Originally Posted by
avaserfi
Out of curiosity, and because it is a possibility, would there be significant benefits to moving the price range up to about $800 a bike? If we do this we wouldn't want to upgrade again in a while. No point in making the mistake of cheaping out only to upgrade a year later again, losing money in the long run.
We already have sufficient lights. The bag situation is fine for now, but my bike would probably need a rear rack and panniers for groceries sometime in the near future. Also, right now we have little plastic rear fenders that use tension to attach to the seat post, these work fine, but a more stable unit would be required for the bike with a rack due to placement. The budget it prior to these additions, but some recommendations on a well priced pannier system would be great too.
Thanks for all the help.
Yes.
$800/bike gets you into entry-level road bike range. With a road bike, you won't max out your gears unless you're going downhill really fast (and when you reach that point, it starts to feel kinda unsteady to pedal, road racers do an aero tuck and stop pedalling I think). You'll have a better aerodynamic position, something that's not as big of a deal on the flat but which you'll notice when riding into a strong wind - from your description it sounds like it would help a lot. The bike will be lighter so hills will be easier (not that it will be a miracle, but "easier"). You won't have any of the extra weight or inefficiency of suspension either.
Road bikes have skinnier tires, which means navigating around potholes rather than just plowing over them like you can with a fatter tire. One big drawback is that a lot of time road bikes *can't* take much larger tires than they come with, they don't have enough clearance (space between the wheel and the frame of the bike). I don't think you'll miss the mountain bike suspension, but a skinnier tire will definitely give you a less plush ride. It's a matter of personal preference whether this is an issue for you - with my current road bike the ride is still nice enough that I'm happy to give up a fatter tire for more speed (yeah it's not as plush as a fat tire, but it's not "uncomfortable" really either), but I've also ridden older road bikes where the ride was pretty uncomfortable.
I would suggest test riding a road bike if possible to get a feeling for if you'll like it. Road bikes are generally group into the "road race" and "endurance" categories, ask for the "endurance" one (they're designed with comfort in mind more than fast responsive (also sometimes known as "twitchy") handling).
There are some road bike frames that accept larger tires, but the only one I know of offhand - Surly Crosscheck (and some of the other Surly bikes), but it's more like $1k. Perhaps someone else knows of a road frame with more tire clearance more around the $800 mark?