Originally Posted by
Crookneez
Hi everyone, newbie here (warning)
Advice needed I think. I'm 66 in a couple of days, haven't ridden much for close to 20 years (except for exercise bike at the gym). I'm 5'8" and (Ugh) 120kg now and getting heavier daily because I haven't been to the gym for 6 months. As my name implies, I have crook knees too
I used to ride mountain bikes for many years and did quite a lot of miles back then so recently I decided I want to reacquaint myself with a real bike again.
I've been looking around and come up with this as an option to buy
http://www.trekbikes.com/au/en/bikes..._series/8_5_ds
My question to all you experts out there is... would this be a good choice considering most of my riding will be on sealed roads or bike paths with just the occasional fire trail from time to time. I really do need the exercise and would like to get back on a real bike that wasn't too radical.
Help anyone?
Crookneez:
I bought a low end Trek (1.2 Alpha, about $600) from Mellow Johnnies last year as a road bike. I'm too cheap to spend much more than that, but I'm really happy with the bike. It has an aluminum frame and 27 gears, with ratios that are adequate for the short but very steep hills we have around here. I like the stiff aluminum frame, and I like being able to go down on the drops when the wind is blowing.
I do not very much like front suspensions for riding on black-top, as they seem to "wobble" on curves (I'm 6' 1" and 105 kg (235 lbs), and I the only times I have used bikes with suspensions is when I have rented them for long fully-loaded tours and there has been no alternative, so that might have something to do with it). If the suspension is too soft they can also do unexpected things when you have to brake suddenly. Riders more experienced with suspensions might disagree with these comments, though.
For touring I have a 2003 Bianchi Volpe, steel frame, no suspension, and fitted out with racks, etc. It is considerably more work to ride than the Trek, due to the extra weight. It can accept a wide range of tires, and I have ridden it fully-loaded on soft bicycle paths and on coarse gravel roads (Alaska Highway, Top of the World Highway, highway from Red Bay, Labrador towards Battle Harbor). It doesn't much like loose, coarse gravel, but I think that is because of the load on the front wheels.