stapfam

So what is the ideal bike for a 50+er.

I am not thinking about a bought bike and I do not intend it to be one of the extreme bikes either. My suggestion is that we all chip in with one part that will make up into the Ideal 50+ bike- so that cuts out the extreme Racing bikes and funny materials such as Titanium or Carbon Fibre. I would also suggest that we stay off mountain bikes as there are few of us that Mountain bike to the stage where we will get agressive and a good MTB frame will be heavy or very expensive.

So start off with a Chromoly double butted steel frame as most of us will agree that this type of frame will have a long life and give a comfortable ride. Whether this is going to be built as a Road bike with drops or straight bars will be debatable but that is something that can be to riders choice- Providing we get the rest of the components right.

It is now up to the rest of you to sort out the components- Wheels, Drive chain, Tyres, Saddle, seat post etc.

I have started with the frame so what do you lot think will make our Ideal, although sometimes a compromise, Bike for us.




Listing as I Can collate them from the postings- the following are the suggestions

So Far

Chromoly Double butted steel frame OR Aluminium Frame with C.F.Forks
Low gears. With a nomination each for a triple or Compact Double crankset.
Carbon Forks
Comfort bars
Hand Built Wheels
28 to 32 tyres
Brooks Saddle
Shimano 105 Drivetrain
Bell OR To be more precise The Incredibell
Pie shaped Saddlebag(very appropriate but must be large enough for Pie)

Nermal

Well, my fifty + bike needs gears low enough that I don't risk a heart attack on some of the hills around here. So, I can outrun the gears and the top speed is limited. A good tradeoff when contrasted to the humiliation of walking up a hill.

Sometimes, I think I just need someone to shove a bike in my face and tell me to ride it. I spend entirely too much time agonizing over each picky decision.

bigbossman 

Don't know why you'd exclude "funny" materials like carbon fiber. CF is a nice, comfortable all-day ride - much like steel.

Anyway, I prefer something with a triple. I'm not into wrecking my knees on all the mountains we have around here, and the triple allows me to ride anywhere I want. But flatlander's will not prize it so highly. I value reliability and durability, and so any odeal bike I would consider has to be constructed well, be designed well, and be rideable fro many miles without mechanical malfunction.

I think the "ideal" 50+ bike is any bike that you will ride a lot.

Yen

For those with upper-body prostheses......... comfort bars!

I'm glad I'm not the only one........ it's hard to know when I've done enough sensible comparison shopping, and when I'm starting to be obsessed over every detail.

I_Bike

I love these.

Stevie47

My contribution would be to use a compact crankset (double) rather than a triple. You still get the low gears you want for climbing, yet it is simpler, lighter, less stuff. I know some people think that compacts shift poorly, but many guys I ride with use them, and they work just fine.

That two cents on the floor there would be mine.

stapfam

Reason for staying off the funny materials is cost. Not all of us have a friendly Bank Manager or Have made a killing on our stocks and shares recently so, lets try to keep cost sensible. The idea I have in mind is to get a rough idea of what an older rider would want to have in a bike for comfort- performance and cost. If you have a retirement fund stretching into the $$$$$$$'s, then you could go and buy the gold plated italian hand made bike with no cost spared, but not many of us can.

So far we have two for low gears so we are looking at Compact Double crankset or a triple.

Idea is for each person to nominate one item to make up the ideal bike.

So Far

Chromoly Double butted steel frame
Low gears. EDIT with a nomination each for a triple or Compact Double crankset..

MarkAJ

Well after reading this post: get a carbon fork. (READ NO FURTHER PLEASE & I am not wealthy either.)


Sorry if I conflict with your opening about the kind of bike. I plan to continue my recreational riding in my retirement years with more Centuries, Metrics etc. and want all I can afford towards it.

My ideal 50+ bike has to be comfortable, stable, stiff and durable in that order. I am going there at retirement, in two years, with a custom TI road bike frame painted red and components per budget. Today it’s a compact crankset and 12-27. A carbon fork, rake unknown. No racing wheels, but light 32 spoke front and rear custom built with Chris King hubs color red. Carbon seat post, carbon bars w/drops and Continental Ultra Gatorskin road tires. Another part of a pleasant ride includes good shoes and pedals, carbon road shoes (Specialized BG Pro) and probably something like SPD-SL pedals. Saddle: Brooks Swift or Forte Arione? And I am going to have available one of those plastic rear wheel fenders you put on when you know it is a little wet out. No, I don’t want to know the price right now, thanks.

For me it is not about racing, speed or distance, it is getting out there and riding far far away in pleasure.

maddmaxx 

I'm going to recomend hand built wheels. The return for investment over OEM wheels that we can afford is excellent.

I recomend standard cone and ball hubs (servacible and low cost for the performance) for 32 spoke wheels with double butted 2.0/1.8/2.0 spokes and Mavic CXP22 rims. These rims are similar to the CXP33 at about 1/2 the price. I little stronger at the expense of a little weight. This will provide a better than average performing wheelset that doesn't break the bank.

The gold standard for average everyday wheels for serious road riders would be a similar setup with open pro rims and perhaps 28 spokes. add $30 per wheel for open pro's.

bigbossman 

Fair enough - but I would like to add that (good) steel frames aren't cheap anymore, unless you're buying a used mid-80's frame to build on. Then, they're practically free...... For all intents and purposes, the default frame materials found in most LBS's are either aluminum or CF. The only relatively inexpensive steel frames are Lemond and Bianchi.

on the subject of compact - with a compact you get "almost as low as" triple gears. "Almost" is not good enough for me, especially around here in the west. I would argue that if you were building one ideal bike to cover most situations, go with the triple. No one's forcing you to use the granny if you don't want to, but it's nice to have if you need it. The weight penalty is negligible, and they shift just fine. Compacts are a compromise...

martianone

a bike that fits, perfectly-
materials and components are almost secondary after that.
i would find a LBS or builder that would be willing to work with
me to tweak everything to a perfect fit.

Terrierman

Let me be the one that nominates Brooks B-17 for the official over 50 perfect bike seat.

guybierhaus

"So what is the ideal bike for a 50+er. "

I think this thread is doomed from the beginning. There are enough differences between us that there could never be an ideal fits all bike. I wouldn't buy steel. Aluminum with carbon fork, carbon seat stays.

Not fond of hills so ride around them with a compact double, but would probably prefer a Cyclocross Double 48/36. Many others ride hills, or have no choice and will want a triple. But "ideally" I think I want a single gear wheel in front, maybe 46t, and a 10 sp cassett at rear, 11 x 34.

Shimano 105 components. I currently ride 25mm tyres, but would probably prefer 28mm, hoping for a slightly better ride. Not enough of a wheel expert to comment, other then if we were all 140 lbs probably low spoke count. But I'm 250 lbs, so need 32 minimum.

We will differ enough on bars that you will need two models. Standard road bars and comfort/flat bars. And as for me, they haven't made the ideal seat yet.

Can we all agree on a Nashbar compass bell?

Retro Grouch 

I was all set to disagree with everybody. Guess what? The bike that you have described so far is not only a bike that I own but the bike that I would keep if I had to limit myself to just one.

Bridgestone RB2 lugged, butted, steel frame and fork.
Shimano 105 triple crankset.
Shimano XT rear derailleur 12/32 8-speed cassette.
Handbuilt wheelset (by me) 105 hubs, Mavic CPX21 rims, DT 14/15/14 spokes.
Continental Gatorskin tires 700 x 28.
Nitto technonic stem.
Shimano 7-speed bar end shifters (in friction mode).
Brooks Pro saddle.

CrossChain

Back when the "aero advantage" was first being marketed big-time, someone was selling a perfectly pie wedge shaped saddle bag to lessen "under saddle turbulence". Seems most appropriate for us-- and not for any piddly aero reasons.

dminor 

I have to agree. We are all too different. My 'ideal' bike looks nothing like what is described above. Mine more resembles this:

europa

I was going to suggest a fixie ... but you lot are taking this seriously

If we're going to woose out and put gears on it, it has to be a triple crankset and probably from the mtb range. Reason? Few of us are going to be chasing top speed but anything that goes up is going to have us puffing, so the lower overall range available with an mtb setup is going to be more friendly. A triple not because it gives you more gears (only one or two more usually unfortunatetly), but because it allows you smaller steps between the gears to get that range and small steps are a great saving to tired legs and a boon to efficiency.

Has to be steel. Regardless of whether you can afford the up front cost of carbon, you then have the issue of replacing the bits whereas steel is more forgiving of abuse.

Wider tyres, but not fat - 28 or 32 mm.

And it's got to have a rack so you can hang panniers filled with polystyrene foam on them and scare the youngsters

Richard

Red Baron

You guys keep your bikes, I'll keep mine in my dreams.

Sci-Fi

Brooks B-66, B-67, or Champion Flyer for me. At least in my area, the over 50 crowd prefers springer saddles, regardless if they are leather, foam, gel, etc or what type of bike they prefer riding.

BluesDawg

Brass Incredibell

John E

My restored Capo fits my needs extremely well, although I am glad to have the UO-8 for general transportation and grunge riding and to carry loads (vintage Capo frames are too soft for any kind of loaded touring, or even a stack of textbooks on a Pletscher mousetrap rack -- been there, done that, scared the $@^* out of me).

full d.b. Reynolds 531 manganese-moly steel frame and fork
55cm seat tube length, C-T
Nervar Star aluminum cotterless crankset w/ 8-tooth drop
6-speed freewheel w/ 2-tooth progression
Weinmann brake handles which fit my hands
Brooks Pro saddle, custom-fit via the school of hard knocks
KoolStop brake pads
Campagnolo derailleurs (for snob appeal and authenticity only; a SunTour rear would shift a tad better)
700Cx28mm tires, or perhaps even 700Cx32

What I may change as I age: replace the downtube shifters with nonindexed ratchet barcons.

stapfam

So Far- The spec is going exactly as I thought it would. Lots of Different Ideas and claims for what is best. Couple of things, I ride alumimium frames, but I did not Put this as my choice as It can be a bit harsh on the ride. I was forgetting about the C.F.Forks though that will ease the ride. Hand Built wheels need not be expensive and are a lot better than OM wheels- but How about the cheaper "Branded" wheels that are available? Shimano 105's Or the Cheap Mavics? Brooks saddles I expected to come up and I will have to try one someday to see if they are any good---For me. The Bell!!! I do not have one but have to admit that I should have one but then on the Tandem I have a horn and no-one hears that either. The argument on Crankset is down to individuals and I use a triple. You can get as low a gearing with a Compact Double And even the Older form of Mountain biking 48/38/28 triple ATB Crankset may be worth a try if the hills are sever enough.

Long way to go with lots of forcefull ideas yet to come. Retro Grouch even doubted the spec coming out but if you do as he did, and Anylyse what you ride- we are getting there.

oilman_15106

One mans or womans ideal bike is anothers nightmare. There is no way to answer this question. Maybe that is why there are so many types of bikes out there and so many companies selling those bikes.

So here is my 50+ ideal bike: Look 585 frame with full Dura Ace and Campy wheels! + CF bars, stem and seatpost.

Digital Gee

The ideal 50+ bike is one that belonged to a friend or neighbor who hardly ever rode it, so it's been stored in the garage for a while, is the right size, and is given for free to the 50+ rider.

It comes with the exact handlebar, pedals, shifters and brakes that the 50+er would have purchased anyway.

It has no or few scratches; the wheels are true, the tape is in good shape. Not only is it given for FREE to the 50+er, but the giver feels GOOD about giving it away, because "at least it will get ridden now."

BluesDawg

Sounds a lot like the star of my stable.

Bridgestone RB-1 lugged steel frame and fork
Campagnolo Racing Triple crank, f&r derailleurs
13/24 7 speed freewheel
Handbuilt wheels (not by me) Phil Wood hubs, Torelli Master rims, DT 14/15/14 spokes (36 per)
Panaracer Pasela Tourgaurd folding tires 700 x 28
Nitto technomic Deluxe stem
Suntour friction bar end shifters
Brooks B-17 Champion Special saddle
Incredibell