ssnova12

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Looking for a road bike to start cycling on. What are some of the low end things I should stay away from? Or should I really not worry about this?

Trying to stay under $400. If the only difference between two bikes is a carbon fork which increases the cost by $50, would it be worth the money?

Save up to 60% off new Road Bikes - Gravity Avenue B | Save up to 60% off new road bikes
Save up to 60% off new Road Bikes - Gravity Avenue C | Save up to 60% off new road bikes
Where does the $70 difference come from between these two bikes. The specs looks pretty identical.

And where does ChroMoly lie in terms of weight and strength (for a fork). What about a ChroMoly frame? Or steerer?

And the functional difference between threadless and threaded stems? I've looked this up but it didn't help.

Ray Dockrey

Those are two very low, low end bikes. If I had no other choice other then these two then I would pick the Gravity C due to the better shifters. I have rode downtube shifters and I don't like them at all. I think you would be better off checking Craigslist and looking for a used bike. Both bikes are going to be heavy and it really doesn't matter for the other stuff you asked about. Do you have any idea what size you would ride? Buying online is tough if you have never been fit to a bike before.

sced

The black one has integrated brake levers + gear shifters so you don't have to reach down to the shifters on the down tube.

aubiecat

Do they have these in your size?

ssnova12

They should. All these bikes on here have different sizing charts

Didn't even realize the downtube shifters on the first one. Wouldn't want to mess with those.

My dad and I have been all over. We finally found a bike shop that has trade-ins. The guy offered to let us borrowing the bikes for a few days to test ride them. Mine was a Pilot 1.2? I think. Dad's would be a Giant FCR3. Both selling for ~$300. I was stoked at this being that I've never ridden a bike with drop handle bars. But my dad has convinced me that if this guy really cared about selling these bikes that he would have already fixed them up/tuned them up for us to use (it's been 5 days maybe since he talked to us). Also we are going to spend 300 on used bikes when we could assemble them ourselves and get them new.

I've checked out craigslist. Could be some options there. But I have no idea how I should feel on a road bike, nor does my dad. We've always had dept store mountain bikes.


https://www.bikesdirect.com/products/...ington2-xv.htm
https://www.bikesdirect.com/products/...ington3_IX.htm

https://www.bikesdirect.com/products/...steel-sale.htm

https://www.bikesdirect.com/products/..._al_xi_sc2.htm
https://www.bikesdirect.com/products/..._al_xi_sc3.htm

These are pretty much our options from Bikes Direct.

achoo

Not sure why you're adverse to downtube shifters. They're inexpensive and reliable. When you're looking at lower-cost bikes, for a given price point a bike with downtube shifters will likely have much better components.

And a used bike will probably get you a lot more bike for a dollar amount. As far as why they're not ready in five days, who knows?

And a Trek Pilot for $300? If the bike is in good condition, that's a helluva lot nicer than what you'll get on BikesDirect for $300.

aubiecat

No, you have to click the drop down menu to see if the right size is available. Even if it is listed it still may not be available.

sced

If you're willing to spend $400, then spend $450: Save Up to 60% Off Road Bikes - Motobecane Mirage S

The cheaper bikes all have triples plus twinky parts of one sort or another.

achoo

And down the slippery slope he goes...

rms13

I bought my wife a Windsor Wellington 3.0 to try to get her into biking. Perfectly acceptable for a beginner. For $400 you get a carbon fork and Sora shifters/derailleurs. Crank is a cheap triple, brakes are no name and even though it's alum/carbon it's heavier than my steel bike ....but perfectly good for a beginner.

But if you are a beginner be prepared to learn. Assembling the bike is easy but you will need to learn to adjust derailleurs to get good reliable shifting.

Kopsis

I don't mean for this to sound negative, but based on your questions, you may not have the experience to assemble and tune a low-end BD bike. My experience with BD (and I've had three different BD bikes at three different price points) is that the lowest priced bikes require the most mechanical skill to get working well. Loose tolerances on the low-end components can stack up to require much more precise tuning in order to make it all work right. You'll also need to be prepared to remove and properly grease the headset bearings, true the wheels (possibly going as far as retensioning all the spokes to get the spoke tension evened out from the sloppy machine build), and possibly adjust/service the hub bearings. All of these things can be learned, but if you think assembly is "mount the handlebars and pedals", you may not have a good experience. And if you need to enlist the services of your LBS, you'll end up paying more than you would for a comparable low-end bike from a bike shop.

Case in point, my wife's Gravity CX developed a notchy feeling in the steering within the first 100 miles. When I took it apart I found that top headset crown race actually had a ragged edge on the narrow end of the cone that the bearings were hanging up on. 15 minutes of very careful work with a grinder and flat file cleaned it right up, but how many non-mechanics would have known what to fix or how to fix it?

I think BD offers some fine products, and for people with the right mechanical experience they can be an excellent value. But at the under $400 price point (on geared bikes), you may be better off looking for something used with older but higher quality components.

ssnova12

Lmao yeah this type of thing happens with a lot of stuff. I probably wouldn't have a problem doing this as I've made an unexpected amount of money through tips at my job recently but I don't want to leave my Dad in the dust with his budget. He does pay all the bills after all. And doing this just wouldn't be fair to him. He doesn't want to spend more than $300. Me pushing $400 actually has me feeling a little off.

dtrain

...yeah, I wouldn't write off the Pilot 1.2 that quickly.

ssnova12

We both are new in this end of cycling. But my dad is quite the DIY-er when it comes to the house/cars.

Makes sense. We may be able to still pull this off, with the internet maybe. I think your description is what we were expecting as it says the bikes come 90% assembled.

I'll still keep this in mind. The Giant was a hybrid and I think my dad is now looking for drop bars instead.

sced

If your dad is handy and you both have that can-do attitude, you won't have any problems with a BD bike.

indyfabz

What I am feeling right now is a sign that I am becoming an old person. Pretty soon I will be saying things like "whippersnapper" and "Kids these days."

ssnova12

I don't follow.

We have talked about budgets.

It would be messed up to get a bike significantly better than his.

indyfabz

I bought my first bike as an adult (while in college) with money I earned and saved. I got hit by a car not all that long after I bought it. I saved up and bought another one, which I crashed the following year. I bought a third one (used), again with money that I earned.

You recently made some unexpected money and your dad is buying you a bike and paying all the bills? You kids today!


Or did I misread something?

ssnova12

I am buying my bike. He is buying his. But with his lower budget what I said I would do is put the extra money towards our accessories (like helmets, spare tires, bike pump etc...) then whatever is left will go to him for his bike.

I don't think I mentioned anything like this so no you might not have misread it. I just didn't present all the info.

Sean Gordon

Cheap new bikes are for suckers. You can get a very good used bike for $3-400. Arguably, you can get a better used bike for under 500 than a new bike costing 1000. Most guys I know who ride high end gear scrounge for most of their equipment on eBay or craigslist. (It's what the cool kids are doing).

rms13

Everything I have learned about working on bikes, I've learned from YouTube. If you have patience and ability to follow instructions you can figure it out.

As someone that has had Bikesdirect bikes and used bikes. I agree there is more bang for the buck in a used bike but also much bigger chance of getting burned if you don't already have some knowledge of bikes and experience working on bikes

VinceB

I found there was a large cost factor in finding and getting these affordable used bikes. Looking in the $300-$400 range, everything readily available in my area had downtube shifters. Perhaps it's possible to find something with integrated shifters at that point, but it the value of time spent finding and getting it would really push down the value. I ended up doing the $350 Wellington 3.0 from BD with integrated shifters. Works great!

3alarmer 

...+1 to most, if not all, of this. I work here at the bike co-op and have helped people with a number of Bikes Direct "bike-in-a-box" purchases.

The fact that you have posted this thread at all indicates you seem to have little knowledge of what can go wrong, and the return process is unpleasant.


As stated:

3alarmer 

...wait until you get to this point. It's a lot more fun then.

3alarmer 

...I suspect that maybe you still do not understand. Often the bearings are not adjusted correctly,
sometimes they have missed the lubrication process on the assembly line, etc., etc.

Any bike in a box these days requires a quite thorough going over.....so if you're up to that, godspeed.