Kaimiloa

Hi folks,
I'm a fit, 6'/200#s, guy looking for a fun bike to ride around my hilly area. I will usually be riding on backroads with some rough spots from my home at 500ft elev. to a friend's house at 2500 ft (6 mile trip), so I'm looking for what style or crankset, etc. I should consider. I'm not racing, just want to get up the hill so I can fly back down. Any suggestions on brand/models I should test ride?

Mahalo nui.

Kaimiloa

Oh, and lots of curves, so handling is important. Local shops seem to carry Specialized, Marin, and Cannondale.

ryan.karr22

some people call it deferred success... but around my house i have lost of climbing, and am not supper man, so i got a compact crank 34-50. that helps.

sportridertex

www.Civiacycles.com


Nice looking bikes, belt drive is a nice option, I'm thinking about going belt.

USAF1C1X1

What he said. However what about a 26 tooth granny gear just in case? I would imagine a 50/34/26 would be awsome with a 9 speed 11-32 cassette in the rear. What is the climb to straight path ratio for your rides?

Wanderer

I would think a 50-40-30(or anything real close), with a 9spd 11-32/34, would be more reasonable ----- you can ride right up a wall with a 30-32/34.... and have a lot more middle and high ranges.... and better close ratios for more finesse

xoxoxoxoLive

You might read this just for added experience....https://www.kenkifer.com/bikepages/skills/uphill.htm Richard

USAF1C1X1

I agree. That's a pretty good setup. Hell, I would use that setup on my 7.3FX (with an 8 speed cassette) but that will have to wait until stuff gets worn out. Then again I did just snag a 12-26 cassette because it's pretty flat here. I still wouldn't mind pairing that up with a 50-40-30 crankset. I currently have a 48-38-28 and the 48/38 the job just fine, but I never use the granny gear because the 28T fairly useless to me.

Wanderer

Not meant to hijack the thread, but getting a cog with 11 teeth on the high end, will make a lot of difference with your chainrings - that 48,38,28 ain't a bad mix...... that's almost a 10% rise over that 12 tooth.

Wanderer

Getting back to the OP, I would look for something with a lock out suspension, (if you are looking in that direction, so you can lock it out on climbs,) and a 40-45mm tire on back, with a 32-35 on the front. I really like wide tires for increased grip and smooth ride (and the ability to absorb bumps when leaned over in a curve). Fatter tires inspire a lot of confidence when going downhill fastly.... MHO

USAF1C1X1

I currently have an 11-32 cassette and the 32T is pretty useless for the type of riding I do and the terrain I encounter. I couldn't find an 8 speed 11-26 cassette so I had to settle for a 12-26. I could have went with an 11-28 but the 12-26 seemed like a better fit for the terrain here. If it doesn't work out I'll just get the 11-28. They're only 20 bucks on Amazon anyway and I can keep the 12-26 for when I move to Virginia.

Kaimiloa

Thanks for all of the responses. I don't know what calculations are involved in "climb to straight path ratio" but in my mind, its about 2/3 climbing. The first mile from my front door is a 500 ft gain of straight hill, then 1.5 miles of slight drop, and then mostly climbing.

I've seen a few bikes with 28/38/48 gearing. One bike I'm looking at is the Giant Roam 2 which has locking suspension as mentioned above. Maybe I'd change out the knobbys for some slicks. I'm open to a road style bike as long as it could take a little beating.

I'm healthy and in pretty good shape so I don't mind working hard, but I just don't want to get burnt out on the slopes of the tallest mountain in the world (Mauna Kea). Thanks again.

qmsdc15

1.24 miles rise in 6 miles of riding!

That's a big hill and there are some rough spots. Hauling 230lbs (approximate total vehicle weight including engine) up that is heavy lifting, for sure. I've never ridden a hill that big but I feel like I could run a 1:1 gear ratio up a pretty steep grade for a long time including rough spots. I might want something a little lower just in case. a 30 tooth small chainring with 32 or 34 tooth big cog possibly.

Can you rent a bike with a wide range of gears to find out how wide a range you need? It's hard to judge what will work for you based on what other's would use, but I guess you can get a general idea from the responses here. If you think you might be carrying additional weight, a bunch of bannanas or pineapples perhaps, it might be a good idea to have a lower gear.

My low gear is 22 tooth small chainring and 34 tooth big cog. I don't think I've used that gear yet. I've pulled 600lbs gross vehicle weight with a bike that had a low of 28t chainring with 26t cog, but not up a hill.

Kaimiloa

Its a 2000ft gain in 6 miles. Renting a bike is a good idea, thanks. I'm sure I can make it up with just about any bike (somehow) so I guess I'm over thinking this.

qmsdc15

Oops, never mind. Haha, I read 2k ft and thought 2 kilometer. But 2000 ft still a lot bigger hill than any I've ridden. I don't know about "any bike", unless you want to walk some of it...

Any bike with a low gear of 1:1 should be not too tough to ride to the top. If you are strong you could do it with a much higher low gear than that.

Most hybrids will have a wide enough range of gears. I'd suggest not worry about the gearing too much. As to specific models, take some test rides and narrow down your search. If you can't decide between a few models, come back and ask. Your question for recommendations I fear is too general to get answers.

If you only want to do an occasional 12 mile roundtrip, you might want to grab a second hand bike. People here are enthusiasts and we will encourage you to get a nice bike, but a steel MTB with rigid fork from 1990s might be all you need.

xoxoxoxoLive

I have to ride a lot of hills here to, but mine are up, then down. I also have a monster hill leading out of
my driveway, almost 350' of rough gravel road, I can ride up it, sometimes spin the back tire in a few places,
but have decided that I just push it up for a warm up to riding, still feel the legs burning. Then you have
plenty of climbing left. ( Good Luck ), Richard

xoxoxoxoLive

Something else I thought of, you need to look at something with good brakes with that kind of decent.

Wanderer

Which would be that Giant Roam he mentioned

mikeybikes

That's a fun climb.

What I learned with climbing mountains is just have plenty of low gearing. I try to endeavor and climb Lookout Mountain here once in a while, which is about 1500 feet in 5.5 miles, and some days I just sit and spin up it at 20 gear inches. It takes me longer, but it works.

Wanderer

Just to clarify - you might want to give serious consideration to the ROAM 1, for the disc brakes for your descents......... I believe your kind of riding screams for the added stopping power of disc brakes.

EsoxLucius

You can get a 2009 Jamis Coda Comp ($950 list) in closeout from Bicycle Bananas right now for $600 delivered. They have 19.5" frames remaining which should work for you. It has a very wide range of gears with a 50-39-30 crank and 9-speed 11-32 cassette. Good hill climbing, good top end. Very good components as well.
https://www.jamisbikes.com/usa/thebik...9_codacomp.pdf
https://www.bicyclebananasstore.com/2...9_codacomp.htm

Kaimiloa

Today, I bought a 2010 Cannondale Quick CX at a LBS for $800. Disk breaks, good components, lockable front suspension (not so important), etc.. I've tested out a number of bikes in the past couple of days and none match the feel of getting on a Cannondale. Tomorrow I'll take it for an honest ride.

xoxoxoxoLive

Nice choose ! You might spend some time in that 28 x 32 HA HA! You will find out that lock out head shock
may make the difference ! Besides riding back down....Cannondale IS GOOD STUFF !!Make sure that when you
pick it up, everything is adjusted correctly....Richard

Wanderer

OK - which CX did you get? I'm assuming this one (CX-3) https://www.cannondale.com/usa/usaeng...WHT-Quick-CX-3

That's quite a bit of bike for the money----especially for a name brand!

Kaimiloa

Yup, the CX3