So I went out and test rode a bunch of bikes today. The way I feel at the end of the day is that in general, drops are extremely uncomfortable to me. I think it's just due to the gut now. It's something I will revisit after I drop a lot of weight. Between the different bikes of Giant and Jamis I couldn't quite find one that screamed at me "RIDE MEH!" I went to the local Trek dealer and fell in love... After taking a look at a few bikes I was shown to the Shift 4, wow that bike is amazing! This bike is built stock for bigger guys (people up to 350 and you know that is conservative for liability issues). While it is aluminum, the tubes are oval shaped and they feel rock solid. The front fork has suspension, but it is built for heavy people and has preload and a lockout which I really like. It sits on 26 in wheels and big strong Bontrager hardcase ultimate tires which I feel better about in comparison to 29's since they won't taco as easy, and the rear wheel comes stock with 36h double wall with 13g ss spokes (first bike I've seen with over 14g spokes). Best of all this bike gives me that heads up ride I was looking for and is so well within my price range (~700) I will have plenty of cash left over to upgrade the fun stuff and not have to focus on tires right away! I know I am going to get a standard slim seat for long rides with bike shorts, it comes with a cushioned seat, which may be good for short rides who knows.
I am really shocked with this bike being targeted to bigger folk that I don't see more talk about it on this forum, so I'm left feeling like, "what's the catch?" Has anybody looked into these bikes? Any reviews from fellow clydes would be great. I didn't buy it today cause I never buy right away, wanted to sleep on it for a couple of nights and get yall's take on it, but I am really impressed so far. Link to Shift on Trek site below.
http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes...omfort/shift_4
Let me know what yall think.