Велосипеды
Originally Posted by
mikhalit
Lots of folks in Russia had good experience with German bike shops, like bike-components.de or bike-discount.de
Thank you for the links,
mikhalit! Unfortunately, bike-discount.de does not ship assembled bikes to Russia. I'll check bike-components.de later.
Originally Posted by
mikhalit
What will help you on those roads are wide tires and longer wheelbase. It will roll over potholes very nicely and will provide quite some cushion to your ride.
Thank you again. I think, both Sutra and Vaya-3 are long enough for me :)
Originally Posted by
mikhalit
Which forum in Russia are you using?
I've asked this question at two forums:
drom.ru (not the best plase to ask about bikes, I know) and at
veloforum.net (both links are machine-translated to English).
Originally Posted by
mikhalit
I wonder where do you live actually? Must be somewhere in the North or East, no?
I live in
Vladivostok.
Originally Posted by
mikhalit
Look what bikes we were riding around Ladoga Lake, where roads were in both, good and terrible condition, paved and unpaved, hilly and flat, and we did some forest riding too. Everything except mud. Great memories and no issues with the type of the bikes we had.
You've calmed me down. If you rode that roads without issues, I think, I have no reasons to worry about the bike's ability to survive there :))
------
Originally Posted by
Boudicca
Where are you in Russia, Nita? And will the drivers respect cyclists? I lived in Moscow for five years, and I swear I only saw a bicycle there once, and it was being ridden on a crazy-busy Moscow Garden Ring by a man with one leg (I kid you not -- he was sort of kicking the pedal up with his single leg to push down on it again). It looked a bit like a suicide wish to me. But that was a long time ago, and even then the roads in dacha country would have been lovely for road bike or cyclocross. Little traffic, relatively smooth surfaces.
AFAIK, here, in Vladivostok is almost the same crazy traffic and even worse roads. I almost never ride here expect a short trip from my home to the train station and [seldom] night rining near my home: on weekends, at 03-04AM there are almost no cars and people on the streets, and it's possible to join the ride in Vladivostok :))
Most time I ride not in Vladivostok, but
in Shkotovo village and near (the people there believe that the "
City 17" from
Half Life - 2 is actually Shkotovo).
----
Originally Posted by
Chris Pringle
Have you considered going custom?
No, I have not. To build custom is too complex task for me. To buy an already-made custom is difficult too, because I cannot decide which of them is actually "good", and which is "crap" due to lack of knowledge and experience.
Originally Posted by
Chris Pringle
Try a brand such as Rodriguez who have tons of experience working with women and customers overseas. Explain to them your situation and concerns. You will also need to increase your budget for that, but you will be much happier with the investment made.
Unfortunately, Rodriguez bikes are out of my budget.
----
Originally Posted by
mikhalit
Just remembered someone explaining that in mud you don't actually need a wide tire, you need a tire like 37mm wide to cut through the mud. And this guy (mev) cycled from Amsterdam to Vladivostok and had good experience with 35mm tires, see his post.
Great news, I can use Kona sutra! :))
Originally Posted by
mikhalit
And next time someone tries to convince you that full suspension is necessary for your roads, show them the AfrikaBike picture, that's the bike that Kona designed specifically for utility cycling in the African conditions. No suspension and only one gear.
Nice picture, thanks! I'll post it in that forums :))
----
Originally Posted by
bwgride
I think the Salsa Vaya would be excellent.
I like Vaya-3 too. But in comparison to Kona Sutra, the Vaya-3 has a worse equipment (Avid BB vs BB7 brakes, Sora vs Tiagra). The price is almost the same for me, so I consider to get Sutra. What do you think?
----
Originally Posted by
pacificcyclist
Judging from your size, you would probably benefit more on the Salsa Vaya 3 as this bike uses 26" tires (MTB size) on their 50 to 52cm sizes. Unless you're an abnormally very large and tall woman, the Salsa will give you more options in tire sizes in the 26" range for your terrain. The Sutra is meant mostly for road touring, so the tire clearance for fatter tires are not as good as with the Salsa.
How do you think, does the equipment difference between the Vaya-3 and the Sutra matter?
---
Originally Posted by
chris1548
Try to write somebody about fit and sizing, or just read on the internet. Can somebody in Russia that you have faith in give you an idea what size mountain bike frame you should ride?
Thank you for advice. I'll read, calculate and post the results here.
Originally Posted by
chris1548
If you are concerned about carrying weight, either of the Surly's will weigh much less than your current bike.
Yes, that's true! I think, almost any modern bike (maybe expect downhill ones) is lighter then my 18kg (~36 lbs) hippopotamus :))