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Choosing a good starter bike

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01 / Original postChoosing a good starter bikeEmail address hidden · 7 Jul 2006 02 / This pagePosts 1–8Page 1 of 1 · chronological order 03 / Latest replyPost #8herve · 9 Jul 2006

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Original section
Road Cycling
Published
7 July 2006
Last activity
9 July 2006
Original author
Email address hidden
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8
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Topics
Cantilever and V-brakesSeatpost complianceAluminium framesSpoke countSteel frames

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  1. Original post
    Email address hidden
    Archived post
    #1

    I'm new to the bike world, mainly out of necessity: I need something to
    take me from point A to point B (with occasional detours to points C
    through Q). I'm looking for a bike that will carry me for a while and
    comfortably, too, so I've been looking at comfort hybrids.

    The store in my area (the Cyclepath) mainly stocks Norco these days,
    and I tried out three bikes, the Olympia, the Yorkville, and the
    Malahat. The Olympia and the Yorkville are essentially the same bike,
    only the Yorkville has an aluminium frame. The Malahat is similar to
    the Yorkville, only it has a front suspension as well, and I think
    there may be some other small additions.

    Right now I'm leaning toward the Malahat or the Yorkville. They all
    rode fairly nicely, and I like the idea of a lighter bike: I definitely
    found them a little easier to pedal. Still, I'm not sure about the
    front suspension (it seems to add a little weight, but ride a little
    smoother). And I've heard good things about steel, although I didn't
    really notice a difference other than a little more weight when biking
    (which I imagine I'd notice even more after an hour or so).

    I've listed the specs of the Malahat and Yorkville below as per Norco's
    web site. The Olympia is identical to the Yorkville, only with a steel
    frame instead of aluminium. Personally, I'm leaning towards aluminium.

    Thoughts?

    MODEL »Malahat »Yorkville
    SUGGESTED RETAIL $404 CAN $369 CAN
    FRAME Double Butted Aluminium Tear Drop tubing Double Butted
    Aluminium Tear Drop tubing
    FORK Suntour M2000, 50mm travel Chromoly 1 1/8" threaded
    SHOCK
    SIZES (M:14-16-18-20-22) (M:14-16-18-20-22)
    COLORS
    FRONT HUB Formula QR Formula QR Disc
    REAR HUB Formula QR Freewheel Formula QR Disc
    RIMS Alex Alloy Singlewall Alloy Singlewall
    SPOKES Steel UCP UCP Steel
    TIRES Kenda 700c x 35 Kenda 700c x 35
    STEM Alloy adjustable Quill Alloy adjustable Quill
    BAR Alloy Riser Alloy Riser
    POST Zoom Adjustable Suspension Seatpost 27.2mm Alloy Suspension
    Seatpost 27.2mm
    GRIPS Dual density comfort type Dual density comfort type
    SADDLE Velo D2 comfort saddle Velo D2 comfort saddle
    HEADSET 1 1/8" threaded type 1 1/8" threaded type
    FRONT BRAKE Alloy V brake Tektro V brake
    REAR BRAKE Alloy V brake Tektro V brake
    BRAKE LEVERS Shimano Shimano
    CRANKSET Suntour NEX 110 Suntour XCC100
    CHAINGUIDE
    PEDALS Resin trekking pedal Resin trekking pedal
    CHAIN KMC KMC
    FREEWHEEL Shimano 7 speed Megarange freewheel Shimano 7 speed
    Megarange freewheel
    FRONT CHANGER Shimano C051 31.8mm Shimano C051 31.8mm
    REAR CHANGER Shimano Tourney Shimano Tourney
    FRONT SHIFTER Shimano EZ-Fire Shimano EZ-Fire
    REAR SHIFTER Shimano EZ-Fire Shimano EZ-Fire

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  2. Zoot Katz
    Archived post
    #2
    Quoted message said:


    I've listed the specs of the Malahat and Yorkville below as per Norco's
    web site. The Olympia is identical to the Yorkville, only with a steel
    frame instead of aluminium. Personally, I'm leaning towards aluminium.

    Thoughts?

    You won't need the suspension fork for riding on streets and bunny
    trails. That saves weight. Also saves money initially so you can
    replace the suspension seat post later.
    --
    zk

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  3. Fred
    Archived post
    #3

    "Zoot Katz" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
    news:[email hidden]...

    Quoted message said:
    Quoted message said:


    I've listed the specs of the Malahat and Yorkville below as per Norco's
    web site. The Olympia is identical to the Yorkville, only with a steel
    frame instead of aluminium. Personally, I'm leaning towards aluminium.

    Thoughts?

    You won't need the suspension fork for riding on streets and bunny
    trails. That saves weight. Also saves money initially so you can
    replace the suspension seat post later.
    --


    I agree. Generally for road use suspension isn't any advantage and doesn't
    offer the same stability of steering and handling as raked forks. Aluminium
    or steel? Personally I find aluminium better, but there is much divided
    opinion on that as there is on the benefits or otherwise of suspension.
    Watch this space - they'll appear any minute.

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  4. DougC
    Archived post
    #4
    Quoted message said:

    I'm new to the bike world, mainly out of necessity: I need something to
    take me from point A to point B (with occasional detours to points C
    through Q). I'm looking for a bike that will carry me for a while and
    comfortably, too, so I've been looking at comfort hybrids.

    Thoughts?

    You should take a look at the RANS crank-forward bikes.
    They eliminate seat pain but don't suffer from pedalling inefficiency
    the way that most "comfort" bikes (I.E. Giant Revive) do. The Fusion and
    Cruz even have a more-upright position that takes most of the pressure
    off the hands.
    ~

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  5. herve
    Archived post
    #5


    Quoted message said:

    MODEL »Malahat »Yorkville
    SUGGESTED RETAIL $404 CAN $369 CAN
    FRAME Double Butted Aluminium Tear Drop tubing Double Butted
    Aluminium Tear Drop tubing
    FORK Suntour M2000, 50mm travel Chromoly 1 1/8" threaded

    I would prefer the non suspension fork. The suspension fork is
    useless and at the price of the bike, it is likely to be bad and make
    the bike worse to ride on the streets.

    Quoted message said:

    SHOCK
    SIZES (M:14-16-18-20-22) (M:14-16-18-20-22)
    COLORS
    FRONT HUB Formula QR Formula QR Disc
    REAR HUB Formula QR Freewheel Formula QR Disc
    RIMS Alex Alloy Singlewall Alloy Singlewall

    Singlewall is something I have heard to be bad/fragile. Never had bad
    experience with it since I ride double-wall....

    Quoted message said:

    SPOKES Steel UCP UCP Steel
    TIRES Kenda 700c x 35 Kenda 700c x 35
    STEM Alloy adjustable Quill Alloy adjustable Quill
    BAR Alloy Riser Alloy Riser
    POST Zoom Adjustable Suspension Seatpost 27.2mm Alloy Suspension
    Seatpost 27.2mm

    Same comment as for the fork, but a rigid seat-post is cheap. So, may
    be worth a try.
    Out of that I do not have any comment about the others specs. But,
    about the price, I find it rather high when looking at the specs. For
    that kind of price, I would at least expect double wall rims, a
    cassette and not a freewheel and (paradoxically), I would not buy
    something with any kind of suspension. Basically I think you should
    shop arround a little bit more. But if you decide not, I advice
    getting the Yorkville and try to have double walled rims rims instead
    of single walled (maybe paying a little more).

    Herve

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  6. Email address hidden
    Archived post
    #6
    Quoted message said:

    Same comment as for the fork, but a rigid seat-post is cheap. So, may
    be worth a try.
    Out of that I do not have any comment about the others specs. But,
    about the price, I find it rather high when looking at the specs. For
    that kind of price, I would at least expect double wall rims, a
    cassette and not a freewheel and (paradoxically), I would not buy
    something with any kind of suspension. Basically I think you should
    shop arround a little bit more. But if you decide not, I advice
    getting the Yorkville and try to have double walled rims rims instead
    of single walled (maybe paying a little more).

    Herve

    Keep in mind that the prices are Canadian, so they should be a little
    higher. If someone has a recommendation for something available at
    another shop in Toronto, I'd of course be interested. I'm leaning
    towards new over used right now, since I'm relatively inexperienced and
    would prefer the warranty at this point. I hope to learn enough about
    bikes such that future bikes can be bought used and tended to by
    myself, but for the moment I'm leaning toward what I see at the
    Cyclepath. I did find they had excellent service and seemed friendly,
    and the bikes seemed nice enough.

    Will the rims make that much of a difference? If so, in what way? How
    much will better rims be; can I just pay the difference if I go that
    route?

    I must admit, I did not mind the seat suspension at all. I just wasn't
    sure whether the front suspension was worth anything. It did seem to
    add a little weight to the bike, and I wasn't sure whether it would
    really offer that much cushioning.

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  7. Email address hidden
    Archived post
    #7

    So overall, Yorkvillle, ask for double-walled rims?

    Report
  8. herve
    Archived post
    #8

    [email hidden] a écrit :

    Quoted message said:

    So overall, Yorkvillle, ask for double-walled rims?

    If you like the shop, I guess so...

    Herve

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