Originally Posted by
spectastic
great tips, thanks
The Alex rims all appear to be pretty good budget wheels. Also, I've never understood frames beyond the materials. All the bikes within my range are made of aluminum alloy, with carbon forks.
Do test rides, see how they feel on acceleration, cornering, and if there's a hill in the area on descents. There are lots of subtle subjective differences between various bikes so within a bunch of comparable quality, buy the one that
feels best.
If they feel the same, then buy the one that looks best.
BTW- once you decide, don't look back. Push comes to shove, the biggest difference between bikes is the engine. Put a decent engine on any bike and it'll ride fine.