N+1 - What type? Help me decided!
 

Ok, so I've got a '02 Diamondback Wildwood hybrid for leisurely sidewalk rides to Starbucks (matches my wife's) and Road bike ('09 Moto I'pro) for club hammerfests, and a Road Tandem for when the wife wants to join the club rides. My son has a Trek 400 mtb I use for off road/trail rides.

I'm really jones'n for a CX bike, but 1) I'm too old to do CX competitively (62) and 2) CX is not very popular here in So. Fla. let alone Senior CX races. It looks like a heap of fun, but I think I would just be "in the way" of the real competitors. I'd just be another obstacle!

I would like a beater road or CX bike, but I'm just not sure. What to you think?

My experience has been that when one is really "jones'n" for something, the quickest way to get it out of your system is to do it. Go for th CX and find out.

As I said in the "did you ride today" post I just put a new drivetrain on my Focus Mares CX-bike. Great to be back on a roadbar bike with skinnier tires than my Mtb,s with wide studs. I am using Nokian W106 on the CX now. I,ve had it for a year and a half and I just love it for fast training rides on forestroads and daily commuting. Great do-it-all bike. I do not think I will ever compete with it, but it,s just great fun riding it. You do not loose all that much speed on tarmac compared to a roadbike and it can handle pretty much everything else exept very technical, rocky singletrack.

Asking this bunch to help you pick a bike is like asking a chocoholic to help pick a chocolate in a chocolate store. :D

If'n I was a Jones'n for a N+1 I might look real hard at a 29er.

:D Part of the reason for the post to begin with! :D

Oh, great! Now that just threw a fly in the ointment! Thanks a lot! Just when I thought .....

Let's see now, ... N+2????

Over on RBR, a guy and his wife winter in Florida and have found some of the sand backroads quite enjoyable. Sounds like perfect terrain for a CX bike.

Ah. Here's a recent ride report, "Unpaved perfection".

Strange how perception becomes reality. I owned a CX bike for a year until stolen........because it was "bomb-proof" (hey, it's a CX bike, dude), I felt great liberty in jumping curbs, riding fast on bumpy canal banks and fire roads and generally having lotsa fun riding like I did when I was a kid. And it had my beloved drop bars. Buy the CX if you have the bucks to burn and a desire to be one of few 62 year olds (like me) jumping curbs.

I'm waiting for a new green Surly Pacer frame set to arrive at LBS along with the components for 1x9 set up with a 39 t chain ring and the 12-36 cassette. Going to run 32 mm Pasela TG tires. So this will be a sort of a "cross" between a cross and road bike with fatter tires of cx and geometry more like a road bike. I'd call it a Knockabout, but I think that name is already taken.

Oh, yeah. That's what I'm talking about! Thanks tsl. I've got a spare set of wheels for the tandem just for that sort of thing. But when the wifey can't make it, and we just want to get "off road" a bit, that's were I'm at. I could use my son's Trek 4100, but what fun is that?

You guys just about got me convinced!!! 62 and time's a wastin.'

Since I live and ride in central Jersey and the roads are not in the best shape and after 3 flats in late fall, I decided to get a winter bike and went for the CX. After a 30 mile ride over the weekend, I know that I would not have been able to do it on the road bike. With all of the melting snow still on the side of some roads and the amount of debris pushed to the side by the plows, I would have spent more time fixing flats then riding. The CX will not just be a winter bike, as I will use it for easy trails and just general exploring some back roads.

You once commented on another thread that you thought my Moto Ti CX was a nice bike and I can confirm that I love how it rides and handles. If you can do it, go for it.

Indeed it is, BITSA, and thanks for testimonial report. However, I've got to clear the acquisition with the stable master, and that might be a tough sell these days. :( I think I'll be looking more in the $700 range. It has something to do with Wall street and fixed income.

Now if the Mrs would do her job and pick the right lotto #'s......

Get the cross bike and don't look back. You will love it's durability and the fact that you can ride it just about anytime and anywhere you need to go. As for cross racing, don't discount it at 62 yrs. I'm 57 and race and crash just as well as someone 15 years younger. Races are like a bunch start time trail, everyone gets strung out right away, racing at a self inflicted suffering pace, rides around, through and over obstacles which includes slower riders getting lapped. Three fourths of the way through a race you pledge to "never do this again" then 5 minutes after the race you are ready to sign up for next week's event. Yea, get the cross bike, your bike budget is sufficient.:thumb:

DO NOT let my wife see this thread! Now if I get a BLACK bike and get rid of the old black beater.....

Ok. we're getting close. I'm going to do a CX bike (the 29er is very tempting!!!) and I'm thinking of this one:

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/windsor/cyclo.htm

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/...cycblk_600.jpg


I've kinda had my eye on it for a while, but I've been waffling and balking. I'm thinking of getting a 61cm and here's the reasons why.

I'm 6'0" and my son is 6'4" He tried road biking but I had him on my old beater bike ('89 Trek 1200, 54cm) and it was small for me. Obviously on the 3 or so rides he did, it didn't turn him on, although he is very fit and did very well. When I got a new road bike, I was vacillating between a 56 and 58. I decided on a 56 as I read some where that for road bikes when in between go small. The 56 works for me great. But I could use a 58 no problem. The 61 would be a stretch, but I wouldn't be putting big miles on it. It would just, for me, replace my beater bike and I would do some off road stuff. But it would be my son's main on and off road bike.

So should I go for the 61 or the 58?

BTW, I don't want to turn this into a BD "shill" rant or BD vs LBS diatribe. Stick to the topic, please!

Frame sizes do not matter as they vary from manufacturerr to Manufacturer. You have to go by fit- Although that can be a compromise.

Top Tube lengths will vary but to me- that is the important measurement. I like to ride a 535mm T/T-when I can get the saddle far enough forward and the stem length is right. That equates to the 51 in Boreas and an "S" in giant sizing-

So why do I also fit an "M" in Giant sizes? This bike was bought for my Son-in-Law to get him into road riding and when set up fits him perfectly. He is a good 4" taller than me and inseam is also greater. So I just lower the saddle and it fits me too. Not"Quite" as good as the 51- but with a bit of sorting it could be. So if S-i-L decides he does not want to road ride- I will have another bike that will fit.

But a 61 is a BIG bike. Could you ride it if it was set up for you? Very Difficult to ride a bike that is just too large.

But a 58 could accomodate one size larger for fit. Far easier to set up a bike that is just a "Bit" small. But if your son does get into cycling- get him to buy his own

Before going any further, I'd clarify in my mind the intention of buying this bike. Is it for you, or your son?

Buying a bike to help him get into cycling is an admirable goal, but as you've already found, he (rightfully) doesn't care for something that doesn't fit.

A shared bike between people of two different statures is asking for trouble. It will be too small for him and too large for you. Beyond comfort issues, there are repetitive-motion injuries to consider. I have a feeling a shared bike will turn into an albatross.

Like Stapfam, I've found the top tube is by far the more important number than "frame size", which usually is determined by seat tube. Two of my bikes are 56s, one is a 58. All three have the same top tube length, within a quarter-inch, (5mm or ½cm) and all three fit well.

You can't go by overall height because body proportions may be different. My father is 6'-3" I'm 5'-10" He has a 32" inseam, mine is 34" Despite my being shorter by five inches, I have the longer legs.

Does that mean I'll ride the "bigger" bike? Not necessarily. He will ride a longer top tube than me, and I'll ride a longer seat tube, or more likely, I'll have more seatpost showing on a "smaller" bike.

As for "frame size"? Depends on the framebuilder. LeMond, for example, was known for longer than usual top tubes for any given "frame size".

If you're buying for yourself, measure the top tubes of your existing bikes. The measurement is always made center-to-center (center of the head tube to center of the seat tube) and parallel to the ground, starting from the top tube's level at the head tube if the top tube slopes. Determine which you prefer and buy the closest top tube size to what you like. You can fine-tune with the stem.

If you're buying for your son, get him to a fitter first.

As for the BD bike, not anything wrong with it, except for the lack of rack and fender mounts. They're both a matter of personal need. If you don't need them, it's not an issue.

Sorry I am late on this, but just remember with a cross bike you have to look at the "stand over" measurement as there is a little more clearance from the ground to BB. This may make you go to the 58 frame size. My road bike is a 56 and my cross is a 54.

Sage advice overall in the thread, esp the past 3 posts (stepfam, tsl, and bitsa.)

tsl, a very sage individual indeed (he taught me yellow bikes are fastest) gets to the real question: Who am I buying this bike for? Indeed that is the problem. I want to get my son into the sport, but if he doesn't like it what do I do with it?

Also, I WANT a CX bike. I want to be able to ride road, sidewalk, trail, levee, etc. CX is perfect. I guess I'm trying to do too much. Darn, why does life have to be so difficult? Rather, why is my son so big. Seems to me the milkman was tall....

I have to agree with the trend of the recent advice. While you could probably put together a bike that would be usable by both you and your son, one or both of you will be toward the limit of your ideal size range. I think a CX bike would be my last choice for such a compromise. Since you plan to ride the bike offroad occasionally, you would likely find yourself in a situation where you would be painfully aware of the lack of top tube standover clearance. with a regular road bike or touring bike, you might be able to set your son up with a modern fit while fitting yourself more in the French/Rivendell manner.

Yeah, but what did I just buy? A blue one. Go figure.