Hi all. I'm a total newb to biking and I had a few questions. I searched around in this forum and didn't find too much info on the bike I was given by my Dad. I was wondering what kind of potential this bike has.

My commute is about 7 miles each way with a lot of big hills. It's windy on occasion here in Oceanside, so i was thinking about putting flat bars on the bike. Is this even feasible? I really want to try and make it a little more 'off-road' worthy as well. Any opinions on that? I know it's a comfort bike, but riding some decent trails with it would be pretty awesome.

I'm hoping my commute will be pretty easy with this bike, though I noticed most people in here opt for a more road oriented bike.

This is what the bike looks like. I think it might be cool with flat bars.



At least it'll be a nice commuter if I can't do anything else with it...

Thanks for looking.

-Jared

I have one for just cruising around on. It's a great bike and very comfy. The longest ride I have done on it was 23 miles and I don't think I would want to go any more then that. I commute on a roadie though.
As long as you're not in a hurry, it should be fine the way it is.

I had one of those when I started commuting. It was an older model (no disc brakes) and it held up well for a 17 mile one way commute. After a year or two you'll probably want to change it, but then it will make a good beater bike. On the back it has mounts for a rack and fenders, but up front you'll have to do some rigging.

If you're starting out, no matter what bike you have now you will be changing it later. You'll get stronger and learn more about the road and bikes. I don't know what standard issued tires are on it, but it was alot faster when I switched to thinner higher pressure slick tire (Kenda Quest). As for both on and off road capabilities, it's hard for any one bike to do both real well. You'll probably do better by switching back and forth between road and off road tires.

Anyways, since you are starting out and you have a bike now, it's time to start working on your brain and body. Don't think about getting a new bike until you improve the brain and body. It's like a cycle. You got to work on all three. Bike, Brain, Body... rinse and repeat.

I had one of those. It was heavy,slow,and the front suspension was like a pair of pogo sticks,but I beat the crap out of it and it took it with no probs. It was my daily commuter for a winter season,and then got used as a polo bike for a few months before I sold it. Needed a good bath and corrosion control,but mechanically it was fine.

If you want flat bars,you can save some coin by dropping the adjustable stem all the way down. That's how I had mine set up. And use blue Loctite on the main bolt and handlebar clamp to keep them tight. I'd also suggest cranking up the adjustments on the forks;they're pretty soft. Or swapping for a rigid fork. The stock tires are so-so,the Slime innertubes suck. I had good luck with Michelin Transworld Citys in 1.95" and Specialized Nimbus Flak Jackets in 1.5". Mounting fenders is a pain. Hit the local hardware store for P clamps or the zip-ties with the eyelets if you want to mount full fenders. Ditch the suspension seatpost;adds weight,makes it harder to adjust your seat height,and costs space for mounting blinkies.

Couple notes about the brakes. They're marked GX-2,but they're actually MX-2's. Giant wants the M replaced with a G for some reason. When it comes time to adjust/replace the pads,the instructions fail to mention there's a set screw on the underside of the caliper that locks the innner pad. Takes a 2.5mm hex if memory serves. And you'll want to cover the hole on the rear caliper's set screw. Water pools up in it and corrodes the screw,which seizes it up and is a real PITA to fix. Some black electrical tape or even duct tape will work.

Not bad rides considering they're comfort bikes. Great for bad weather/winter.

So, after some reading around on here, it seems like I might be losing some power from the suspension forks. I'm getting some kevlar-lined slicks in a few days and I will be getting a rack and pack for it a week or so after that. I figured a good upgrade for this thing will be to get rid of the mushy front suspension.

Also, I'd like to change out the stem (I think that's what it's called... sorry I'm a newb) to something that will set the handle bars a bit lower. I want to be able to lean forward a bit more.

I was searching around on here and I found a post that said this particular bike ('04) was very upgradeable. Where the hell do I look for these 'upgrades'? How would I go about finding out what will fit and what won't? What specs (lengths, diameters, etc.) do I look at when changing out these two things?

I really appreciate all of the help guys! You've been great so far!

I think the Sedona has an adjustable stem and gull wing handle bars which both can be adjusted to lower or raise your handle bars. You should be able to loosen the stem and hinge downward. Then loosen the handle bars, rotate about 180 degrees (maybe an extra two inches more down) and then readjust the shifters and brakes (they would be upside down after you rotate the handle bar).

Putting some bar ends might help in leaning forward more. Changing the stem and forks is going to be more expensive and difficult. If the suspension is too "mushy", they can be adjusted stiffer.

As far as "upgrades" are concerned, I think in that context it may have ment one could swap to more expensive compents (gears, derailers, etc.) when one buys it. Other than that pretty much all bikes are "upgradable".

I have a Giant Cypress. The Sedona looks like it's upscale from my bike. I've been commuting on my Cypress for 3 years now, I ride it 21 miles a day including 8 miles of gravel road. I have > 10,000 miles on it. It's doing fine though at 10,000 miles it's started to need new components. I replaced the rear derailler a few weeks back, and the bottom bracket is making noise now. But still, I'm happy with it; I don't mind replacing components that have held up for me for 10,000 miles.

I have the suspension fork also. I wouldn't get one again, but I'm not going out of my way to swap it out. You're not going to turn this bike into a $1000 cross-check no matter how much you screw with it, so my advice would be to just ride the thing and stop worrying about it. It's a nice bike as it stands. Add stuff you need rather than fooling with what you have.

The stem should be highly adjustable already. Play around with it.

You can save money by just lowering your stock bar. See attacted photo. Red arrow points to the adjuster bolt for the stem,this will raise/lower the bar height. Orange arrow points to the handlebar clamp bolts,loosen them and you can rotate the handlebar down. Make sure you Loctite these bolts after you do the adjustments.

You can also just buy a stem and/or flat bars. Any bike shop will have what you need. The stem is a 1 1/8" threadless,the bars are standard MTB/hybrid. If you were to go with drop bars(the curved ones on road bikes) you'd need to also swap the stem,brake levers,and shifters. I'd try the adjusting the stock parts first,as this is free. Then if you still want to swap parts,you can take the bike to a shop and show them the bike and they'll know where yo wnat your bars to end up.

For the suspension forks,the blue arrow shows where the adjusters are. If you turn them both clockwise until they stop it will firm things out.

The Cypress and Sedona are the same bikes with different wheels. Cypress has 700cc,Sedona has 26". Both come in several levels of componentry.

I started out riding a Sedona, and even did a MS150 on the thing. It's a very capable bike for tooling around on the MUPS and short rides. For longer rides, you'll want to change out the tires for slicks and get a better saddle. The thing I didn't like about it was that you couldn't make the suspension as firm as it needed to be. It always felt soft and mushy, but that's the point of a comfort bike.

You'll never be fast on it, and after I started riding a road bike, I could never get comfortable in the upright position. I did, however, continue to use it as a light duty off-road bike for a while until I decided that we had too many bikes setting around in the way.

For a 14 mile round trip commute, you'll do just fine on it...especially since it was given to you (the assumption here is that the bike properly fits you).

I just bought a Sedona DX, and I'm not sure I made the right move. After riding it some, I like this bike but it seems I need to be in a more upright position to get comfortable. So, first thing,I want to change out the handlebars. Would that be a 25.4mm clamp? Is there a good handlebar you could suggest with some rise and backsweep that could be put on without messing with the cables length?

Also I would like to go back to what I had on my old Schwinn cruiser--a fixed seatpost with royal selle saddle. What seat post size do I need? Thanks for any comments. Just starting and I'm sort of overwhelmed.

Good, succinct and thorough advice!

",,,and you can rotate the handlebars down."

...or "forward".

I did that in 1997 on my Nishiki Blazer MTB/commuter, and they're still that way. You may also want to add some bar ends which will allow you to reach even a little more forward.