dawdling old guy, creaking old hotrod
11-12-04, 12:18 PM
#1
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dawdling old guy, creaking old hotrod
Hi everybody
New as new can be at 60 years old and still feeling like a kid riding my 22 year old Kuwahara Aries mountain bike--I even blast past some octogenarians so don't write me off completely!
There is some sage advice kicking around on this site. It is fabulous for a mechanical moron like me. Also, I've been thinking, or rather My Sweetie says, kid, time for a new bike, so I started researching. My head swims. Unbelievable. The options are convoluted and incredibly complicated.
Help! I ride around town, struggling up hills, braking like crazy going down and dusting off those old folks on the flat. It's a rain forest way out west here in Vancouver, British Columbia. In fact, it rains like hell at every inopportune moment rendering those cantilever brakes more or less useless; well, not quite useless, I'm here typing this thread. Going up and down curbs makes me feel like Alison Sydor, well, maybe not her, but you know what I mean. Those curbs are pretty much the extent of my mountain biking, and it is extreme mountain biking for sure, other than some roughish, gravel type road situations.
What kind of bike should I be looking for, do you think? $1200 Canadian is about the price range.I saw a very thoughtful, well written group of submissions on a thread concerning the need for disc brakes, either hydraulic or mechanical in the extreme wet weather we get out here, but could that be found in my price range? Should I be looking at one of this new generation of commuting bikes eg Specialized Globe or Giant something or other, that I read about on a commuting site? Some of these bikes seem to be a new generation of bikes with only 8 gears (about all I use even on the 10th hill going to UBC) and some sort of enclosed mechanical stuff that I didn't really understand. Also, I do love the fattish tires on a mountain type bike for the effort it takes to move that baby and the lack of fear of flats; I've never had one in 22 years, even when we rode from Amsterdam to Italy and back.
Again, hello! help! and thank you!
New as new can be at 60 years old and still feeling like a kid riding my 22 year old Kuwahara Aries mountain bike--I even blast past some octogenarians so don't write me off completely!
There is some sage advice kicking around on this site. It is fabulous for a mechanical moron like me. Also, I've been thinking, or rather My Sweetie says, kid, time for a new bike, so I started researching. My head swims. Unbelievable. The options are convoluted and incredibly complicated.
Help! I ride around town, struggling up hills, braking like crazy going down and dusting off those old folks on the flat. It's a rain forest way out west here in Vancouver, British Columbia. In fact, it rains like hell at every inopportune moment rendering those cantilever brakes more or less useless; well, not quite useless, I'm here typing this thread. Going up and down curbs makes me feel like Alison Sydor, well, maybe not her, but you know what I mean. Those curbs are pretty much the extent of my mountain biking, and it is extreme mountain biking for sure, other than some roughish, gravel type road situations.
What kind of bike should I be looking for, do you think? $1200 Canadian is about the price range.I saw a very thoughtful, well written group of submissions on a thread concerning the need for disc brakes, either hydraulic or mechanical in the extreme wet weather we get out here, but could that be found in my price range? Should I be looking at one of this new generation of commuting bikes eg Specialized Globe or Giant something or other, that I read about on a commuting site? Some of these bikes seem to be a new generation of bikes with only 8 gears (about all I use even on the 10th hill going to UBC) and some sort of enclosed mechanical stuff that I didn't really understand. Also, I do love the fattish tires on a mountain type bike for the effort it takes to move that baby and the lack of fear of flats; I've never had one in 22 years, even when we rode from Amsterdam to Italy and back.
Again, hello! help! and thank you!
11-12-04, 03:14 PM
#2
Who said turtles are slow
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HI there, Welcome to the Forum.You should be able to find a great bike to suit your need for that price.
Disk brakes are great, if you shop around you should be able to get them too.
My MTB bike was about 630 with taxes & it came with mech disks on the front and for about 150 I got Mech disks on the back too.
Now I am not too knowledgable on all the different bikes out there, but I am sure that if you do your research you will find a bike that you will love for another 22 yrs.
Besides the people here are very helpful & smart, so if you find something you like, I am sure they can all help with their opinions and reviews
11-12-04, 04:21 PM
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Welcome!!
You may be dawdling, you most likely are a guy, but you definitely are NOT old!
You are just a young whippersnapper. We have bicycling folks in their 80's and 90's on this forum - they could be your father - and THEY aren't even old!
Join us in the 50+ Forum, if you like.
You may be dawdling, you most likely are a guy, but you definitely are NOT old!
You are just a young whippersnapper. We have bicycling folks in their 80's and 90's on this forum - they could be your father - and THEY aren't even old!
Join us in the 50+ Forum, if you like.
11-12-04, 04:24 PM
#4
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Hi from Calgary and welcome to the forum.
I just purchased my father a Specialized Sirrus Hybrid, he had many of the same needs as yourself, after many years of enjoying his "10 Speed" he figured it was time to get a MTB for purely comfort reasons.
WE decided that the best thing for him was a hybrid bike offering most of the benifits of a road bike with the comfort level of a MTB.
I think Specialized offer the Sirrus with a disc brake option,I recall a hybrid w/ discs in the store but I'm not 100% sure it was the Sirrus.
I paid about $900 CDN for his Sirrus w/ Vees and I think the bike with discs was about $1100 .
Hope this helps... Go Flames... eventually that is!!
I just purchased my father a Specialized Sirrus Hybrid, he had many of the same needs as yourself, after many years of enjoying his "10 Speed" he figured it was time to get a MTB for purely comfort reasons.
WE decided that the best thing for him was a hybrid bike offering most of the benifits of a road bike with the comfort level of a MTB.
I think Specialized offer the Sirrus with a disc brake option,I recall a hybrid w/ discs in the store but I'm not 100% sure it was the Sirrus.
I paid about $900 CDN for his Sirrus w/ Vees and I think the bike with discs was about $1100 .
Hope this helps... Go Flames... eventually that is!!
11-12-04, 05:52 PM
#5
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Thanks turtlegirl
Do you have to do much maintenance with mechanical disc brakes?
harvey
Do you have to do much maintenance with mechanical disc brakes?
harvey
11-12-04, 05:55 PM
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Dnvrfox
You have me flexing my biceps over here. Yes, I am a guy and your comments make me feel young again. And thank you for telling me about the over 50 forum; all those youngsters chattering away in there, fabulous!
Harvey
You have me flexing my biceps over here. Yes, I am a guy and your comments make me feel young again. And thank you for telling me about the over 50 forum; all those youngsters chattering away in there, fabulous!
Harvey
11-12-04, 06:00 PM
#7
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roadrasher
Thank you for the info. A young woman I was talking to as we road along one day was up on a specialized sirrus hybrid and she really liked it also. She had her "tough guy," as she called it, mountain bike for the off road stuff and she used the Sirrus for the zipping around town. Thank you again for the reminder.
Harvey
Thank you for the info. A young woman I was talking to as we road along one day was up on a specialized sirrus hybrid and she really liked it also. She had her "tough guy," as she called it, mountain bike for the off road stuff and she used the Sirrus for the zipping around town. Thank you again for the reminder.
Harvey
11-12-04, 07:20 PM
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Maybe you could get a second set of wheels. One with 28 mm tires for the town and one set with 37 mm tires the backwoods. You should check the max size the fork/frame will allow.
11-13-04, 11:28 AM
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Originally Posted by AndrewP
Maybe you could get a second set of wheels. One with 28 mm tires for the town and one set with 37 mm tires the backwoods. You should check the max size the fork/frame will allow.
Hey Andrew, that iws a great idea except for one thing: Vancouver is an incredibly expensive city and we live in a small condo so one bike is going to have to do. And I will be happy with it.
Montreal, now there is a beautiful, interesting, vibrant place. Love it.
Harvey
11-13-04, 05:31 PM
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Originally Posted by harvey
Hey Andrew, that iws a great idea except for one thing: Vancouver is an incredibly expensive city and we live in a small condo so one bike is going to have to do. And I will be happy with it.
Harvey
Harvey
I have a cyclocross bike that came with low gearing (a wide range gear cluster on the back wheel) and some pretty sturdy wheels mounted with wide (38mm?), fairly knobby tires. I use that for light off-road and lately, actual cyclocross racing. My second set of wheels is lighter, with narrower (25 mm), slick road tires, and a narrower range of gears on the back wheel.
I can switch from my off-road wheels to my on-road wheels in less than about 2 minutes, which changes the cyclocross bike to a very fine commuting/road training bike.
This is by no means my invention. Lots and lots of folks do this with cyclocross bikes, because they are made to be decently quick and responsive, but with lots of clearance to mount wide, knobby tires.
The cost of the second set of wheels and tires was a small fraction of the cost of a second bike, and a second set of wheels is much, much easier to stash inside a small living space than a second, third, fourth or fifth bike, believe me.
In your case you might decide on a a hybrid or commuter bike and one wheelset mounted with narrower tires for dry, relatively fast rides around town, and a second wider set for wet, curb-hoppy, or (reasonably sane) trail rides.
You may not feel the need to do this right away but as you shop for your new bike you may want to consider frame and brake tire clearance spacing to give yourself the option of mounting any of a range of wheels/tires later -- simply as one of your purchase considerations.
Last edited by Big Helmet; 11-13-04 at 05:38 PM.
11-14-04, 02:03 PM
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Originally Posted by Big Helmet
I believe that Andrew was suggesting not another bike (metaphorically "a second set of wheels") but, literally, a second set of wheels -- one with different tires than the wheels that come with your new bike. You pick the tires and switch out the wheels depending on what you're intending to do that day.
I have a cyclocross bike that came with low gearing (a wide range gear cluster on the back wheel) and some pretty sturdy wheels mounted with wide (38mm?), fairly knobby tires. I use that for light off-road and lately, actual cyclocross racing. My second set of wheels is lighter, with narrower (25 mm), slick road tires, and a narrower range of gears on the back wheel.
I can switch from my off-road wheels to my on-road wheels in less than about 2 minutes, which changes the cyclocross bike to a very fine commuting/road training bike.
This is by no means my invention. Lots and lots of folks do this with cyclocross bikes, because they are made to be decently quick and responsive, but with lots of clearance to mount wide, knobby tires.
The cost of the second set of wheels and tires was a small fraction of the cost of a second bike, and a second set of wheels is much, much easier to stash inside a small living space than a second, third, fourth or fifth bike, believe me.
In your case you might decide on a a hybrid or commuter bike and one wheelset mounted with narrower tires for dry, relatively fast rides around town, and a second wider set for wet, curb-hoppy, or (reasonably sane) trail rides.
You may not feel the need to do this right away but as you shop for your new bike you may want to consider frame and brake tire clearance spacing to give yourself the option of mounting any of a range of wheels/tires later -- simply as one of your purchase considerations.
I have a cyclocross bike that came with low gearing (a wide range gear cluster on the back wheel) and some pretty sturdy wheels mounted with wide (38mm?), fairly knobby tires. I use that for light off-road and lately, actual cyclocross racing. My second set of wheels is lighter, with narrower (25 mm), slick road tires, and a narrower range of gears on the back wheel.
I can switch from my off-road wheels to my on-road wheels in less than about 2 minutes, which changes the cyclocross bike to a very fine commuting/road training bike.
This is by no means my invention. Lots and lots of folks do this with cyclocross bikes, because they are made to be decently quick and responsive, but with lots of clearance to mount wide, knobby tires.
The cost of the second set of wheels and tires was a small fraction of the cost of a second bike, and a second set of wheels is much, much easier to stash inside a small living space than a second, third, fourth or fifth bike, believe me.
In your case you might decide on a a hybrid or commuter bike and one wheelset mounted with narrower tires for dry, relatively fast rides around town, and a second wider set for wet, curb-hoppy, or (reasonably sane) trail rides.
You may not feel the need to do this right away but as you shop for your new bike you may want to consider frame and brake tire clearance spacing to give yourself the option of mounting any of a range of wheels/tires later -- simply as one of your purchase considerations.
Harvey
