resilient to abuse. A steel frame will take a lot of abuse, but may start looking ugly after years of being left i the elements. It may still be strong, just rusty.

So, consider frame materials:

Steel - Cheap. Can be heavy or relatively light depending on the tubing choice and quality of the build. Rusts if the paint is compromised.
Aluminum - Also relatively cheap. High-end frames will be slightly lighter than the equivalent steel, but low-end frames can be heavy. Generally resilient, but can corrode in certain circumstances. Fatigue can be a problem with some frames.
Stainless - generally high tensile steel, and made to be relatively light. No rusting (or minimal rusting). But, is a very boutique market.
Titanium - Good flex, no rusting, can be left unpainted. However, it is fairly expensive. Some frames were prone to fatigue. Generally somewhat lighter than steel.
Carbon Fiber - Considered the lightest frame material. Also generally expensive, but can be cheap on the used market. Slightly more fragile for certain types of abuse that would leave dents in steel, but cracks in CF. I presume the frame is fairly weather resistant, although the paint may fade.

The frame weight may be about 1/3 of the total weight of a bicycle, give or take a bit. On the high end road bike market, everything is optimized, and the weight difference from CF up to steel is only a couple of pounds. When one gets down into the old vintage Schwinn and Huffy bikes, the difference becomes more significant.

luda1

Sorry about the length of this - I have a lot to learn.

I looked at the Specialized bikes you suggested - thank you for that. The 'roubaix' with the larger tires is a nice bike. Is it possible to find a 'roubaix' with bar handlebars? I like the cyclocross bikes, but I can't find one with bar handlebars. Also, in that price range I would have to hunt around for an older used one or comparable one, which I don't mind doing, but I need to spend more time learning so I know what I'm buying.

I read an article on bike radar about hybrids, which I know nothing about. I've been out of cycling for a while but I've ridden mountain bikes, road bikes, and done a little bike backpacking. It seems the biggest challenge with hybrids is finding a quality one that will have some resale value.

The article I read was "best urban and hybrid bikes". The Trek 7.4 FX might work as well as the Fuji Absolute 1.1. They both weigh in around 25 lbs. I was reading that front suspension on an inexpensive bike will probably be poor quality and just not worth it. I'm also not sure I need disc brakes. There is a lot to learn.

I started looking in the 300 range, quickly moved to the 800 range, and saw a few in the 1200 range that I liked. I'm leaning towards something older that has been maintained and can continue to be maintained and repaired. This might work out better in the long run. I've looked at a few bikes that are 10-15 years old in the 3-500 price range that originally sold in the 2000 range; a Trek and a Kona. These hit a lot of the boxes for me, but they will take some tuning up and possible repairs.

There seems to be a lot of people wanting to unload their headache on someone else. Buying used takes knowledge and experience that I don't have. But the idea of an older used bike that may be a little beat up but is in really good running condition appeals to me because the bike will often be left unattended (locked of course) but I don't want to invite theft with a shiny new expensive bike. This bike will be traveling with me across the U.S. and Canada.

Hey, I appreciate you guys taking the time to help me figure out what will work for me. Thanks for spelling out the differences in frame construction - that's very helpful. I'm going to spend a little more time learning, asking questions, and then hit some bike shops, see what they suggest, test ride a few, then learn some more, and eventually make a decision. I'm not in a hurry, but I have to find something by June. Thanks again, appreciate your knowledge.

CliffordK

You can put flat bars on road bikes. But... one thing nice about the "drops" is you can grab them in multiple places, so if you get tired of holding them one way, you can grab them somewhere else.

Usually people get pretty good at grabbing the brakes from the top of the bars, but you can get "Interrupter Brakes" to give you multiple positions.

The Trek and Fuji Hybrids are certainly worth considering, and come in at a fairly good price point.

luda1

Just wanted to thank you guys for the very useful information you gave me. After A LOT of research and looking at over a hundred used bikes, I have to say I learned A LOT. I bought a used Gary Fisher Montare mountain bike. Not sure what year it is yet, but it's in pretty good shape, and pretty much exactly what I was looking for. I couldn't have done it without the great advice and information you all provided - Thank you very much!!