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Old 03-25-10, 12:53 AM
  #11  
graytotoro
kamikaze college commuter
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Bike capital (of the United States, at least)
Posts: 130

Bikes: Free spirit FS21 (dead) + Specialized Rockhopper

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Ok, so I was at the store and ready to spring, but before I did, I made a phone call to a cyclist uncle that made me stop. He told me that a 17" was a bit big for someone my size (5'10) with a 32ish inseam (quick calc, not "accurate".) I then tried out his bikes - a 15" stumpjumper comp with the works from a few years back and a 17" Gary Fisher Paragon. The Stumpjumper really was quite a bit more nimble and the components a bit better. He also recommended going for something with LX/XT parts and as the Rockhopper has the Altus FD, he kinda didn't recommend it. As getting a 2010 Stumpjumper is way, way out of my league, should I just stick with the 17" Rockhopper and work as I go along or should I just get a beater, and wait until my knight in shining armor appears at the LBS? How much of the "speed" and nimble behavior was attributed to size and how much to the components? The LBS only has a 17 and a 19 and I'm this (holds fingers 1/8th an inch apart) close to buying it. The guy said to go with the 17 but as I heard that he is kinda meh about certain things (Go "Yelp" Nomad Cyclery in San Francisco for more)

I'm new to this whole LBS thing as my only experience with bikes is with crap that came from stores that also sold underwear and toothbrushes. The fact that I could ride a bike uphill in any gear was somewhat of a revelation to me.

Edit: It seems I was wrong the whole time. They did claim a price of $640; didn't want to unintentionally ruin my LBS' name.
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