Does anyone' know of decent front adjustable shocks/suspension/forks (whatever its called) for under $80? The ones I have now are not adjustable and are too soft for me.

I feel strongly that you're heading in the right direction from your description a big, fat, "slick" tire.

However...while I agree with getting that type of tire, I looked up the tire, and it's $15 / tire - with no mention of flat protection.

I would NEVER go back to the days of riding a tire without good flat protection again. Never. Since I started using tires with flat protection, like the Panaracer TServ's that I have on my bike, I've never gotten a flat from a puncture (gotten a few from a few different defective tubes, or a burr on the inside of my tire rim). It used to be that I'd get 2-3 flats per year - that went to 0 when I got puncture resistant tires.

Unfortunately, the biggest size I could find in a TServ was 1.75" -
https://www.amazon.com/Panaracer-T-Se...anaracer+tserv

Schwalbe has a very good reputation to, I found their Marathon tires for $45/tire on amazon -
https://www.amazon.com/Schwalbe-Marat...thon+26+x+2.00

I realize that $15/tire vs $45/tire sounds like a huge difference in cost. And all I can say is that it's **definitely** worth it - in my opinion. The difference between 2-3 flats a year, and 0 flats per year, was completely worth it for me - even in my broke college student days. (You should still carry flat repair stuff, because it's not impossible to get a flat, but it's way way more difficult.)

If you do some research, there might be other slightly less expensive tires that would work to, I'm not sure - the Panaracer is the one I buy and I've read many good things about the Schwalbe. But I would **never** go back to the days or getting 2-3 flats per year in exchange for saving $60. Like I said - not even when I was a broke college student.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

These are probably to expensive, but fyi, I ran across them and they are 4" pedals -
https://www.specialized.com/us/en/ftb...latform-pedals

$80 though. Just thought I would mention that they exist.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

If you're looking for advice overall, my advice would be between a mountain bike with no suspension - but big 2 inch tires (slicks, like you mentioned, not the knobby kind of tire), or a bike with front suspension but no rear suspension.

People often think of suspension as something that makes your road smoother, but it's really there for doing things like plowing into logs on a mountain bike trail. Usually fatter tires gives you as much suspension as you'd ever need for anything you find on the road, including potholes. Yeah, a skinny tire doesn't like a pothole, but a 2" tire will ride over a basketball sized pothole (in my limited experience).

If one does need suspension front suspension even covers most of that. Even professional mountain bikers often ride with only front suspension (for efficiency reasons).

The drawback of rear suspension that - unless you buy the expensive stuff - it causes you do lose a lot of power to the suspension. I have a $1500 full suspension mountain bike, and there is a very noticeable difference between having the rear suspension on, and having it off (locked out) in the speed that I'm going with the same amount of effort.

Yeah the rear Is adjustable and I have it so there is almost no give. The rear suspension I am iffy about. I wanted to buy a cheap bike so I could see what I liked/disliked. All the parts I've bought so far can easily go on another bike if i plan too. One thing I do that I doubt 98% of the road bikers do is there is times where I'll go from 1 level surface to another and it's about a foot drop. This doesn't sound like much but I did that 4 times today and I know if I had a stiff bike i would have felt it. I do agree the power lost from having suspension is there. This is why I want something adjustable so I can find the sweet spot.

At this point If I could find 4' pedals under 45 for a pair I'd do it.

95 degrees outside and I managed to do 15 miles in under 2 hours. And the riding had quite a few ups and downs. The only thing my bike really lacks now is more places for water. Gonna buy the dual bottle rack for the back so I'll have 3 bottles.

Lol, your route sounds crazy. 1 foot drop? Most of my mountain bike trails don't even have that...

If it was me, I'd get off my bike and carry it over the drop for that, lol...

You can say what you want about "walmart bikes" but yesterday I got hit by a truck and not even a scratch on the bike. I was able to ride the bike home without any issues. My leg and arm are gonna be black and blue but other then that everything is good.

I was looking at the diamondback pedals on Amazon for 20 bucks, but then I found some "black label" pedals at a LBS, they're nearly 4'' wide by 4'' long, nice upgrade.

FS? You will probably come to regret it TC, at first you can't take the bumps and want all the comfort in the world. Later you get used to it and wonder "how much power am i being robbed of, i should have gone with a hybrid"

I've been thinking about it and I actually like the rear suspension. I lift heavy weights 5 days a week and I always dread doing any considerable cardio or pushing it on legs day. With the rear suspension on my bike I've noticed my legs/calves have grown and I've gone from 2 loops on my belt to 3 (lost weight). Another issue I've seen is my wrist kill me when I drive the bike over 10 miles. Looking online I found what I needed, handlebar extenders. I should have those installed tomorrow and probably going to get some handlebar tape shortly after so that it looks like 1 piece.

So out of curiosity, why do you attribute that to the rear suspension? Bigger legs/calves, and a smaller belt size, both sound like something I would attribute to biking a lot more in general...why do you think the rear suspension is specifically the cause?

On a completely different topic, I lift to - more like only 3 times per week. I'll say one thing, riding a road bike hunch down is easier ever since I've gotten enough squat flexibility to go ATG... :-)

I got looking @ my dad's bikes and since he only rides 1 of them he said take any parts you want off them. I took one of the seats and a nice water bottle. I decided to give his bikes a try. What I noticed was it took a lot more "strength" to pedal my bike then my dad's. Each time I pedaled my bike my legs were engaged more like I was @ the gym vs pedaling a bike. This is because each time i pedaled, my bike would sinks down maybe 1/2 inch. This is what people mean when they say there is a "power lost" from having a rear suspension. I've grown to like this, because at the end of a bike ride my legs feel like I've worked out at the gym.

The weight lost is purely due to cardio, that and your legs make up such a huge portion of your overall body that when you work them hard you burn even more calories.

This is just a mockup of the handlebar extenders. Looks pretty good so far. I havent put them in all the way, or the end cap, or put them in the position I want.

Lol, you know - I also ride my mountain bike when I want to slow myself down (biking with much slower people, or I want to get exercise but don't have a convenient long route to travel).

If you find that more fun, more motivating, etc, etc - that's totally cool. Just be aware that you're going slower than you could be. It just depends on your priorities - if getting a workout is your priority, awesome. If getting to your destination faster if your priority, be aware that you're going slower because of the rear suspension. It will significantly slow you down. While it definitely sounds like your route is far more varied than most of mine, and things like hills, bad road, etc, will definitely slow you down, on average on a road bike an hour ride will cover 15 miles, even at the beginning of the season when I'm not in great shape.

Have fun!