Wanted Features In A Bike
I am 6'2" and 200+ lbs, I like the http://www.cannondale.com/bikes/09/cusa/model-8AS3.html
-24 or even better 27 speed, add disk brakes, full sized road type fenders, head light & tail light, shimano generating front hub to power the lights, and fatter tires. Is this all possible? If yes, at what total cost? |
You can't take a bike that comes with V-brakes and just add on disk brakes. The fork and frame must have the mounts to attach disk brakes. The cost of a good set of name-brand mechanical disk brakes will cost you more than $200. The hydraulic disk brakes on my trike sell for more than the entire cost of the Cannondale you gave the link for. I also wonder why you would add the extra weight and mechanical disadvantage of a generator hub to your bike. Today's LED lights require so little energy that a small battery pack will last for many hours. I ride in and urban area so I don't need the front light to light up the road. My rear lights (3) are dollar store blinkies and the front light is an LED flashlight with a homemade clip to mount it to the trike.
Have you considered a higher quality used bike over a new one? My at-work bike that I use to get from one building to another is a Cannondale SM800 MTB. It has Shimano Deore components and I found it in a second hand store for $20. It has no suspension but the tires are the wider 26 X 1.9 that give a good ride on rough roads. While deals like this one don't come along very frequently there are a lot of lightly used MTBs on Craigslist or possibly in the local paper. A decade or so ago, I bought a Balance 450 aluminum MTB from a local fellow who needed a mortgage payment. I paid him about 1/3 of the new price. It is a fine, light bike with components far better than what I would have gotten if I simply walked into a bike store and plunked down the $450 I paid him for it. Plus, no sales tax on a used bike. I think it is wiser to buy a bike with the features you really want than to buy one that doesn't and then try to make it into something you want to ride. |
Trek Portland http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes...land/portland/ would be a start on what you want. The lights and such, you'll have to add.
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Regards 24-spd. drivetrain, this Cannondale has that. You can generally mount larger-width tires, but why would you? This has 700 X 38C. Those are plenty big for most purposes. Most people would want thinner tires. And the v-brakes on it will stop you quite well. Going to disc-brakes would require a new wheel - at least. Then you could also see about getting a freehub to support a 9-spd. cassette. Then you'd need to also get a new chain.
Good Luck! |
If you must have disc brakes- then the Portland is probably one of the better bikes to get- Kona also make a couple and other manufacturers do aswell. But are disc brakes necessary? If it is rain riding that is your problem- then it is a simple enough job to put a better brake block onto rim brakes such as Koolstops.
The Dynamo set up would not be done by many and the easy way out is to get a wheel built up taking a dynamo hub. This can be done on any bike. Fenders and all you need are the eyelest on the frame and forks to be able to fit them What I would be worried about are the wheels. 200lbs is not excessive but you will put more strain on them than my 150lbs does. The cannondale wheels are basically sound but I would get them into a wheelbuilder to let him detension and rebuild the wheels. A good wheelbuilder will work wonders on the most basic of machine built wheels. |
Trek Portland was the first bike that came into my mind too.
If you like the "hybrid" style more than a road bike- Raleigh Detour Deluxe http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PcxEYt0F6h...r%2BDeluxe.JPG I waited months to get my 2008 DD. I love the disc brakes and dynamo hub. Great bike! If there is an REI near you- The Novara Fusion is a similar bike. http://media.rei.com/media/ss/764b57...7441c55b72.jpg EDIT: Both these bikes run around $900. I'm 6'3" and well over 200lbs. The Detour deluxe has been great. One flat and 3 broken spokes in 2 years and several thousand miles. No complaints. |
I just sort of assumed that you couldn't put a disk brake and a dynamo hub on the same wheel. Don't know if that's true or not.
Look up the Raleigh Sojourn. A different style of bike, but comes with some of the features you're looking at. |
Originally Posted by StephenH
(Post 9139442)
I just sort of assumed that you couldn't put a disk brake and a dynamo hub on the same wheel. Don't know if that's true or not.
My Detour Deluxe uses Shimano DH3D Dynamo Disc hub, no idea what the Novara uses. http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h1...orkMounted.jpg Note- the lights in this picture are not being run off the dynamo, they are battery powered, the dynamo runs the (much brighter) head light. The pic was just to demonstrate a dynamo w/ a disc brake. |
Great Stuff All. Thank you for the input
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If you'd rather stick with Cannondale, here's one of the bikes they sell with discs and a dynohub:
http://gb.cannondale.com/bikes/09/ce/model-9SS2.html Gotta buy it from their European division, though. (this is what I want: dynohub, Supernova headlight, Rohloff hub, Avid hydraulic discs, Headshok fork with lockout.. http://gb.cannondale.com/bikes/09/ce/model-9TK1.html ) |
Originally Posted by VegasTriker
(Post 9136499)
You can't take a bike that comes with V-brakes and just add on disk brakes. The fork and frame must have the mounts to attach disk brakes. The cost of a good set of name-brand mechanical disk brakes will cost you more than $200. The hydraulic disk brakes on my trike sell for more than the entire cost of the Cannondale you gave the link for. I also wonder why you would add the extra weight and mechanical disadvantage of a generator hub to your bike. Today's LED lights require so little energy that a small battery pack will last for many hours. I ride in and urban area so I don't need the front light to light up the road. My rear lights (3) are dollar store blinkies and the front light is an LED flashlight with a homemade clip to mount it to the trike.
Have you considered a higher quality used bike over a new one? My at-work bike that I use to get from one building to another is a Cannondale SM800 MTB. It has Shimano Deore components and I found it in a second hand store for $20. It has no suspension but the tires are the wider 26 X 1.9 that give a good ride on rough roads. While deals like this one don't come along very frequently there are a lot of lightly used MTBs on Craigslist or possibly in the local paper. A decade or so ago, I bought a Balance 450 aluminum MTB from a local fellow who needed a mortgage payment. I paid him about 1/3 of the new price. It is a fine, light bike with components far better than what I would have gotten if I simply walked into a bike store and plunked down the $450 I paid him for it. Plus, no sales tax on a used bike. I think it is wiser to buy a bike with the features you really want than to buy one that doesn't and then try to make it into something you want to ride. Actually, today's LED lights are what makes dynamo hubs practical and reasonable. In the old days of halogen bulbs dynamo lights were kind of useless (well, IMO) because they really only put out enough light to "be seen by". So you would spend $250 on a hub, wheel, and light, and end up needing to buy a battery light to put out enough light to bike at night with, anyways. But todays LED dynamo lights actually put out enough light to see by without needing any additional lights, for around $100 for the light (and probably $200 for the hub). I have the Lumotec Cyo. See this page for pics: http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/headlights.asp Like this: http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/imag...novae3sym1.jpg A light that lasts "many hours", if you're commuting on your bike, generally means you have to charge the batteries every day which is a pain. Naturally there's plenty of good battery powered lights to, just wanted to defend dynamo lights. |
VERY, VERY informative article, thank you!
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C-Dale Adventure 3 Chosen
http://www.cannondale.com/bikes/09/cusa/model-8AS3.html
It's the first quality bike I've owned, [at now 49 yrs old] and I am amazed at the hills that I can climb on the local roads around my northwest New Jersey home. I mean I am just blown away. It's got me happy, excited and so on to be able to go here and there with these pretty serious hills. I hope the spark stays with me, and that in a year or three I am upgrading to an even better model C-Dale. I hope everyone has this kind of fun biking. :ride: |
I had a disk-compatable dynohub built up by my local bike shop. The Shimano one is very effective, the SON one is better but much more expensive.
There is an arms race in the world of LED front lamps. Anything you buy will be "obscelete" within a year but they are just so much better than traditional lamps. My B&M Fly Senso is so good I feel no need to upgrade to the latest model. Have a close look at the Portland rear luggage rack, they have solved the problem of integrating a rack and disk brakes. The other way of solving this problem is like this and check out the Dailybread. The front disk brake can interfere with fender mounting so you may have to bend the fender metal stay around the brake. |
Originally Posted by MichaelW
(Post 9176203)
The front disk brake can interfere with fender mounting so you may have to bend the fender metal stay around the brake.
There's at least one bike manufacturer out there who puts the disc mounts on the front of the fork. They say it's for two reasons -- to keep the wheel lodged in the dropouts (one supposed concern about disc brakes is that they can pull the front wheel out of the fork) and to make room for easy fender mounting. Anybody remember who this was? |
I think it is Cotic. Its a good idea for running a std disk hub, it ensures that braking force acts to seat the axle in the dropout rather than rip it out.
The problem is that you have to run the hub backwards. Is there any problem running a dynohub in reverse direction? Some bikes have the fender eyelets halfway up the fork, which is another solution. |
Actually, it wasn't Cotic, but it's good to see more than one doing it. ;)
I don't think running a dynohub backwards would be a problem. It puts out AC current, correct? |
Hills Don't Stop Me!!!
Well, so far there has not been a hill that has caused me to to stop
peddling and walk the bike up. The low gear is amazing! I have severe hills all around me and I have done a 14.6 mile ride so far which included several long tough climbs. I know I could do 25 miles on flat land, and I tell you I am in NO physical shape at all. My legs are getting stronger already though, and that makes me happy. I am so glad that I bought this C'dale Adventure 3 bike. There may be other 2 wheelers out there for similar money that are as good or better, but I am happy that I have what I have. :) |
Just wait till you get something like this:
http://www.bmc-racing.com/index.php?...04bbbc2147e42c Save up now and get it for your 55th birthday, or after 15,000 miles, whichever comes first. ;) |
Sharp Picture, But...
...can you share more info about the frame and fork that you have posted the linked to.
I know close to zero about bikes so feel free to be as detailed as you care to be. As to hills, look out New Hampshire's Mt. Washington! :D |
Originally Posted by AdvenJack
(Post 9273654)
...can you share more info about the frame and fork that you have posted the linked to.
I know close to zero about bikes so feel free to be as detailed as you care to be. As to hills, look out New Hampshire's Mt. Washington! :D More info here: http://www.bmc-racing.com/en/us/bike...iss-red/story/ |
BarracksSI, stop teasing the natives :).
I have a BMC TT03 sitting here. Gawd I love that bike! |
Originally Posted by CCrew
(Post 9274382)
BarracksSI, stop teasing the natives :).
I have a BMC TT03 sitting here. Gawd I love that bike! |
So is BMC the worlds BEST?
{Ala Patek Philippe watches www.patek.com } Now granted there are other independent watch makers that make very few watches per year that may well be superior to Patek, but comparing those firms that produce a measureable number of bikes is BMC the PATEK of bikes? |
"Best"? There is no "best" bike. I'll give two reasons --
There are so many different combinations of parts that can be put on a bike frame. Just with wheels alone, you can make it perform better (sometimes only marginally so) in different situations -- climbing, time trialing, flat sprints, whatever. Never mind the choices of drivetrains, handlebars, saddles, etc. The rider is a huge part of the package -- not just in weight, but also in personal preferences and physical performance abilities. Even after starting with the same frame, picky riders will end up with quite different bikes. BMC is up there among the high-end names, for sure. But then again, every major manufacturer has high-end models, too, and you'll find a whole range of bikes in the Tour de France. If there was one best bike, every pro would be riding it. |
OK I am getting it. Biking, like life, is NOT simple once you look just
a bit carefully at all that is going on. Lot's of engineering for sure! :speedy: |
Well, 18 + miles today, a personal record for a single day!
Too much down hill though, so I'll have to reverse the route in the near future. |
Well, I've broken the twenty mile mark a couple of times since my last
post here, but on Friday I did a four hour, forty mile ride from my NJ home to Portland Pennsylvania, right on the west bank of the Delaware River, and back home again. Very satisfying, very exhilerating, even thinking back on it. The new bike now has between 125 and 175 miles on it so it's going in for it's free initial tune-up on Tuesday. On Friday the 21st I intend to complete a Half Century, exiting NJ at Belvidere, {Warren Co.} destina- tion Easton Pa., then back home. :ride: :) :thumb: |
Life got in the way of my intentions for the half century
ride, so I'll go for it this coming Friday or Saturday. |
Ok, cool -- how do you think you'll do?
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