Advice on bike purchase

Andy said:

Looking for a bit of advice on purchasing a new bike in the next couple of months.

I currently have a rather hefty dual suspension mountain bike, this was fine about 1-2 years ago
when i was just biking around town, however i'm now getting more and more into doing reasonable
long distantences (20 - 40 k)

An example of my changing use of the bike is that i just did the stratford triatlon, which
involved a 23k bike ride.

Anyway i'm looking for advice on what type of bike to get which will be more suited to me needs,
i'm not really after a drop handle racing bike and i am still looking for something that i could
use round town and would maybe withstand going down a curb or two ..... does such a thing exist ?

Presumably you're after a "hybrid"? These are a bit more robust than a racing bike, and consequently
a bit heavier.

--
Daniel Auger - [email hidden] (Please remove Granta to get a valid address.)

In message <[email hidden]>, Andy
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

Anyway i'm looking for advice on what type of bike to get which will be more suited to me needs,
i'm not really after a drop handle racing bike and i am still looking for something that i could
use round town and would maybe withstand going down a curb or two ..... does such a thing exist ?

An example of something i found on the web was the Giant FCR 2T (the 1T is out of my price range)
whats this bike like ? is there any diference from a racer apart from the handlebars ?

My wife has a Giant FCR 2T and it seems an excellent bike. She commutes about 16 miles to the office
in about 60 minutes so it's not slow. It really is the same as a racer (in this case the OCR 2)
apart from the handlebars, brake and gear levers. (The Giant website shows a picture of an OCR 2
with different forks too.) My wife finds this set-up easier to use than dropped handlebars. The bars
do make it a bit 'set-up-and-beg' and less aerodynamic but I suppose it would be possible to fit
clip-on tri-bars for triathlon competition. There's no reason why it shouldn't be OK going down a
kerb or two but I wouldn't want to go up too many. It's also probably not the best bike if you want
to carry luggage or fit mudguards etc.

Most manufacturers seem to have something to offer in this product segment, variously called fitness
bikes or hybrids. What you probably don't need is the front suspension offered on some models.
--
Michael MacClancy

Quoted message said:

Anyway i'm looking for advice on what type of bike to get which will be more suited to me needs,
i'm not really after a drop handle racing bike

Well maybe not, but a couple of comments.

1. Not all dropped handlebar bikes are racing bikes

2. A dropped handlebar bike, set up for your needs, would have hand positions much the same as a
flat handlebar has, and other hand positions as well. You wouldn't use those extra positions
that often, but when you do use them they will be very handy indeed.

Most people with dropped handlebar bikes use the various positions on the top of the bar most of the
time. You've got essentially three such positions, so you can change whenever you feel you've been
keeping your hands in one place for too long. In addition you do have the dropped position, useful
to cut air resistance if you are fighting a strong headwind, or are in a hurry for some reason.

The opposite extreme from a racing bike is a touring bike, built to let you and your luggage travel
round the world on sometimes not very good roads, it also works well to take you and your groceries
home, or you and your papers to the office, on the roads as maintained by your council, or the
occasional fairly smooth bridle path.

I don't know what the new term "road bike" means. It seems to be a cheap version of a racing bike.

Jeremy Parker

Jeremy Parker said:

I don't know what the new term "road bike" means. It seems to be a cheap version of a racing bike.

AFAICT it includes very expensive ones as well! Also AFAICT it's current marketing speak meaning
"UCI conforming road racer", but if you're not actually racing there are various designs (and not
just recumbents) that don't pass UCI muster and don't seem to get included despite being designed
for going fast on roads (e.g. Pocket Rocket, Moulton R18).

As terms go, IMHO it's pretty [censored] and deserves to be booted into the dustbin of history.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net [email hidden]
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