mpack

Hey guys,

I am moving from the east coast to Santa Monica/Venice area next week, and am planning to buy a bike as my main mode of transport - at least for now. Anyone have advice on what sort of bike I should buy, and where I should go to buy it?

I've never bought a bike before - though I did ride my old mountain bike around Boston for 2 years while going to school there. No preference on new/used, but I do want something that will allow me to commute 3-5mi each way to work, ride along the beach, and around the LA mountains (though mostly paved roads).

Thanks so much for your help. Any advice is appreciated!

peckma

Welcome to the West Coast. There are a number of bicycle shops in Santa Monica. Helen's is probably the best known, there is Cynergy, Bikecology and others that I'm forgetting off hand.

Have you riden or driven the mountains here? - presume you are thinking of the hills above Malibu. If your goal is to tackle those, suggest you get a bike suitable for that kind of riding. Any good bike shop should have something that fits in your budget for the desired task. Any bike can be used for riding the bike path or short commutes - but bikes designed for those purposes may hinder your ability to do some of the climbs effectively.

Try the mapmyride.com and search for rides in Santa Monica over - say 30 miles - in length. You'll find routes that go up in them thar hills, and you'll get an idea as to distances and difficulty.

Have fun -

Koobazaur

I'd say go for a Hybrid. If you are going on paved roads and commuting you want something like a road bicycle, but most LA roads suck for bikes, so you probably want something more heavy duty. A hybrid fits the niche pretty nicely. Personally, I got myself an Escape Giant 2.0 and, save for it being a bit heavy, I absolutely recommend it at $400 a pop.

HBxRider

Cyclocross all the way. Good combination of decent speed, but thick tires to handle rough terrain.

fishymamba

Are you planning on doing some serious riding? Or just commuting and cruising on the beach?

If you are going to be doing some serious road riding, definitely get a road bike, if you are just going to be cruising and commuting I recommend a cyclocross bike or a hybrid.

What prince range are you looking at? A good entry level road bike will be around $600-700 new. You can go cheaper, but then the quality is also reduced.

mpack

Thanks for all the replies! After thinking about it more, I really just need a bike for commuting and some leisurely riding. I want to keep it under $500 if possible, so do you think a used hybrid or road bike is the way to go?

fat_bike_nut

Hybrid sounds good for the type of riding you plan to do. Drop bar bikes are unnecessary unless you do a lot of long distance riding. I would not go used unless you are knowledgeable about bikes and fixing them up. I've seen more than a few craigslist offerings that were rip-offs to people who know what brands and components are good. You can get something decent for less than $500 if you want something brand new. The models I noticed within that price point are:

-Giant Escape 2 (like Koobazaur mentioned in his post above)
-Diamondback Insight (it's around $399.95 at REI right now)
-Trek also has a few models within that price point: Navigator 1.0, 700, 7000, FX 1 (Trek FX bikes seem popular here)

fishymamba

Another vote for Hybrid.

Another option is the Cannondale Quick: https://www.artscyclery.com/descpage-CD2Q5S.html

Genaro

Welcome to the West Coast.

All good advice and choices here. Would just recommend getting a good lock. Not a skinny cable type, but a steel u type to make sure you don't get ripped off.

leaping_gnome

^+1 A rat bike and a big lock. Find out what you like and go from there.

Jim