what do you think?
 

i've been cycling for a while but my 1st beginner bike, a walmart roadmaster mtb keeps breaking and I'm tired of it so I'm on a quest for a new bike.

I need a bike that can go fast on Los Angeles city streets. Thats means occasional potholes and cracks in the asphalt. Around 15-20miles a day.
But it needs to support a 5'11 rider 180 pounds and maybe 20lbs of luggage.

I was thinking of a new old stock bike, 10 gear but I'm worried about it being to frail and the city streets.
Don't know if I should purchase 'urban' 'hybrid' or 'road'

Thanks for all the help!

Get ye to Craigslist and get yourself a quality used bike. You'll never regret it.

Consider the Kona Smoke or Jamis Coda. These are not the fastest but are great $400 to $500 bikes.

Also consider the Cyclocross bikes and install 700 x 28 Kevlar tires such as Gatorskins. This will be as fast as road bikes and Cyclocross bikes are tough enough for city streets.

Michael

Yes, road bike can only be ridden on perfectly smooth track. :rolleyes:
with 20 lbs of stuff consider something that have eyelets that you can install panniers on. How hilly will your commute be? I have a langster and love it.

First, make sure whatever you buy, that it is the right size. After that buy the bike that you can affort (remeber you are saving a lot of gas money, so you can affort more than you think). and get the bike that feels good to you when you ride it.

That bike might be an 'urban' 'hybrid' 'road' or even a mountain bike with slicks on it.

Where can i get fitted for a bike and what are slicks.
So the difference is just in the tires?
My friend told me to get road tires and put it on a mtb bike.

I'd go touring or cyclocross bike with 25 mm or larger tires for mileage like that. I think you'll be more comfortable than flat bar bikes. I do agree no matter what style of bike, if you are making that kind of commitment dump the crappy big box bike and get a quality bike.

I'm written more about picking a bike for transportation here: http://austinbikeblog.org/?p=38

I just picked up a 90's Specialized Rockhopper (Steel...nice, no suspension!!) for about 150 bones. I put new slicks from Performance bike on there ($6 bucks each), an adjustable stem and a mirror. She rocks and is very happy. We went on a 30+ mile ride today and she kept up with me just fine. We rolled 13-16 mph no problem and the bike is plenty tough.

i would try craig list but i dont know what i need.
what are slicks.

and i'll check out the link right now.

does fitting cost a lot though?

Slicks are non-mountain bike style tires, i.e. they don't have knobbies. They're smooth.

Getting professionally fitted to a bike can cost a few hundred dollars, but if you are buying new a good bike shop should do that for you for free (not just a 10 second check of top tube clearance.)

<img src="http://images.craigslist.org/010104011509010203200809015193b5b308130d26e5006fc0.jpg">

can i use this frame?

That frame is very large, not good for someone 5'11". I have a bike like slowjoe66 mentioned above (an old mountain bike with no shocks, using thin fast smooth tires), and if you want a mix of durability, speed, and value, that's one of the good options.

What about this one http://picasaweb.google.com/quanmuni...19349406877986


The previous owner is 5'9 but its 2-3 inches big for him.

Or should I just recycle my old bicycle frame and put slicks on it
or get a cyclocrosse bike.

http://www.mechbgon.com/bike1.jpg

^ old steel mountain bike, minus the slick tires. Stong, fairly plentiful, easy to buy parts for. Snow not included, sold separately ;)

If you can afford a decent bike, the Kona Jake is a nice cyclocross bike that'll handle the worst streets without a problem. About $800-900 if I recall correctly. Well-sealed hubs, DT Swiss spokes, double-walled rims.

No. That's another 25-inch frame like the red Peugeot. If you're going to buy a used road bike, try for something with at least a Shimano 7-speed freehub-style rear wheel, DT Swiss or Wheelsmith spokes, and 700C wheels, and at 5'11", try for around a 56cm to 58cm frame so it's somewhere in the ballpark on fit.

Also, with 20 pounds of luggage, it would be good to get a bike that can take relatively large tires (many road bikes don't have enough clearance in the frame & fork for big tires). A 32mm tire would be a decent goal. This is where the cyclocross and touring bikes are good. If you can hunt down a Trek 520 that takes 700C wheels for a good price, and it's in the right size (23-inch or 56-58cm), that would be worth looking into.

thanks.
im going to go to a bike shop soon
maybe they have some deals on touring cyclocross

This is a good time of year to go as bike shops are starting to want to clear out this year's inventory. The other thing to know is that the bike industry is looking at pretty much across the board price increases next year, so if you've got the money to buy now, you'll save money versus waiting.