Beach Bob

I've hit a few LBS and are pretty frustrated with their very one directional approaches to selling me a bike.... I'm not sure if they just try to push certain models or if I'm not giving them enough information (although I'd think they'd ask....)

So... some suggestions for me to try and test...

I've tried Giant SEEK (hated), TREK FX (meh), Crosstrail (OK..not liking geometry) Giant Roam (best of the bunch.. still expect more "sizzle" from a new bike)


My riding...

80% or more on roads or paved trails
Rest is on loose gravel or dirt trails.

Figure about 100km (60mile) a week of use... usually a 40-50k (25-30mile) long ride on the weekend.
Live with lots of hills; would like 2 (preferably 3) gears with a <1 ratio for climbing with.

want Disk brakes
want a faster bike (currently using a 15 year old Trek comfort bike)
don't care if it has suspension fork (would want carbon fork or something to dampen vibration tho)
like a carbon seat post

would like to stay under $1000 US


What would you suggest?

JonathanGennick 

Instead of hybrid-style bikes you might consider looking at so-called gravel-grinders. The Specialized AWOL is one such bike, and there is a $1350 model that is not horribly far out of your budget. Salsa has a number of models, including the Salsa Warbird that is aluminum frame and carbon fork. The AWOL is much closer to your budget though.

practical

I think there are a number of bikes that could fit your needs well. Start with the disk brakes as that will focus your selection by quite a bit. Next, look at weight. Try to get a bike that is 25 pounds or less. Again, this will narrow your choice even more. Since you're going to be 80% on pavement, then skip the suspension fork. But since you're going to be 20% on trails and gravel, you probably want a "35" or "32" tire. Most dealers will swap out tires of different sizes if you ask as part of the purchase. Here is a list of a few common brands that might fit your needs:

Fuji Absolute (different models) $500, $780, $850,
Diamondback Insight Disc $750
Trek fx 7.4 $880
Cannondale Quick CX $740, $870, $1030
Giant Anyroad 2 $1,100
Giant Fastroad SLR 1 $1,100

IcySmooth52

I'm with Jonathan on suggesting a road bike meant to go off-road. Perfectly fits the parameters of 80% pavement / 20% gravel & hardpack use. But what I'm wondering about what you want is your definition of "sizzle". I can see this as many things from being a snappy handler, rolling fast, or positioning for more aerobic/athletic leg use. This narrows it down to three styles of bikes.
1. Gravel/adventure bikes like Jonathan pointed out. Kona Rove & Fuji Finest are the two that come to mind first at the $1k price.
-Made for versatility. Will be very stable off-road and comfortable on long rides. Probably comes with the exact tires you'd want. Hard to find a model without discs.
2. Sport hybrids. Half of practical's suggestions are these. I'd also look at the Raleigh Cadent line. Caden 3 $700 & 4 $800 have carbon forks & disc brakes.
-Essentially flat bar road bikes. Quicker in handling than gravel bikes, but won't be as confident in taking a sharp turn on loose gravel. Won't come with the ideal tires, but will have the clearance.
3. Cyclocross bikes. Kona Jake @ $1,100 is a fine one. But most manufacturer's have their basic model starting around $1,400. You'll be looking a bit beyond your budget.
-Essentially a gravel bike made to race in the same places due to sharper handling. Not the preference for century gravel rides though.

A major factor on this choice is the tires. "Sizzle" speed & how far off of pavement can you go. Can't have perfection on both ends though. Have to find what level of each you'll settle for. But all the bikes pointed out have 700c diameter wheels. Stick to that and choose the tread with what width.

energyandair

The following additional info would be helpful:

When you say loose gravel, do you mean scattered loose gravel on a hard base or deep soft gravel that the tires sink into? This makes a big difference to the tire width you need and hence the bikes that will be suitable.

Do you expect to want to carry much on the bike? If you will be using it for shopping, touring or commuting with more than a light load, then its worth getting a frame with lugs to mount a rack. They are also very helpful for mounting fenders which are very useful, at least seasonally, everywhere except desert areas.

Do you have any interest in 2nd hand? It opens the possibility of a much better bike for less money, sometimes a lot less. On the other hand, it generally means more work and some follow up expense. If interested, I suggest providing info on your location and size, so people can suggest some possibilities from Craigslist

Beach Bob

Gravel - loose gravel on a hard base... nothing soft and/or boggy

I don't PLAN to carry anything really... I wear a pack when I ride that has water, etc as needed.. fenders may happen though...

I'm fine with second hand... in Calgary,

WRB@Southampton

The Specialized Diverge A1 lists for $1100, you may be able to get it for less. It has disc brakes and is a road bike made to handle gravel.

rekmeyata

Everyone has a different idea for what they're looking for in a bike, test ride a lot more and keep a check list scratching off the ones you don't like, once you rode the gambit of bikes in your area take a look at your check list and re-ride those you didn't scratch off. Doing this you'll eventually whittle it down to 2 or 3 bikes then it may come down to just which color bike you like best, or which is the better deal. You may have to ride the same bike 3 or 4 times in this process but so what? The LBS's wants to make a sale so take your time.

Beach Bob

I like the theory... but I'd probably end up buying a gun, learning how to shoot, and then start creating job vacancies in some of the LBS's... but I live in hope....lol

To date... the Specialized Crosstrail and the Giant Roam are on the "OK" list.... I think the Roam is better value from a component perspective at the pricepoint...

one4smoke

I really like my Roam 2. Only advice if you buy one... change out the rim strips. I'm not sure if they come from Giant, or if the LBS (wasn't very local actually) was responsible for putting them on, but I had two tubes to go flat before I figured out the strips were the culprit.

My local REI replaced them with heavy duty cloth ones at no charge, and I haven't had a problem since.

NormanF

I have a flat bar gravel road/adventure bike.

Works well for me. The GT Eightball which isn't all too different from the GT Grade apart from its IGH and its flat bars.

cale

Hmmm, not sure I welcome your participation in cycling if you going to go to the LBS armed. LOL

You'll have a hard time finding a gravel grinder, or whatever adventure/gravel/lifestyle name gets attached to these versatile bikes, with 1:1 gearing. But THAT isn't as important as the overall weight of the bike goes down.

How do you like drop bars? You might want to keep in mind that almost all the gravel bikes aren't substantially different than their hybrid cousins. The biggest difference is that the hybrid has MTB-style flat bars.

I looked at the Roam after reading your first post and I had to remind myself that some of your riding is going to be offroad. Remind myself because suspension forks, once extremely common on hybrid-style bikes, are far less common today. But added complexity (at some point they should be serviced) and weight make a suspension fork of iffy benefit to someone riding 80% pavement/ 20% gravel path. (You carry around the added weight regardless to the surface you ride and you ride quite a bit.)

Now the LBS thing. You don't sound like you're certain what you want and if you can't articulate what you want to a shop, you're going to feel neglected. No excuses for bad bike shop experiences, but you really ought to shop at REI or EMS or wherever you Canucks like to get your outdoor gear. When you go into one of these stores the "corporate gag" keeps the staff in a "consumer friendly" sort of mood. They can't help but be helpful. Haha

The only reason I could see to get a suspension fork on an otherwise "road" bike is if you're really sensitive to road irregularities and regularly complain of soreness in your wrists and arms. If you take to the trails once a week with friends or others that encourage spirited off road riding, then a dedicated mountain bike is the way to go. Sure, you could probably keep up with them on your Roam but there'll be lots of times when you'll wish you had a better quality fork and smaller diameter wheels for handling technical off road trails.

Diamondback sells the Hannjo which I would recommend. Take a look and see if it doesn't make sense to you. It is offered with a MSRP of $1000 so should be available for less. The Shimano Sora drivetrain isn't department store junk and the bike comes with wide 40c tires but you could change those to something narrower if you want snappier street handling. The cranks are derived from the cyclo cross sport which means they are geared for a combination of offroad and smoother, which limits overall top speed riding downhill but should be fine for the rides you described.

That's about all I can contribute this AM. If you don't like what I wrote, I hope you'll remember that I have a family and ... Stay chill my friend.

RiderThigh

i had a specialized pitch comp, the frame was good and had little flex in the rear triangle, the bottom bracket is also 73mm vs standard 68mm. But front shocks were very heavy and tires were bricks, i like it much better than my current trek 7.2fx, it had better ride quality but my FX is faster and more open to lightweight upgrades. I also put rigid forks on the pitch and brought the weight down to 10.3 kg, seatpost weighs a ton.

rekmeyata

Good idea, then you can ride in indoor trainer for free the rest of your life.

jeichelberg87

There is nothing wrong with the Giant AnyRoad. I own one and it is extremely versatile. My bike came with disc brakes and 32mm tires. Extremely comfortable ride. I picked mine up for 800 USD.

EllDC

Felt V100?

Beach Bob

I finally wandered into a couple of LBS that were stocked by intelligent life forms.... Sucks that they are on the exact wrong end of town from me, but... intelligent people that know bikes and how to match people up with the right bike for them...

First place had nothing in stock..but was still willing to take the time to talk about what they normally would stock and what might work well for me. Even with nothing to sell me, they were willing to spend some time in case there's a next time....

Last place I stopped at had a staggeringly good sales guy (find out at the end that he's the manager). Scary good sales guy...spent a few minutes talking to me about how I ride and where I ride, why I ride.. tried to really understand what my needs were for a bike.. he showed me a handful on the floor...discussed the pros and cons of each model, what kind of price point and how they'd fit into my needs... very, very helpful guy...he has a Trek CrossRip Ltd in my size....gets me outside with it... interrupts my little loops of the parking lot 5 or 6 times to tweak the set up....I can actually feel the differences each tweak makes... To be honest... I'm not sure whether the bike was great, or that any good bike would feel great from being so precisely dialed in. He works out the best price he figures he can do on it, acknowledges its more than I'd told him my budget was, and tells me that he'll keep the bike off the floor for the weekend in case I want it.... it'd be all ready to go if I do...

I may have to shake the piggy bank pretty hard to come up some extra cash. But.. even if I don't, I think I've found an LBS I can work with going forward.

NormanF

You can buy mail order online and get the bike you want.

If you have the aptitude and mechanical skills, you can assemble the bike yourself or pay a bike shop mechanic to do it for you.

rekmeyata

Bob, you ran into a guy who knows what he's doing and how to sell, a rare combo actually. Now you have a big decision, do you buy a bike from a guy who's great or do you save some money and buy online. For $1850 (converted from 1,200 pounds) you can get a much better frame than aluminium.

I take it you live in UK so if you go to ribblecycles.co.uk or wiggle.com and find a better deal, BUT, if you're happy about the Trek you rode and don't want to be bothered with looking more than get it and be happy. If people chime in and give advice AND IF the dealer will make some component swaps by only charging the difference between the stock and the upgrade you could go with 105 crank instead of Tiagra, and a Ultegra rear derailleur instead of 105 (which is good but the smoothness of the Ultegra is noticeable), and improve the headset to Cane Creek 110. Upgrades at time of purchase is cheaper IF they exchange and only charge you the difference than to do upgrades later down the road. But if the price is too much right now than just leave it as it is, it will work for many years as it is.

ColaJacket

A good fit on the bike is very important. It sounds like you've found a guy that is good at fitting people on bikes. But different bikes will still feel differently, because of the geomentries. And if he didn't change stems for you, it sounds like the bike is a really good fit.

How much over your budget is the bike? Maybe you can get some discounts on accessories like helmets, so that your total purchase of bike and accessories is still very close to your budget.

Be careful about buying bikes online. If you're handy with a wrench, then the deals aren't too bad. If you feel like you'd need the LBS to do a lot of your service, then it can be less expensive to go the LBS route, especially after you pay them to put the bike together, pay for adjustments that would be free with a bike purchase, etc.

GH

ltxi

I have an LBS like the one Beach Bob found, and it's mebbe just a mile and a half from my house. Worth weight in gold it/those folks are.

Beach Bob

I would rather pay a bit more and keep a decent shop in business so that they're there for me next time around than have a bunch of headaches to save a few bucks...

Beach Bob

Would love to try an Anyroad or a Fastroad...Giant seems to hit high on the bang for buck proposition. Neither are to be found here right now. Sounds like both models sold fast in the spring..

rekmeyata

A few bucks saved yeah I would go to an LBS too, but in my case I saved over $3,000, that's hardly a few bucks. I didn't see people avoiding big stores like Walmart, and the likes of Home Depot that put thousands of small mom and pop stores out of business to avoid headaches just to save a few bucks! Competition is competition, if I can save $20 to $40 on a tire I'll go online, I can get the two of the exact same tire sold online for what the LBS charges for one!

The nonsense of keeping a bike shop in business is just that...nonsense, local bike shops have the command of all the sales of bikes nationwide at 14% plus 50% of the dollars spent, while there has been a decline in local shops most of that is due to consolidation which is demonstrated by the fact that sales have not been declining with slightly fewer shops around, what is around more today is larger stores instead of small one person stores. The big chain stores get the next largest percentage of sales at 7% of bike sales but only 9% of the dollar; outdoor specialty shops get 2.5% of sales and 7% of the dollar; and internet sales comes in last at 1.5% of bike sales and only 2.5% of the dollar. So stop your nonsense crying wolf about all the poor little LBS's going out of business, they're far from that.

Industry Overview 2014 - National Bicycle Dealers Association

Beach Bob

Fair enough on keeping them in business. But I still don't have a problem paying for service...