Beginners road bike for NYC commuting
 

Good morning guys!

I am looking for a road bike to use as an upgrade for commuting all day long around New York City instead of constantly using those clunky CitiBikes. Please let me know what you recommend. I am going to be riding about 15 to 20 miles a day in total. I need to be able to add fenders as well as a basket because I do take on boxes to travel with from time to time. Thanks guys for all your recommendations in advance! If you need me to answer any questions to help with the recommendations, feel free to ask away.

I ride around NYC a fair bit. I'd avoid a road bike or anything with external gears and stick with a city bike (not CitiBike :-). This especially if you'll be carrying anything at all heavy.

City Bikes | LocalMile

Where will you keep it while sleeping? Will you have to carry it up a lot of stairs? Have to climb up and across GWB?

Craigslist is a great option for those that are handy enough to deal with any mechanical issues that might turn up. You can save a lot vs buying new from a shop.

What kind of bike do you want? Flat bars or drop bars is I think the first question in the flowchart. Take a look at craigslist and drop some links of bikes that look interesting to you, we love to look at bikes and give feedback.

Bonus points if the ad copy says anything about carrying your bike up the stairs

Budget? New or used; does it matter?
If interested in used; drop by Recycle a Bicycle.

Get a used steel framed road bike that can fit wide-ish tires. At least 28mm, 32mm would be great. Check Craigslist for 80's bikes from Japanese brands, or Trek, etc. Make sure you get the right size bike. Get a really good lock and make sure you are using it properly.

Definitely consider the Craig's List approach, especially the Brooklyn or Queens editions - lots of sellers due to moving out or upgrading, especially as we "roll" into Autumn... Remember that there's a fair chance that the bike will get stolen or damaged one day (welcome to NY), so keep a limit on both financial and emotional investment (spend that on the badman roadbike you use in Prospect or Central Park one day).

tough to beat for a starter: https://newyork.craigslist.org/que/bik/5767467138.html
maybe put a pannier on this one: https://newyork.craigslist.org/que/bik/5752846714.html
diggin' the yellow with the rattrap: https://newyork.craigslist.org/que/bik/5734640172.html
that's Kandy with a K: https://newyork.craigslist.org/que/bik/5730167480.html

I randomly chose Queens, surely Brooklyn search looks similar. Rattrap or one-side pannier bag. Good to go.

That's been a rare experience in the last three years commuting for me. Longest time was a week or so they sent us to the north sidewalk. The PA usually has us use the south sidewalk and there are no stairs there on the GWB.

OP, if you are open to used bikes, then you can do some more advanced searches on Craigslist like this one for japanese bikes:

http://newyork.craigslist.org/search...7C%20panasonic

But I agree with @lostarchitect above in that older Japanese bikes can give some decent quality for the money.

I think I want a drop bar but I went into a store yesterday and for the first time out of the 4 stores Ive been to to do my research, told me its a bad idea to get a road bike because it will not be good for vision purposes getting around the city. So now I am really confused.

I will be keeping it inside my apartment until a spot is available in my buildings bike room which I am already on the waiting list for.

I don't want to spend more than $500 I think since I finished reading all the stories about no matter what you do parking your bike outside, someone will find a way to walk away with your bike at some point.

You can use whatever YOU want! :thumb: I have seen plenty of examples of folks using everything from Dutch step through, foldable, fixed gear/single speed, road, cyclocross, recumbant, ebike, etc. Saw a guy with a recumbant and fairing near the GWB back in late winter. It was a 60 lb bike, but I bet he can smoke anyone on a flat or downhill.

Yeah, I would never leave a bike locked on the street. If you can't bring it into the building, then pay $6 or so to put it in a parking garage. I have two bike racks after a security guard house that are up and off the street. So if somewhere more secure off the street is available, then that's an option as well.

I ride in NYC and since you won't be keeping your bike out at night you are in good shape. I wouldn't go with drop bars to ride the city streets a lot as I prefer to be more upright to see city traffic. That doesn't mean a fully upright bike which is slow to me but rather a compromise - the upright but slightly aggressive geometry of a performance hybrid so you have some nice power still. Keep in mind I am a Steel is Real guy so I'd try to find a used steel hybrid with disc brakes, which are important as the city streets are dirty, so your braking won't suffer. $500 should find you something nice. A bike that was new for $1000 a few years ago can be had for well under $500 now and in good shape as well. Find some steel hybrid lines like Jamis Coda's or some of the Kona rides and I think Marin as well - and more and keep looking at Craigslist for them.

I'd also go with Pitlock skewers to protect your wheels, seatpost & headset. Once nice U-Lock will then be all you need to protect the frame. I keep my bike locked up while I go inside to eat somewhere all the time without much of a worry. You can lock on the street plenty if you are not in a terrible area of NYC, don't listen to folks who say never lock outside. Oh and I prefer 28's for my tires. Skinny enough for speed at high PSI and just wide enough to be ok on rough city streets. I waffled between 28's and 32's and 28's are just dandy to me. Others may find them a harsh ride YMMV

This is false, they just wanted to sell you what they had in stock. Many bike shops are full of BS when they want to make a sale.

Been riding in NYC for 10 years now. Most of those years; I commuted with a roadbike.
2009 Fuji Newest 1.0, 2013 Scott CR1 Pro, 2014 BMC Gran Fondo. 16.5 miles each way.
In the winter, in the rain, in the summer - no problems. For a US$500 roadbike budget;
you'll probably looking at used bikes.

There can be truth to that statement, but it depends on what your are comfortable with. A super aggressive road bike isn't great for the city in my opinion because you are quite low and you do need to do a lot of head swiveling to see what is going on. There are two potential drawbacks
1. you are less visible to cars as you might be below their sight lines
2. you need to have pretty good handling skills to be able to control the bike and look behind you

I like having an more upright position in the city traffic because I am above the cars and can see really far ahead and around me.

I think you probably don't want the raciest road bike, one where handlebar height is closer to the seat is good for both urban riding and a beginner. Also more comfortable and easier to handle for a newbie. Look for more "relaxed" geometry.

**An aggressive road bike will have your seat several inches above the handlebars, so you lean down quite far.

That sounds very practical to me. Do you have a recommendation for this sort of bike?

I don't really think either of these are a concern.

1. This doesn't really make any sense, even on the raciest of racy road bikes you are higher up than in a car.
2. I have never found this to be the case at all, but no matter what bike you ride, having a mirror in city traffic is a good idea. I have a Take-A-Look, which is a small mirror you can attach to your helmet or glasses.

It's also important to note that "road bike" does not automatically mean a carbon fiber racing bike. It is a category that spans from that, to touring bikes with very stable handling and wide tires. I would not typically recommend a racing bike for commuting because it's hard to fit fenders, racks, etc, and the geometry is aggressive. But there are lots of road bikes I would recommend.

On the raciest of race bikes your eyes are positioned to see the road directly in front of you really well, so you don't necessarily get the benefit of seeing the driver's face/body position/ car behavior as well until you sit up and look around.

And this goes back to the handling thing, not everyone is good at managing a super racy bike. Turning tends to be "easy" which might also be "twitchy" if you are a newer cyclist. It usually takes more concentration to keep it straight, and you might lose a bit looking behind you! Especially if you are new to that riding style.

I noted in my post that an aggressive road bike isn't a great fit, but less aggressive setups would be fine, focusing on the saddle height / handlebar height being about even.

I think "drop bar bikes" all look the same to many people, so it helps to know some additional visual cues.

I guess what I'm saying is that I don't think anyone is recommending a serious race bike to OP, so these concerns aren't really something to worry them about.

A Hybrid with a 3 speed IGH should be fine.

Get a CETMA Cargo Rack on the front.

When you travel outside of the US there's a reason that the majority of people (about 99% in many countries) are riding upright IGH bikes and most often Dutch bikes — they work better for transportation. They're more reliable, require less maintenance, are more comfortable, can carry more stuff without getting squirrelly, and can easily be ridden in whatever clothes people desire. There's no need for lycra or shorts or rubber bands on pants or special shoes. As mentioned above, sitting upright allows you to see around you much better and drivers also tend to give people on upright bikes more room when passing.

Many of these people, me included, also have drop bar racing bikes for fitness rides but these don't work as well for transportation. Some of us race cars for a hobby but we don't drive to work in our race cars; they're too loud, suspension is too harsh, require more maintenance per mile driven, don't have built-in lights, require gloves, and seating isn't nearly as comfortable.

I was not aware I had to wear special clothes, or that I couldn't carry things on my drop bar bike. I was also not aware my dyno-powered lights did not actually exist. I also didn't know you couldn't have an IGH on a drop bar bike, guess the one I have is imaginary? Huh. Thanks for informing me! ;)

I'm just razzing you. But seriously, a lot of what you are saying is an exaggeration and a conflation of "drop bar" with "racing." They are not necessarily the same thing.