aquablue

Bike newbie choosing between Jamis Coda Elite, Trek FX7.5, Giant Rapid, Specialized Sirrus Pro, and Cnd. Quick:

I'd like to know:

a) which bike has the most upright and comfortable riding position

b) which offers the smoothest ride over rough pavement

Which bike has the best of both worlds?

Thanks
Aqua

erg79

People on here will be able to make suggestions, but nothing will be as important as what you think--go ride them, and see which one feels best to you.

Bunnicula

You will need to try these bikes to see for yourself, because there is no general consensus among us as to which one riders find smoother. Upright riding position is a completely different matter, but be advised that more upright isn't necessarily more comfortable and the best of any world. My Trek Navigator is upright and comfortable. The Sirrus and Trek FX7.5 are nowhere's near as upright or comfortable. That doesn't make the Navigator the best bike, or the best choice. It depends on what you are looking for and the geometry of the frame being compatible with your body dimensions.

That being said, I tried all of the bikes mentioned above except the Giant Rapid. And Giant makes very nice bikes, as does Fuji. I found the Quick 4 and 3 to be the smoothest and most nimble - for me. The position is rather upright - we actually fitted it with a lower and more aggressive position, so my Quick 3 is basically a flat bar road bike. And now it's even faster, lol. The stock saddle is rather hard, and unless you get the position of it exactly right can be uncomfortable. But saddles are very often switched out at purchase time. I went with a Specialized Lithia.

aquablue

I was thinking of a comfort bike, but I don't think I want to give up the speed or nimbleness of a hybrid. Since when I try bikes I have a hard time differentiating subtle differences I hoped there may be some consensus on the geometry.

I tried the Giant Seek, which appears to have a more upright position, however it lacks the carbon fork that I want to reduce vibrations. I assume the rapid would be more road-bike like in terms of geometry.

I was told the Coda Elite was the smoothest bike due to its steel frame. How about the Coda in comparison to the competition in terms of seating angle?

Tom Bombadil

My first hand experience is now 4 years old. I took test rides on 12 different "fitness" hybrids. Several of them twice.

The smoothest of the lot was the Fuji Absolute 1.0. That was when it had carbon seat stays. Don't know how the current model rides. Second smoothest at that time was a Gary Fisher Mendota, which has also be downgraded a bit since then and is now sold under the Trek label. I did ride a Jamis Coda Elite, twice, and the ride was pretty good, but I ranked it 5th on my list in terms of smooth ride. Really not even that close to the Fuji, which has an aluminum/carbon frame. I also rode a steel Gunnar set up as a hybrid. It finished 4th. The Specialized Sirrus Comp, which technically looked very similar to the Fuji was near the bottom of my list on ride.

I learned that you can't predict ride quality based on frame materials. The tire you use makes a difference too. I think that is what hurt the Sirrus, as it had their Armadillo tires, which are said to ride rougher.

a1penguin

Wider tires will offer smoother ride since there is more surface area and typically inflate to lower pressures. When you test ride, make sure that tires are not underinflated. This can affect the road feel. Also, it's difficult to tell how upright a bike might feel. It will depend on effective top tube length as well as stem length. The stem can be echanged for shorter ones and most LBS should swap it for no charge.

Dunbar

The Jamis Coda is the most aggressive (longer top tube and shorter head tube.) The rest of the bikes are pretty close. The Trek and Giant have the tallest head tubes so they will be the most upright. The Quick and Sirrus are sort of in-between. I would go with the Trek or Giant for the most upright position and be prepared to swap a shorter stem on if needed (if you feel too stretched out). Stems are cheap (~$30) and easy to replace BTW.

fietsbob

Shut down the computer and go test ride the real bikes.

can you ride an Opinion?

Tom Bombadil

Good point. When I conducted all of my test rides a few years back, I made sure the tires were inflated to 90 PSI for each ride. If you ride lower-end bikes, you have to pick a lower PSI, for many of those tires don't support 90 PSI.

aquablue

Thanks, this is the kind of answer that I was looking for. I was ignorant about bike geometry before now.

aquablue

Actually, I just checked, and the Jamis Coda has a shorter TT than the Giant rapid, but a longer HT. I don't know if that fits with what you were saying?

aquablue

So, I ruled out the Coda due to the aggressive position as well as the Sirrus for the same reasons. What other steel frame bikes are out there that have similar specs with a more relaxed position?

In lieu of finding a steel bike, I'm considering the following more upright bikes with carbon fiber parts: specialized vita, quick 3 or 2, Fuji, trek 7.5 or Giant Seek or Rapid. Which would you advise? Remember, I'm looking for a fast bike with a smooth ride and on the relaxed side of things.

Tom Bombadil

You have to get out and ride, ride, ride. No one here is going to know what you find acceptable in terms of it having a smooth ride and a comfortable riding position. Personally I found the Fuji and Trek to be more comfortable to me to ride. But they tweak the geometries over time. And you can swap stems and change the saddle position and make a big difference on any bike. Or even change out the handlebars for ones with more sweep and rise. Personally I don't like a flat, absolutely straight handlebar. Go ride and find something you like, then don't be afraid to tweak it a bit.

giantcfr1

After a thorough study of the names, I would pick the Trek FX 7.5. That one is the only one with a non-speed name. The others are clearly bikes for professional riders, not those of us after an upright and comfortable ride or smooth ride over rough pavement.

Seriously are the names a bit of a joke?

aquablue

I rode several bikes. The Jamis Coda Elite was a nice bike, nice and smooth. I wanted to get it, but it was a little on the aggressive side for me and required me to lean too far forward. The Rapid was decent and more relaxed in terms of positioning, but perhaps a little too bumpy on the road, same with the Seek. I will now try to test ride the Quick 3/SL2 and Trek if I can find it. I didn't try the Sirrus as it appeared it has a similar geometry to the Jamis, i.e on the aggressive side of things. There is another bike in Specialized line up called the Vita that has a different geometry, and I don't know if that is worth trying given I think it is targeted at women?

Right now I would have to say that the Seek has the most upright ride of these bikes, followed by the Rapid. However, the Seek wasn't as smooth as I would like over rough pavement which gave me pause.

jsdavis

Perhaps try a Marin Muirwoods 29er. It only comes with 700x42 tires so it's not a true 29er, but it can fit tires around 2" if you really want to smooth things out. It is different than any of these bikes you've listed but the fat tires soak up a lot of the bumps on the road. The bike is like a tank in the good and bad way because it is slower than what you've listed but will also take a beating and soak up a lot of bumps. I would say the bike is more upright than what you've listed because it is more mountain bike style of hybrid than road bike, but it is still a rigid bike. The down side is that the bike is spec'd lower than any of the bikes you're looking at. At 30pounds, it's not exactly the lightest thing out there either.

I ride in the city and speed isn't a a huge concern for so for me the trade-off is acceptable.

Dunbar

Depends on which Sirrus model you're comparing. Compared to the 19" Coda to the M Sirrus has a 10mm shorter top-tube and the head-tube is 50mm/2" taller. The $2000 all carbon Sirrus Pro uses a road bike frame so the geometry is completely different (shorter top tube, roughly the same head tube length as the Coda.)

Bunnicula

Definitely try the Vita. Specialized makes very nice bikes. Also the Cannondale Quick 4, as well as the 3. It has a bit wider tires and you may prefer the softer ride.

Bunnicula

Oh, forgot to ask, are you male or female?

aquablue

Male.

I'll check out the Sirrus again then.

Is it true that the Vita is only for women?

SlimRider

Hey there AquaBlue!

It would be foolhearty to rule out the Coda Elite without first, test riding it. You do know that the Coda was Bicycling Magazine's Editor's Choice for the year 2011. It won that award for a reason. The Coda is not only a smooth riding bicycle, it is also agile, and easy to accelerate. Test ride the Jamis Coda Elite, before passing it up.

Before checking out the Vita. I would urge you to check out the Fuji Absolute 2.0 at performance.com first. Currently, the Performance sale on the Fuji Absolute 2.0 is the best deal on the planet.

The Fuji Absolute 2.0 ~ $600
www.performancebike.com/bikes/Product_10052_10551_1118664_-1_400316

The Specialized Vita is more frequently ridden by men, not women. Perhaps you're thinking of the Giant Via. The Via has a large female fan base. It's sort of a unisex bike. It looks a lot like an old European styled City Bike, the stadsfiet. I kinda like that one, myself. That and the Raleigh Roadster, too!

bjjoondo 

IF you like the Coda Elite, but the riding position is a bit extreme for you, just have the LBS, swap stems for you. My Coda Sport came with a dreadful 10 degree stem!!! I have a arthritic neck so I like a more "upright" position myself, I had them switch the stem to a 35 degree stem and that worked like magic!! A simple stem change can bring the riding position UP and Back.. The stock stem was a 10 degree 120mm, I went to a 35 degree, 110mm, that's all it took and my 2012 Coda Sport is my favorite ride of the two bikes I have. PS: if you need a more upright seating position but still have longer arms, then get the higher degree stem with a longer length, ie: 35 degree and say 120mm length. Your LBS should be able to have stems up to 40 degree and some "adjustable" stems go up to 60 degree, jmho, ymmv.

Stock Jamis Coda Sport:

My Jamis Coda Sport:

Bunnicula

Info is saying Vita is a women's model:

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/bik...iuse/vita/vita

fez_

Go test ride the Giant Escape 0.

erg79

Yes. You WILL grow breasts and your man bits will shrivel if you ride it.