I'm new to this group, but have been hanging out at the hybrid bike forum as I progressed through the painful process of choosing a new bike. I'm not new to bikes, but since retiring in 2012, my husband and I have gradually reintroduced cycling back into our lifestyle. As someone said a few years back, cycling is a great way to maintain or even improve cardiovascular health.
I have been riding a Specialized Crossroads Sport for about 5 years. We bike probably 50/50 pavement/trails. Our trail riding is mostly smooth, flat off-road and multi-purpose trails as well as some beginner level technical single track. Up till now, our riding has been mostly an element of our RV adventures, but I have since added some fitness riding and intend to participate in a few organized charity/group rides.
While my CR hybrid bike has been sufficient enough for the riding we do, I have become disenchanted with the performance of its rim brakes riding in wet weather and off-road. Several weeks ago I began looking for something similar, but with disc brakes and, since I'm getting something new, a better range of gears for hills. Oh, and 2x chain rings. Long story short, I spent today at my LBS and ended up ordering a Specialized Women's Rockhopper Pro. Note: I stay with Specialized because, 1. they build good bikes; we have had several and are very happy with them 2. that is the brand our favorite of two LBS in our area exclusively sells. In a few weeks I will be entering into a new phase of senior biking.
Thinking my new bike and I might not fit into the Hybrid Bikes forum, I looked around for another. I fear the Mountain Bike forum might be a bit out of my age group and cycling genre while the Road Bike forum might be a bit inappropriate since I haven't ridden drop bars since my college years when I had a Schwinn Continental 10-speed. (I honestly tried riding my daughter-in-law's drop bar cyclocross bike and discovered, all else aside, bifocals just don't mix with those handlebars
So, here I am on this Fifty Plus (50+) forum, where I hope to be a worthy contributor.
As an introduction, let me say I am a laid back sort of cyclist; my objective, aside from recreation and enjoyment of the outdoors, is to stay healthy, fit and active well into my senior years. I guess you can say I don't intend to give up doing the things I enjoy strictly because of limits the aging process puts on my body. Everyone in the over-fifty category understands what I'm saying.
I'll be back when I my bike arrives and share details of this transition. In the meantime, here is a link where you can check out my new ride
https://www.specialized.com/us/en/wo...=240166-129253
Got it!!! (couldn't get the image to work so here's a link)
http://i1365.photobucket.com/albums/...psi2m19zog.jpg