howardv

I have 2 bikes: A Yeti full suspension mountain bike and a long stretched cargo bike (for shopping and my dog). I want to do more city biking - mainly going from Santa Monica to downtown Los Angeles (about 10-15 miles each way). Also will bike around Hollywood hills. City streets between these locations range from smooth road to really rough pavement filled with potholes. I also want the ability to go up/down curbs as needed in city traffic (without damaging wheels/tires). This is why I want a hybrid with front shocks that have lockout. I don't want super skinny wheels nor mountain bike tires, something in between.

Looking to spend $200-$400 for a used bike. Been searching Cragislist. So far, I've identified the Trek DS series as having front shocks with lockout and medium sized tires. Who else makes something like this?

Any recommendations are appreciated.

one4smoke

Giant Roam - Most bang for the buck, IMHO.

avidone1

Specialized crosstrail....it's got that bang/buck thing for sure

howardv

Thanks for the recommendations. Looked up the Giant Roam it seems only the Roam 1 & 2 have lockout while the 3 does not. Either way, added the Roam and the Crosstrail to my watchlist. None available in my area (in my size), but I'll keep an eye out.

Please let me know of any other bikes that meet my criteria. Unfortunately, Craigslist listings don't usually include the fine details of the bike. Heck, I'm lucky if they even mention the size and year! People just don't take the time to post a proper ad with pertinent info. Makes shopping used bikes a pain!

Little Darwin

I am amazed at how often the text in a CL ad just says "Red Bike" or something similar. Then if they do post pictures, it is of the logos instead of the components.

Of course, for most of the bikes I see on my local CL, there aren't any components worth picturing anyway.

howardv

Something I've learned is to never travel far to see a bike. People misrepresent their bikes often. Pictures look good until you get there - specially the low resolution pics on Craigslist. I traveled an hour to see a bike that had plenty of rust and oil leaking from the shocks, but the pics looked great. Now I just search my local neighborhood.

Shopping for a used bike can be very frustrating!

howardv

I visited 3 local bike shops today and played with these bikes. My initial impressions:

1. Fuji Roam 3 - The Roam 3 is the starting line (Roam 1 and 2 are higher models). The shop only had the Roam 3, so I can't comment on the 1 & 2 versions. This was the least expensive of the bunch at a selling price of $450 (on sale). I was highly disappointed in the front shocks. They do have full lockout, but the shocks felt extremely soft. When pressed down, it felt choppy - not smooth. I would probably keep it in locked mode all the time...which wouldn't serve the purpose of having a shock at all. Also had mechanical disc brakes.

2. Specialized Crosstrail - The lower model they had was selling for $550 (on sale). Had hydraulic disc brakes (but cheap ones - can't remember the model). The shocks were slightly better than the Fuji, but still felt cheap and soft. Definitely smoother up/down motion. The weight of the Fuji and Specialized felt the same to me, but I had no way to measure.

3. Trek DS 8.3 & 8.4 (at another shop) - The shocks definately felt better than the Roam and Crosstrail, but still felt cheap and flimsy. I know...this isn't a mountain bike. But I would have loved to seen some type of adjustment to make it firmer. The Trek was the most expensive at $680 and $860 (8.3 and 8.4 respectively). They both had the same shocks, but the other components were better on the 8.4 (hydraulic brakes is one example).

So I started thinking about getting a hard tail mountain bike. One salesman said I would lose "speed" over getting a Hybrid while another salesman (at a different store) said the speed would be the same. He actually said I'd probably be better off with a mountain bike as it has fatter tires and a smoother ride through LA streets.

So now I'm not sure which way to go. With a budget of $200-$400 (heck, I'll even raise it to $500 since I saw what's out there today), the higher models of these bikes are out of the question. And these hybrids are rare in the used market (considering the year, size, etc.). Maybe a used mountain bike, like the Specialize Rockhopper would be a better idea.

Any thoughts on the differences between going with a mountain bike vs. hybrid? Remember my requirements: I want a front shock that is lockable. Any advice is appreciated.

mwl001

I'll keep trying the Giant site (it doesn't seem to load for me at the moment) but I'm pretty sure you can adjust the preload on any of the shocks on the Giant Roam (I think that's what you meant, vs. Fuji Traverse). I have a Roam 2, and didn't raise the preload for a couple of months; in that time I barely used the shock because it pogo'd and compressed too much for my liking, but now it's much better. If you remove the cap on the stanchion that doesn't have the lockout selector on it, my guess is you'll see a preload adjustment screw. All of these bikes probably have one so you need to make sure you're comparing apples to apples. I sincerely doubt there's an easily measurable difference between them.

A hard-tail mountain bike can be just as fast as a hybrid -- just make sure the gearing is similar, mountain bikes often have better gearing for hills and less "top end" gearing as a result.