derek_o

Hello Bike Forums community. I'm a novice cyclist looking to get a little more involved in the sport. I have a pretty unique situation and am having trouble deciding which type of bike to buy.

My situation:
I'm a college track athlete so I exercise a lot. I have a lot of lower leg issues so I do bike workouts about 3x/week. These workouts are typically sprint/rest intervals on bumpy, paved roads. There are a lot of woods around where I live (Williamsburg, VA) and there's good options for mountain biking on smooth dirt trails up to winding, root infested one's. I currently ride an old 2000 Specialized Hardrock, the frame is too big, the derailleur and cables need replacement. Basically it's okay for getting to class but a hassle to take on trails or workouts. I do really like that it's a tank though. I ride it up stairs, down stairs, off ledges, bunny hop up ledges, etc. The frame, fork, and wheels all hold up really well, I have no hesitance putting it through the ringer. I have a few friends who road bike recreationally, I'd like to join them on rides.

What I think I want:
I want a bike that can do it all, since that's impossible, I'm trying to find something flexible enough to allow me to at least TRY whatever I want, even if I'm not too effective at it. So I initially thought I wanted a cyclocross bike because they're supposed to be like beefy road bikes that can handle dirt. One LBS told me that they can't handle my type of riding, and the only reason the "pro's" can bunny hop their bikes is because they have $10,000 builds and can afford to change wheels every time they bend one. This LBS told me that my best bet is a hardtail 29'er. It would be fast enough on the streets and plenty strong for stairs and mountain biking. A different LBS told me that if they could only have 1 bike, it would be a cross bike. They said that it will perform great on roads and that it would limit my mountain biking a little, but I wouldn't break it. They said that CX is the way to go. I don't really care about weight, I do want something low maintenance and strong as an ox.

What do you think? part of me want's to split the difference and get a rigid 29'er. The right answer is to get 2 bikes. But that's not an option. Is there a CX bike strong enough to handle some bumpy trails and curb drops? Or do I need to get a MB frame and wider wheels? My price limit is around $1500, but I'm perfectly happy spending less if I'm confident that my needs are met.

dr_lha

Cross bikes work well on the road, on gravel and on mud, but IMHO they're not going to be any use on root infested trails, as they don't have suspension. Dropping off curbs? Maybe, but you're likely to damage your rims if you're not too careful. Bunny hops? Leave that to the "Road Bike Party" videos, where they likely don't care if the bike gets trashed.

A 29er isn't a road bike, and will never be a road bike (unlike a cross bike, which basically becomes a road bike when you switch the tires to slicks). You can ride it on the road sure, but you're not going to be too happy trying to keep up with your buddies on road bikes.

You want a bike to do it all. That is impossible, that's why bikers have more than one bike. Sorry!

obed7

Why is having two bike not an option... you already have one that handles all the rough stuff you want to do... so just do some maintenance on that and keep it for the rough stuff and buy an entry level road bike for road riding with your buddies....
you will not find a bike that will do all that you said you want, not gonna happen.

chaadster

My thought is cross/gravel bike with two wheelsets. You can get wheels more than durable enough to handle curbs drops and jumps; that's just not an issue in my mind.

Disc brake CX bike would may wheel swaps for road/trail use a breeze.

fietsbob

good challenging CX races will put your Cross Country running to good use ..

you will be jumping off picking the bike up and jumping over obstacles that a MTB might Plow Over/through




a cruiser bike with a 3 speed coaster brake hub would be a winner then.