Hello everyone. I am new here and looking for a decent bike to commute on. I am currently looking at a Ibex flat bar road bike (Corrida LT 4.4). I road my friends Ibex flat bar and really liked the feel and handling of it. It seems to have good components and the price is in my budget. Does anyone here have any experience with Ibex bicycles, or know of anyone riding one ? Any help would be great. Thank you. I will also be using the bike for longer "joy rides" in the summer time so I am pretty sure I want a road bike.
Bob

I have an Ibex Vantage 4400 (compact geom. road bike) that i've been very happy with. The welds on the frame are solid if not the prettiest in the world, and for the money you can't be the components. I have no complaints whatsoever about the bike, nor in the service i received pre and post purchase from Ibex.

With that said please make sure you know *exactly* what you want. After all, you're not going to be able to test ride the bike, unless you're getting the same model and size as your friend's. Be prepared to to a little wrenching to once it arrives (attach handle bars, do up front brake, throw on QR skewers), or be prepared to take it to a shop and pay them to put it together for you.

Many people will recommend if you're unsure about anything concerning the bike you're better off going to a bike shop and checking their selection first. Sometimes it's worth a little extra $$ to have someone face to face help you with finding exactly the right bike for you.

Thanks for the advise. I am now leaning toward a Mountain Bike with slicks because I have had many people tell me that the spokes on road bikes break alot and I should be ready to replace them frequently.

Many people are misinformed. Spoke breakage is a matter of spoke quaility.

Yeah, and those skinny tires will cause you to fall! I would rather commute on a road bike because of the decreased rolling resistance of the tires. I rode my sister's MTB with slicks and couldn't believe how much tougher it was to maintain speed.

And build quality of the wheel. Many MTB wheels are over built to withstand off-road conditions so there is a better margin but a well built road wheel (32 or 36 spoke) should be very reliable. I'm 220 lbs and ride 32 spoke road wheels on some very poor city roads including 6 railroad crossings everyday. I run 23mm tires because thats what will fit and don't even bother to slow for the rough stuff. Once I retension the factory built wheels I have no problems. Most other people who have hand built wheels or have had thier wheels retensioned will have similar experience.
If you are an urban commando type rider than an MTB is probably a better bike for you but if you have decent miles to ride on you commute a good road style bike (cyclocross, tourer or light tourer) will be faster.
Craig

I recently got and Ibex Classic 4400 road bike. I am using it as a commuter. It has rear rack braze-ons. I prefer drop/road bars because of a greater number of hand positions (you get the flat bar-top plus the brake lever hoods). I have panniers on the road bike and I weigh about 170 lbs and so far no problems with the wheels even though the front wheel has its spokes in a straight-line, not crossed. (radially?)

G Lubritz

I have an '03 Corrida. I've broken one spoke and gone through three sets of tires in two years. I also replaced the chain and the cassette last November. No other problems.