New to the game, looking for some advice!
 

Hello everyone,

My first time shopping for an 'adult bike' has lead me to these forums and I'm sure you guys can help me out! I haven't owned a bicycle for around ten years and back then those two wheels of freedom only made it around the neighbor hood and off plywood jumps. The bike I'm looking for now is going to be a reward to myself after finishing up a tour of duty overseas this July. I'll primarily be using it around campus, to parks and paths where I may like to take it on dirt paths occasionally. It will also be taking the place of me purchasing a car, so it will need to be able to take me great distances at a nice speed (on pavement) to visit my parents and what not. I'm planning on riding during the winter in northern Illinois so I'll need to switch out the tires at some point. AND of course it needs to look pretty

I'm looking at spending <800$
The bikes that have caught my eyes so far have been the Trek 7.3FX, the Trek 7300 and the Trek Valencia.

I'm completely open to suggestions of any kind and greatly appreciate it.

Sounds like a cyclocross to me. You can fatter (and studded) tires on one. You may want to consider the amount you spend on a bike you plan to take out in the winter in northern Illinois - you will be spending some cash replacing corroded parts.

Gene

I would suggest a bunch if test rides - even with bikes you are not considering. also figure another few hundred, maybe three hundred for incidentals ... :) seriously!

Find a helpful bike shop with a decent range of stock. Then buy whatever brand they sell. This will give greast benefit in advice and sypport while you learn all about car-free lifestyle.There is not much cifference between makes at your price. Yhe ones you mentioned are good, but also look at cyclocross bikes, as the drop bars give more choice of hand position on long rides and in headwinds. They tend to have shorter frames than racing bikes so you are not as stretched out, and you can have the bars up near seat level. When I used to ride all winter I had a cheap beater bike with 3 sp hub gears to save my nice bike from the ravages of the salt.

This sounds like it's going to be your primary mode of transportation. If that's the case, I strongly recommend getting a bike with disc brakes, especially if you're liable to be riding in the snow.

Take a look at some of Kona's road and asphalt bikes. They've got a lot of variety, and may get you better bang for your buck than Trek.

Buying a first bike is bit of a stab in the dark. No matter how much planning, foresight and opinion-gathering you put into the purchase, you can't know what will work for you until you try.

Take Arcanum and I. We live in the same city on Lake Ontario, have similar commutes, and similar budgets. We're both car-free and ride in all seasons and conditions. Yet, we ride completely different styles of bikes. We're each happy with our choices, but would probably not be so happy on the other guy's choice. Keep this in mind as you read through the seemingly conflicting opinions and advice you'll get here. None of the advice is likely to be bad, but all of it will be colored by personal preferences and opinion.

Like AndrewP, I suggest on finding a shop you can work with first. All the brand name bikes use the same components, and many use the same factories overseas to make frames. So the difference comes down to local knowledge and service. When I bought my first bike, I didn't choose the dealer well. They're the oldest LBS in the city, but they cater to recreational riders. They had no real working knowledge of bikes as transportation, let alone foul-weather transport.

As a result, I bought a bike that was inappropriate to my intended use, fenders that didn't really fit and work well, and a rack that nearly caused me to fall in front of a bus when the panniers swung into the spokes. Recreational riders, racers, and MTBers don't have the same needs as we do. Find a dealer that knows bikes as transport, and buy whatever brand it is that they sell.

As rumrunn6 advises, go to lots of shops and test ride lots of bikes--even those outside your budget, and especially those that don't seem to appeal to you. Bikes have personalities. Only by riding them can you find out if its a match for you. I have a friend who was a dyed-in-the-wool MTBer. Until he rode a cruiser. Now all his bikes are cruisers. All those years on MTBs and he never knew he liked cruisers until he rode one.

Don't really sweat your first bike. Almost everyone here agrees that the purpose of your first bike is to teach you what you want and need in your second bike. In other words, it's a near certainty that your first bike won't be the perfect bike for you. For me, it was my third bike. But I'd never have known what to look for in that third bike without first putting a few thousand miles each under the wheels of my first and second bikes.

Finally, save room in your budget for other essentials--helmet, lock, lights, fenders, rack, studded snow tires, and clothing. Especially in the first year, these things can exceed the cost of your bike.

All that said, of the three you're looking at above, I'd point you towards the Valencia, only because, like Arcanum, I've found the disc brakes to be very, very nice in foul weather. There's enough other crap to worry about when riding in the wet or the snow without having to worry about your brakes, brake pads or rims.

Second choice would be the FX, the 7300 a distant third. My first bike was a bike path hybrid like the 7300. Despite the fact is was completely the wrong bike for it, I used it for all-seasons, all-conditions commuting for 4,000 miles. It worked, it was cheap, I learned a lot about cycling and myself from it, so from that standpoint, it was a complete success. Still, I had to force myself to ride it once I got my second bike, and it it sat around unridden when I had my third.

Thanks for the input everyone.

I've been looking at the location of bike dealers around where I'll be living and what they stock. There is a shop within 5 miles that sell many Treks, including the Valencia. Right now I'm leaning very far over on that particular bike. I'm ready to test drive many others however, but from where I'm at right now the disc breaks and curb/puncture proof tires seem ideal for campus. I'm going to keep researching online until I get home (less than a month left in desert!) and keep my options open. I look forward to filling you guys in when the time comes!

Every thing he said, There be good advice here.

Tsl pretty much summed it up. Very nicely written.

Ever since I got into commuting, it struck me how every particular bike "improvement" or change I made eventually proofed to have disadvantages as well. That said, for *me* a good commuter has fenders, rack, chain guard(!), slick tires, powerful front and rear light (approx $100 and up each), mirror (recommend Bike Peddler Take a look).

tsl's post should be a sticky :)

There is also another way to look at the advice on different bikes suiting different people, all bikes are good. You will get used to whatever you ride, see its good points, hate it when it throws you on the ground, feel pride when you learn how to fix everything on it, and joy when sitting astride. Dont worry too much about the bike.

z

Another vote for tsl's reply; some good stuff there. I too wish I had a bike that could cover all the bases, but for me the solution has been to own more than one bike. I have my main bike, which I soak the most money into, and then I have some Craiglist bikes that I use to cover the other bases. That Valencia looks like a solid performer - give it a test ride!

The Trek Valencia was the bike I was gunnin' for until I test rode a Marin. Happy hunting.

I think if I had the chance to buy a commuter/all around again, I would check out the Surly cross check. It will allow you to put a good range of tire sizes and, for me at least, being in hoods on a road styled bike is more comfortable than a straight bar for commutes or even trail rides. A bit above your price range, but not by much.

http://www.surlybikes.com/bikes/cross_check_complete/

As mentioned, you need to plan for the accessories you need. I would also add that if you plan on riding in upper Illinois in the winter often, you will be going through components like bottom brackets due to corrosion from salt and water damage - so you need to budget that over the long term. I think because of all this ancillary costs you should take the time an try different kinds of bike - hybrids, rood, cyclocross at shops so maybe you can get it right the first time :D

Good luck.

- Gene