[WVpat]

Hi,

I'm planning on doing a charity ride this summer (MS ride for those familiar). I've done the ride before, but now I no longer have a road bike. The one I used before was in questionable shape and I'm surprised it lasted the few hundred miles that it did.

I'm thinking about two main choices that are essentially the same bike (a Trek 1000 and a low-end Specialized road bike). I don't really ride road much since I've always ridden and raced MTB. I am mostly looking for something that will hold up to a charity ride (plan on doing the ride every year), occasional training rides to train for MTB races, and maybe riding to work and back every once in a while. Will this bike hold up or should I spend some more time saving up money?

I know next to nothing about road bikes, and I went through about 4-5 mountain bikes before I found one that would hold up to the abuse. I'd rather not do that again.

Thanks,
Pat

 

[James]

Hi,

I'm planning on doing a charity ride this summer (MS ride for those familiar). I've done the ride before, but now I no longer have a road bike. The one I used before was in questionable shape and I'm surprised it lasted the few hundred miles that it did.

I'm thinking about two main choices that are essentially the same bike (a Trek 1000 and a low-end Specialized road bike). I don't really ride road much since I've always ridden and raced MTB. I am mostly looking for something that will hold up to a charity ride (plan on doing the ride every year), occasional training rides to train for MTB races, and maybe riding to work and back every once in a while. Will this bike hold up or should I spend some more time saving up money?

I know next to nothing about road bikes, and I went through about 4-5 mountain bikes before I found one that would hold up to the abuse. I'd rather not do that again.

Thanks,
Pat

Honestly, you could probably get some nice light, narrowish MTB road tires for your bike now, if you're comfortable on it. Why buy another bike that you might not ride enough to make it worth buying?
Save yourself some bucks, and hell, donate the extra to the charity!

 

[LordOpie]

I agree with James... if you have a bike you like, you can ride that, maybe with some minor modifications for comfort and speed. Any bike can be ridden.

However, if you do want something, I'd recommend a Surly LHT Complete... extremely versatile, comfortable and reasonably priced at $900 new.

 

[WVpat]

I agree with James... if you have a bike you like, you can ride that, maybe with some minor modifications for comfort and speed. Any bike can be ridden.

However, if you do want something, I'd recommend a Surly LHT Complete... extremely versatile, comfortable and reasonably priced at $900 new.

I've thought about just grabbing the tires and some other comfort parts for either my xc race bike or the other mtb, but after riding a road bike it's just not the same for me, not to mention the hassle it would give me to switch parts between training rides and MTB races. Even though I'm more stretched out, I just feel a lot more comfortable on a road bike when doing things like this. Also, gearing is a big issue with this too. I usually top out the gears on any moderate to big hill if I ride on the road with a mountain bike. I still feel like it would be a worthwhile investment to buy a new bike, seeing as I plan to use it for a ride of 100+ miles once at the very least each year.

Lord Opie: Thanks for the recommendation of that bike...I had no idea surly had an entry level bike with gears (I've been under the impression that they mostly make SS MTBs or commuter frames). That's definitely something I will check out. And this also brings up another question I forgot about...What type of frame and fork should I be looking for metal-wise? Aluminum seems to be the only frame available at this price point (aside from the Surly), but some bikes have carbon forks and/or other carbon parts. I'm not really concerned with weight at all, so long as the bike is somewhat reasonable (around 25 pounds or so). I know carbon is supposed to soften the ride and (good) steel frames are a little more gentle than aluminum, but is there really any huge (noticable to someone who doesn't know exactly what to look for) difference between the metals besides weight or price?

Thanks again for all the help

 

[LordOpie]

No such thing as "(good)"... all steel is good. I've ridden a variety of bikes and while I can tell when I'm on AL vs Steel, I can't tell between the different steels. My high-end custom roadie's high-end True Temper steel with a Reynolds carbon Ouzo fork and I'm just as happy on my all steel "low-end" Surly LHT.

If you want steel and on a budget, check out http://www.jamisbikes.com/ -- they have some steel+carbon fork bikes. There are other budget steel bikes out there.

I'm partial to all steel (for me) cuz it reduces road vibration, oscillation, cost, and increases safety. It's only anecdotal, but I keep hearing about catastrophic failures on CF and AL. They don't fail often, but I hear when they do, it happens faster than steel.

sorry for rambling.

And now, i'll take the opportunity to post pics of my newest baby and best love (with respects to my wife and baby on the way)...

 

[WVpat]

No such thing as "(good)"... all steel is good. I've ridden a variety of bikes and while I can tell when I'm on AL vs Steel, I can't tell between the different steels. My high-end custom roadie's high-end True Temper steel with a Reynolds carbon Ouzo fork and I'm just as happy on my all steel "low-end" Surly LHT.

If you want steel and on a budget, check out http://www.jamisbikes.com/ -- they have some steel+carbon fork bikes. There are other budget steel bikes out there.

I'm partial to all steel (for me) cuz it reduces road vibration, oscillation, cost, and increases safety. It's only anecdotal, but I keep hearing about catastrophic failures on CF and AL. They don't fail often, but I hear when they do, it happens faster than steel.

Haha...I meant "good" steel like not on a walmart bike or something like that, not calling anything else crappy or anything like that. I think I might actually change my mind and go with something steel with all these things (especially the failure, happened before and sucked) and CF failing was definitely something I thought about. I've never had the chance to ride something aluminum or carbon for a road bike...so I might have to test drive a lot of things to see what'll work for me. the 20 yr old road bike I used to have was steel frame and fork and seemed to be pretty good on the road even though it was a ridiculous size.

Jamis was a brand that I'd completely forgotten about, and Ironically is one of the frames I've broken (two actually). They seem like a good balance between price and quality.

 

[James]

Nice tires!

 

[LordOpie]

...

keep us posted on your search!

The reason you're not getting many replies is cuz we often windup saying the same thing: if it fits and is comfortable, you've won.

If you find an aluminum bike you love, just get bigger tires (28-35mm) and run them at a lower pressure (60-85psi) to soak up road noise before it gets to your frame.

Nice tires!

hell yeah. They work better in the snow than the Nokians, but since I'm paranoid about going down in front of a bus due to ice, the studs stay.

 

[James]

hell yeah. They work better in the snow than the Nokians, but since I'm paranoid about going down in front of a bus due to ice, the studs stay.

Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean that they're *not* out to get you...

 

[WVpat]

keep us posted on your search!

The reason you're not getting many replies is cuz we often windup saying the same thing: if it fits and is comfortable, you've won.

If you find an aluminum bike you love, just get bigger tires (28-35mm) and run them at a lower pressure (60-85psi) to soak up road noise before it gets to your frame.


hell yeah. They work better in the snow than the Nokians, but since I'm paranoid about going down in front of a bus due to ice, the studs stay.

will do. the replies here are more than enough to get me started...I still have plenty of time seeing as I have to save the money still and get donations lined up...not to mention wait for it to warm up a little (its finally snowboard season too)