Looking for a bike for college, touring and becoming car lite...
 

Hi, I'm attending college this fall and I'm wanting to go car lite. I love the bike I have now (80s Ross 10-speed), but it's sadly falling apart and not cutting it. I'm gonna have to upgrade.

I got about $600 in graduation money and I have a part time job so I can come up with some more scratch. I'm looking to have it by late July or so (school starts late August). My budget is $1000 ABSOLUTE MAX, preferably ~$800.

I'm going to get a Timbuk2 bag for carrying books and stuff, but I'd like to have a rear rack. I plan on doing some touring and I'd like to do occasional clothes or grocery shopping by bike, so I'll need some storage.Nothing over the top, I probably won't even get front racks. I will, however, put some fenders on, a computer and lights.

I love riding with drop bars and a fairly aggressive posture. I like to go fast, but I know I'm not gonna be doing a whole bunch of that with 20 pounds on the back.

I guess my #1 request is reliability. I want a bike that will work all the time, every time. No flats, nothing breaking off, reliable brakes and an overall rock solid ride.

Oh, and I'd like it to not be a theft magnet, if possible. I'm gonna get a nice U-lock and a cable lock and lock it up as strongly as possible. But it is gonna be on a campus of almost 25,000 students.

With that said, what are your recommendations? I'm looking at the Surly Cross Check with the Long Haul Trucker being the absolute ceiling of my money (actually a little over). Any recommendations?

Get an older touring bike. The early Trek 520s all had pretty aggressive geometry compared to modern touring bikes. You can get a great vintage touring bike for less than $400 on Craigslist (if you have a decent market), and you'll have money left over to make the bike bombproof (Marathon Plus tires, replacing any old cables, etc).

Another option: http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/...an_turismo.htm

A little speedier/versatile with discs as well: http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/...ane/outlaw.htm

a lot of people like: http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/windsor/tourist.htm but an older used bike might bring you more value. Don't forget fenders on whatever you do. Also, bungee cargo nets come in handy lots of times in lots of ways. As do Wald folding baskets like this: http://www.amazon.com/Wald-Folding-B.../dp/B000BPNK7O

I've been on the look out and I rarely if ever find road bikes at all, let alone vintage on craigslist. I'm going to start scouring ebay more often I guess.


As for those of you that posted bikesdirect bikes, what is the quality like from them? I have been to their website a few times and I've looked long and hard at the Windsor Tourist, but I wanna make dang sure I'm not getting a lemon.

any semi-new bike is a theft magnet. Reliability is primarily a function of your awareness that things are adjusted right and fix them before they get out of hand or forced. $1000 max leaves out Cross-Check or LHT. Nearly flat proof tires are possible but they're heavy and you'll still need to keep them inflated.

Rear rack, room for fenders. $.02 whatever you get get a bunch of rolls of black cloth tape and wrap the top tube, seat post and seat stays then take a couple cans of clashing paint and go over the entire bike. You might consider turning the front crankset into a double if it's a triple with outer chainring taken up with chainguard to reduce tearing up friends cars when taken apart and stuffed into back seats/trunk. Pit-lock qr or seat post might be an idea.
Given your budget get this then pre-trash it.

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/..._cross_cx3.htm

If you don't know how to adjust hub bearings or brake pads you might consider heading off to REI as BikesDirect assumes you have some wrench skills.

Operator error is more likely than getting a lemon so getting a deal at a bike shop will get you some warranty and servicing with the purchase.

Novara Verita or Raleigh Port Townsend look nice.

I like touring bikes for the load-carrying capability, so my recommendations tilt that way. The Windsor touring bike (apparently the Fuji tourer with different decals) would be a sweet ride, but it'd likely need a trip to the LBS to get it built, adjusted, tensioned and trued. The LHT, if you get the ugly color, might be better for theft deterrence.

Panniers are easier to carry than the messenger bag, and easier to load with groceries and beer later. If you gt Ortliebs, you can carry them with you, so they won't be stolen.

If you get it now and ride it all summer, remember not to clean the frame. Just keep the drive train clean, and the bike will look old and dirty next to all the other bikes on the rack at school.

Invest in a good lock, and use it well.

Since you are still on campus , patch together the old bike for locking out side ,
get a second bike that's nicer only if you can keep it inside .

Lots of things can happen to dérailleur drivetrains. less to get bent with an IG hub.

I totally agree with this.
The primary downside to BD is that you do not get any "free" post-purchase maintenance, and either need to be able to do it yourself (REALLY easy to learn basic bike maintenance, btw) or pay a shop to do it.

As far as quality, I have purchased two bikes from BD and feel that they offer solid value for the money, and have heard similar results from the vast majority of other folks.
Their sub $600-ish bikes typically utilize no-name saddles, handlebars and seatposts, but from what I've seen they are perfectly functional.

I have owned 3 BD bike and I have been pleasantly surprised with the quality of the price. I just sold some clip-less pedals today to a guy that had the BD Fanthom Cross Pro and loves it.

The Windsor Tourist seems like great value. If it was mandated that I only have one bike I would consider selling everything else and buying one of those.

Its been suggested already, but maybe have 2 bikes. One could be a cheap ghetto bike maybe a singlespeed and the other could be something nicer. Singlespeed is another option entirely since its about as reliable as you can get if you can do that.

Craigslist/garage sale rigid mtb + xtracycle. Still room the budget for tuneup/customization/lights/etc. Perfect car replacement, touring bike, grocery getter.

I don't have one, but how about something like this?
Cheap, and you could put a rack on it to haul some gear.

Thank you to the TS and the other posters. I needed an answer similar to this. I'm liking the Motobecane Gran Turismo Road Bike and the Motobecane Fantom Cross Outlaw. Would the Fantom be good for 13 mile ride, 9 of them straight non-stop.

For the price, the Fantom has better parts then Specialized Tricross.

a bike with no flats? hehe.
How about a bike that won't get you hit by a car? jk.
I like the Arkel Bug bag but I do not know if that is in your price range.

at the college I attend they let some students bring their bike inside a office if you ask.

Either of those bikes would be great for your 9 mile trip. I think the guy I talked to today might have actually had the Outlaw you are considering. He said he can easily keep up with his friends that have road bike and take it out and hit up some trails. He said he couldn't be more happy with it.

Take a look at the Novara Safari as it may be within your price range.

I just got a cross check and let me tell you...the kool aid tastes good

A lot depends on the campus and the university but most of them have big issues with bike theft. Learn how to lock it properly and you will give yourself a much better chance of having that bike at the end of the year.

We just sent my son off to the college this year at a major Big 10 university on an urban campus. For the winter, he rode his mountain bike and we added studded tires. For spring and fall, we used my old Motobecane race bike (10 speed) but with nice stuff like some hand built wheels and entry level campy (from mid '80s). It's a really nice bike but probably not worth more than about $200 or so right now. We added pinlocks for skewers to make the tires more theft resistant and then got an Evolution Kryptonite U lock with a 4' cable. He locks the it using the Sheldon Brown method and then uses the 4' cable to pull in the front tire. That makes it the best locked bike on campus and pretty much everything else is a better target.

For tires, we changed out the 23c's for 25's (biggest the frame would handle) in Conti Gatorskins. That makes it pretty bullet proof for flats etc... We lubed up the chain with Chain-L and he has lube and keeps the chain lubed well especially after a rain (he gets taking care of it, he's an engineering student). If it is going to be really wet and rainy he either brings it up to his dorm room or locks it by some buildings with overhangs.

I would not go and buy a bright and shiny new bike for college. You just make it a target and a $600 bike brand new is probably not going to hold up great in the weather. I'd go on Craig's list and find an old more classic bike and use that. It won't be as interesting to thieves and it will probably be a better ride. Put the widest tires on it that you can - if the frame is open enough to where you can put studded tires on it or even as large as 32c's that would work well. It's an easy matter to change it out to 23's if you want to go for a serious hammer ride.

What seems to work really well, and we're thinking about for next year is since the campus and city is pretty flat is to convert the bike to single speed. Just that much less to fool with.

That all said, if you buy the CL bike for campus, then you can probably get a nice bike for serious riding. You might even be able to hang it up in your dorm if you give it some thought. We made a deal that clamps to the end of my son's bunk bed that hooks the front wheel and holds the bike vertically in some unused space. Worked great!

Pinlocks:
http://www.pinheadcomponents.com/ind...mid=56&lang=en

4' cable:
http://www.rei.com/product/800078/kr...x-1004-cable-4

U-Lock
http://www.rei.com/product/800076/kr...on-mini-u-lock

Sheldon Brown method:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/lock-strategy.html

J.

If you're going to get a rear rack then get a hybridbackpack. I use it to carry my backpack, case of beer or wine. I love it. It allows me to take make backpack.
Check out my Channel on youtube, I have a review of it along with videos of it in use.
http://www.youtube.com/user/bobbisig...r?feature=mhee

The website has many pictures and videos.
Hope this helps