i need hellp deciding which bike!

just us said:

I wish I just had someone "in the know" who could steer me in the right
direction. I went to Cairns (yep yep rode 96kms to get there! wooohooo)
yesterday and had a ride on a couple of bikes. My previous post asking for a
good touring bike got some really helpful replies and thanks! I am a bit
keen on this one -
http://www.giant-bicycles.com/au/030.000.000/030.000.000.asp?year=2007&model=10080
what do you think?
I also rode a wonderful bike yesterday but felt it was a bit heavy and
lacked gears, it was some Spanish brand (short term memory loss) but what I
really really liked about it was the bars which were called "butterfly bars"
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/deakins/handlebars.html . All this is really
getting me thinking
The biggest problem is that they all said that they would get a bike in for
me but I would have to buy it 🙁 not good if you dont like it!
The other thing that I really want to do is get into cleats - the mountain
bike type so that I can actually walk around in the shoes LOL.
Any thoughts on the Giant bike?
Thanks
Kathy.

How is acomfort bike any different to the hybrid that I believe you
ahve already?

"just us" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I wish I just had someone "in the know" who could steer me in the right
direction. I went to Cairns (yep yep rode 96kms to get there! wooohooo)
yesterday and had a ride on a couple of bikes. My previous post asking for
a good touring bike got some really helpful replies and thanks! I am a bit
keen on this one -
http://www.giant-bicycles.com/au/030.000.000/030.000.000.asp?year=2007&model=10080
what do you think?
I also rode a wonderful bike yesterday but felt it was a bit heavy and
lacked gears, it was some Spanish brand (short term memory loss) but what
I really really liked about it was the bars which were called "butterfly
bars" http://www.sheldonbrown.com/deakins/handlebars.html . All this is
really getting me thinking
The biggest problem is that they all said that they would get a bike in
for me but I would have to buy it 🙁 not good if you dont like it!
The other thing that I really want to do is get into cleats - the mountain
bike type so that I can actually walk around in the shoes LOL.
Any thoughts on the Giant bike?
Thanks
Kathy.

That look pretty well specced. It certainly has the low gearing (22/34!)
you'd need and decent running gear like easton stem, fiizik saddle, deore
hubs, mavic rims. The suspension seatposts are junk though I reckon. And
it's "deep purple" - it's gotta rock 🙂

Adam

Don't be deceived when they talk about this as a "comfort" bike - it's
really well specced, it's pretty light and with the right tyres could
be made to either go fairly fast on tar (mmm, lockout), or pretend to
be a 29" MTB. I Like the CRX Zero as well. I'd say buy it, but make
sure it's the right frame size

MH

(who works in a shop that sells Giants, and thinks that some models are
unispired, some are deceptively marketed, but some are pretty darn
good, this being one of them)

PiledHigher said:

just us said:

I wish I just had someone "in the know" who could steer me in the right
direction. I went to Cairns (yep yep rode 96kms to get there! wooohooo)
yesterday and had a ride on a couple of bikes. My previous post asking for a
good touring bike got some really helpful replies and thanks! I am a bit
keen on this one -
http://www.giant-bicycles.com/au/030.000.000/030.000.000.asp?year=2007&model=10080
what do you think?
I also rode a wonderful bike yesterday but felt it was a bit heavy and
lacked gears, it was some Spanish brand (short term memory loss) but what I
really really liked about it was the bars which were called "butterfly bars"
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/deakins/handlebars.html . All this is really
getting me thinking
The biggest problem is that they all said that they would get a bike in for
me but I would have to buy it 🙁 not good if you dont like it!
The other thing that I really want to do is get into cleats - the mountain
bike type so that I can actually walk around in the shoes LOL.
Any thoughts on the Giant bike?
Thanks
Kathy.

How is acomfort bike any different to the hybrid that I believe you
ahve already?

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

Quoted message said:

How is acomfort bike any different to the hybrid that I believe you
ahve already?

I do indeed have a hybrid bike. It is an Avanti Discovery which I have
loved, ridden approx 4000kms on and realise that it is heavy, lacks in
gearing, and I am determined to do a 1500km ride next year and want to make
it as easy as possible for me. I rode a lighter bike with 27 gears and just
could not believe the difference in hill climbing capacity etc ( it was my
husbands MTB ). And I dont want a MTB 🙂

just us said:

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

Quoted message said:

How is acomfort bike any different to the hybrid that I believe you
ahve already?

I do indeed have a hybrid bike. It is an Avanti Discovery which I have
loved, ridden approx 4000kms on and realise that it is heavy, lacks in
gearing, and I am determined to do a 1500km ride next year and want to make
it as easy as possible for me. I rode a lighter bike with 27 gears and just
could not believe the difference in hill climbing capacity etc ( it was my
husbands MTB ). And I dont want a MTB 🙂

You want a touring bike then?

http://www.australiancyclist.com.au/showarticle.php?s=4&a=1442

Drop bars are perfect for touring (See Sheldon for advice on this), you
just need to have them set high enough, which is generally already the
way a touring bike is setup. I'm not sure why you won't consider this?
You can have them at the same height as a flat bar bike, plus you get
the multiple hand positions. You don't even need to use the drops. They
also come with wider tyres, relaxed angles - basically they are designed
to keep you comfortable and effecient on long loaded rides. Does the
comfort bike have mount points for racks, or don't you need racks?

Other options from Trek.

http://www2.trekbikes.com.au/catalogue.cgi?rm=products&subcategory_id=32

--
..dt

dtmeister said:

Drop bars are perfect for touring (See Sheldon for advice on this), you
just need to have them set high enough, which is generally already the
way a touring bike is setup. I'm not sure why you won't consider this?

I'd be tempted to run flat bars with bar ends if I were touring, but I'm
an MTBer so I'm used to holding flat bars. Apart from the full drops I
don't think there are that many different positions. I also find it easier
to brake with flat bars, which could be important in some situations.

A lot depends on what your used to. I've ridden 12+ hours in a day on flat
(actually a riser, but that doesn't change anything) bars and been
comfortable. That's offroad without bar ends as well. You learn to shuffle
your hands around a bit, or grab the end of the bars.

Drops are OK, but I prefer flat bars.
--
Dave Hughes | [email hidden]
"Forty-two" - Deep Thought

dtmeister said:

Drop bars are perfect for touring (See Sheldon for advice on this), you
just need to have them set high enough, which is generally already the
way a touring bike is setup. I'm not sure why you won't consider this?
You can have them at the same height as a flat bar bike, plus you get
the multiple hand positions. You don't even need to use the drops. They
also come with wider tyres, relaxed angles - basically they are designed
to keep you comfortable and effecient on long loaded rides. Does the
comfort bike have mount points for racks, or don't you need racks?

Other options from Trek.

http://www2.trekbikes.com.au/catalogue.cgi?rm=products&subcategory_id=32

--
..dt

That Fuji is a delightful looking thing. I do have to say (again) that as far as bar setups go, the bullhorn bars with the non-sti brake levers and the bar-cons up front is a really good way to go, if only for the fact that you can grab a big handful of brake from the most comfortable riding position. It's the dropbars you have when you don't want the drops and because the horns are somewhat longer than the top section of dropbars plus hoods, you do effectively get an extra position.

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

Quoted message said:

dtmeister said:

Drop bars are perfect for touring (See Sheldon for advice on this), you
just need to have them set high enough, which is generally already the
way a touring bike is setup. I'm not sure why you won't consider this?
You can have them at the same height as a flat bar bike, plus you get
the multiple hand positions. You don't even need to use the drops.
They
also come with wider tyres, relaxed angles - basically they are
designed
to keep you comfortable and effecient on long loaded rides. Does the
comfort bike have mount points for racks, or don't you need racks?

Other options from Trek.

http://tinyurl.com/jan5c

--
..dt

That Fuji is a delightful looking thing. I do have to say (again) that
as far as bar setups go, the bullhorn bars with the non-sti brake
levers and the bar-cons up front is a really good way to go, if only
for the fact that you can grab a big handful of brake from the most
comfortable riding position. It's the dropbars you have when you don't
want the drops and because the horns are somewhat longer than the top
section of dropbars plus hoods, you do effectively get an extra
position.

--
Resound

I have a 2 year old Fuji Touring and it's a good bike, not too heavy,
carries a load pretty well but it's too high geared in it's standard form
with typical road bike gearing 32/42/52 at the front and MTB Deore 9 speed
Cluster on the back.
By going the way of the Euro touring bars(bullhorn) which I have also
contemplated, I was told then I could do away with the STi shifters and go
with a Hybrid or even an MTB front Chainring set. I haven't done anything
about it yet and still unsure wether to go down this path as I don't mind
the drop bars even though I find it very difficult to go down on the drops
now(belly gets in the way) I might revisit this idea again.

The tall gearing is the biggest problem for me and when I rode on the 05 rta
big ride,(nsw) I was being overtaken on hills by Grannies on their little
folding bikes....not happy Jan!!

DJ

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

Quoted message said:

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

Quoted message said:

dtmeister said:

Drop bars are perfect for touring (See Sheldon for advice on this), you
just need to have them set high enough, which is generally already the
way a touring bike is setup. I'm not sure why you won't consider this?
You can have them at the same height as a flat bar bike, plus you get
the multiple hand positions. You don't even need to use the drops.
They
also come with wider tyres, relaxed angles - basically they are
designed
to keep you comfortable and effecient on long loaded rides. Does the
comfort bike have mount points for racks, or don't you need racks?

Other options from Trek.

http://tinyurl.com/jan5c

--
..dt

That Fuji is a delightful looking thing. I do have to say (again) that
as far as bar setups go, the bullhorn bars with the non-sti brake
levers and the bar-cons up front is a really good way to go, if only
for the fact that you can grab a big handful of brake from the most
comfortable riding position. It's the dropbars you have when you don't
want the drops and because the horns are somewhat longer than the top
section of dropbars plus hoods, you do effectively get an extra
position.

--
Resound

I have a 2 year old Fuji Touring and it's a good bike, not too heavy,
carries a load pretty well but it's too high geared in it's standard form
with typical road bike gearing 32/42/52 at the front and MTB Deore 9 speed
Cluster on the back.
By going the way of the Euro touring bars(bullhorn) which I have also
contemplated, I was told then I could do away with the STi shifters and go
with a Hybrid or even an MTB front Chainring set. I haven't done anything
about it yet and still unsure wether to go down this path as I don't mind
the drop bars even though I find it very difficult to go down on the drops
now(belly gets in the way) I might revisit this idea again.

The tall gearing is the biggest problem for me and when I rode on the 05
rta big ride,(nsw) I was being overtaken on hills by Grannies on their
little folding bikes....not happy Jan!!

DJ

32/27 on 700c with 32mm tyres is only a 32" gear. How short do you want to
go?

In aus.bicycle on Sun, 23 Jul 2006 11:14:02 +1000

Resound said:

32/27 on 700c with 32mm tyres is only a 32" gear. How short do you want to
go?

23 is the bent's lowest according to Sheldon's calculator (150mm
cranks, 30/34) which is good for a heavyish bike carrying gear.

Zebee

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

Quoted message said:

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

Quoted message said:

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

Quoted message said:

dtmeister Wrote:
> Drop bars are perfect for touring (See Sheldon for advice on this), you
> just need to have them set high enough, which is generally already the
> way a touring bike is setup. I'm not sure why you won't consider this?
> You can have them at the same height as a flat bar bike, plus you get
> the multiple hand positions. You don't even need to use the drops.
> They
> also come with wider tyres, relaxed angles - basically they are
> designed
> to keep you comfortable and effecient on long loaded rides. Does the
> comfort bike have mount points for racks, or don't you need racks?
>
> Other options from Trek.
>
> http://tinyurl.com/jan5c
>
> --
> ..dt

That Fuji is a delightful looking thing. I do have to say (again) that
as far as bar setups go, the bullhorn bars with the non-sti brake
levers and the bar-cons up front is a really good way to go, if only
for the fact that you can grab a big handful of brake from the most
comfortable riding position. It's the dropbars you have when you don't
want the drops and because the horns are somewhat longer than the top
section of dropbars plus hoods, you do effectively get an extra
position.

--
Resound

I have a 2 year old Fuji Touring and it's a good bike, not too heavy,
carries a load pretty well but it's too high geared in it's standard form
with typical road bike gearing 32/42/52 at the front and MTB Deore 9
speed Cluster on the back.
By going the way of the Euro touring bars(bullhorn) which I have also
contemplated, I was told then I could do away with the STi shifters and
go with a Hybrid or even an MTB front Chainring set. I haven't done
anything about it yet and still unsure wether to go down this path as I
don't mind the drop bars even though I find it very difficult to go down
on the drops now(belly gets in the way) I might revisit this idea again.

The tall gearing is the biggest problem for me and when I rode on the 05
rta big ride,(nsw) I was being overtaken on hills by Grannies on their
little folding bikes....not happy Jan!!

DJ

32/27 on 700c with 32mm tyres is only a 32" gear. How short do you want to
go?

Yeah right...ummm...resound,I'm not really up on that mathematical part of
gearing so I'll leave this to the Tech heads,(maths wasn't my favourite
pastime) I just know that on the lowest gear on the fuji,I struggle big time
(even when I'm much fitter than I am now) and was finding that even oldies
on their MTBs were blasting past me on a hill making me look like I'm
sitting still which i guess wasn't that far from being correct. S'pose i
might need more hill practice.

DJ