Bike suggestions

Well I dunno. It depends on what you want out of a bike and you have not stated that so it is
impossible to give you much advice.

I have looked at a Specialized Sequoiah Expert. It is a nice looking bike and looks well thought out
and planned. The purpose of this bike is to maximize rider comfort at the cost of some performance.
For a competitive cyclist or cyclist interested in maximum performance, this bike is a poor choice.
For a ride who wants a serious bicycle that is easy on the rider, this bike is an excellent choice.

You also have down the Fuji Touring Bike. That is a whole other category then the Specialized
Sequoiah Expert. Obviously, if you are going to do self contained touring, you pick the Fuji over
the Sequoiah. If you are interested in comfort, the Sequoiah over the Touring bike.

The question you asked is a lot like what is the best shoe in the world? Well the answer is one that
fits your feet and is designed to do what you want. Same thing is true for bicycles.

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Well I dunno. It depends on what you want out of a bike and you have not stated that so it is
impossible to give you much advice.

I have looked at a Specialized Sequoiah Expert. It is a nice looking bike and looks well thought
out and planned. The purpose of this bike is to maximize rider comfort at the cost of some
performance. For a competitive cyclist or cyclist interested in maximum performance, this bike is
a poor choice. For a ride who wants a serious bicycle that is easy on the rider, this bike is an
excellent choice.

You also have down the Fuji Touring Bike. That is a whole other category then the Specialized
Sequoiah Expert. Obviously, if you are going to do self contained touring, you pick the Fuji over
the Sequoiah. If you are interested in comfort, the Sequoiah over the Touring bike.

The question you asked is a lot like what is the best shoe in the world? Well the answer is one
that fits your feet and is designed to do what you want. Same thing is true for bicycles.

Read my whole post again, not just the subject <GG>. I asked for comments on durability, reliability
and maintainability, not on "which is the best bike for me". I have determined that all of these
will meet my needs, which implies that I'm not going to be doing loaded touring or hard-core racing
with them, since some of them aren't appropriate for those kinds of uses. I just want to know if
anybody has good or bad experience with the "reliability" (in broad terms) of these bikes.

If it helps, my expected usage includes occasional commuting over good roads, riding for fun and
exercise, trips to the store for just a few items, and the occasional Monday night or Columbus day
race. I want drop bars, brifters, a reasonably comfortable ride as long as I don't give up too much
performance, and the ability to put on fenders for wet-weather (but not snow and ice) riding.

--
David Kerber An optimist says "Good morning, Lord." While a pessimist says "Good Lord,
it's morning".

Remove the ns_ from the address before e-mailing.

Quoted message said:

Any and all comments gratefully accepted!

I hope so.

Quoted message said:

Specialized Sequoiah Expert

Good bike.

Quoted message said:

Bianchi San Remo

Another good bike.

Quoted message said:

Fuji Touring

Another good bike. Lower price, lower grade components. Just as good for your purposes

Quoted message said:

Bianchi Volpe

A good bike and a different bike.

Look at a Surly Cross check. Available as a complete bike or buildup. Look at:

excelsports.com10.pdfOpen ↗

How about $1199 for a Ultra group complete bike? $40 more for triple. There are less expensive
groups of course, but you did not say your budget.

Anything you buy breaks down to the different parts. So much for the frame. And so much for
the components. Good wheels and hubs cost more than cheaper wheels and hubs. If you pay less,
you get less.

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Any and all comments gratefully accepted!

I hope so.

Quoted message said:

Specialized Sequoiah Expert

Good bike.

Quoted message said:

Bianchi San Remo

Another good bike.

Quoted message said:

Fuji Touring

Another good bike. Lower price, lower grade components. Just as good for your purposes

Any ideas how the "lower grade" components will affect the bike's reliability?

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Bianchi Volpe

A good bike and a different bike.

Look at a Surly Cross check. Available as a complete bike or buildup. Look at:

excelsports.com10.pdfOpen ↗

How about $1199 for a Ultra group complete bike? $40 more for triple. There are less expensive
groups of course, but you did not say your budget.

$1200 is the extreme top end of my budget; I'd like to stay below $1100 if possible. The CrossCheck
looks like a nice bike; if it had brifters and larger chain rings, I would have to give it a
serious look.

--
David Kerber An optimist says "Good morning, Lord." While a pessimist says "Good Lord,
it's morning".

Remove the ns_ from the address before e-mailing.

Quoted message said:

$1200 is the extreme top end of my budget; I'd like to stay below $1100 if possible. The
CrossCheck looks like a nice bike; if it had brifters and larger chain rings, I would have to give
it a serious look.

Then your bike is a phone call away. Brifter about $200 more and 105 group $100 less. But don't ask
me or the group. Call the company you want to buy it from.

Brifters instead of barcons? Not for my bike.

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

$1200 is the extreme top end of my budget; I'd like to stay below $1100 if possible. The
CrossCheck looks like a nice bike; if it had brifters and larger chain rings, I would have to
give it a serious look.

Then your bike is a phone call away. Brifter about $200 more and 105 group $100 less. But don't
ask me or the group. Call the company you want to buy it from.

Brifters instead of barcons? Not for my bike.

To each his/her own! Thanks for the comments.

--
David Kerber An optimist says "Good morning, Lord." While a pessimist says "Good Lord,
it's morning".

Remove the ns_ from the address before e-mailing.

archer said:

I've done quite a bit of research to find models of bikes which have the features and components
I want at a price I can afford, and have narrowed it down to 4 models. I would welcome any
comments, especially on your experience with the durability, maintainability and reliability of
these models.

[snip]

Quoted message said:

This is in order of my current rankings, but nothing is final yet, and these can easily change:

Specialized Sequoiah Expert Bianchi San Remo Fuji Touring Bianchi Volpe

David,

The Specialized has arguably the nicest specs of the four, though I detest its faux-racerboy wheels.
The other three bikes on your list come standard with a mix of lower-end Shimano or Campy
components. Having said that, you're going to find little if any difference between the four in
terms of your stated criteria. The Fuji Touring, being designed for full-on loaded touring, is going
to have the beefiest wheels and will likely be the most rugged of the lot, but probably won't feel
as lively as the Specialized. Whether it is in fact as lively is another question entirely. If you
think you might do cycle camping at some point in the future, go for the Fuji, and otherwise let
bike fit and general rideability decide it for you.

Have fun test riding them all!

Trent

Quoted message said:

Any and all comments gratefully accepted!

--
David Kerber An optimist says "Good morning, Lord." While a pessimist says "Good Lord, it's
morning".

Remove the ns_ from the address before e-mailing.

In article <Pine.A41.4.44.0305310005430.52494-100000 @homer23.u.washington.edu>,
[email hidden] says...

...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Specialized Sequoiah Expert Bianchi San Remo Fuji Touring Bianchi Volpe

David,

The Specialized has arguably the nicest specs of the four, though I detest its faux-racerboy
wheels. The other three bikes on your list come

I don't care much for those wheels either, but I might be able to get the shop to swap them out for
something more "main stream", which might still get me home if I break a spoke. IMO, by far the
ugliest of the bunch is the Volpe. That paint job looks like a kid's bike.

...

Quoted message said:

Have fun test riding them all!

I plan to!

....

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Dave Kerber Fight spam: remove the ns_ from the return address before replying!

REAL programmers write self-modifying code.

I ride a 2000 Bianchi Volpe. It has been to work and back everyday since I got it,( minus really
bad snow days) and rode on the weekends for touring or just getting the heck out of Dodge. I
currently have a bit over 10,000 trouble free miles on the thing. That is if you dont count this
winter and the rear derailuer freezing up and me breaking the shifter cable trying to shift. Hope
this helps a little.

Jim

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

I ride a 2000 Bianchi Volpe. It has been to work and back everyday since I got it,( minus really
bad snow days) and rode on the weekends for touring or just getting the heck out of Dodge. I
currently have a bit over 10,000 trouble free miles on the thing. That is if you dont count this
winter and the rear derailuer freezing up and me breaking the shifter cable trying to shift. Hope
this helps a little.

It does! Thanks for the comments.

--
Dave Kerber Fight spam: remove the ns_ from the return address before replying!

REAL programmers write self-modifying code.