Browsing for a new ride

MrQuackers

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Looking to spend
My good old (stolen) Fuji Thrill was $169 out the door at Performance brick and mortar at the turn of the century. I put at least 40k miles on that bike. Man I miss that bike.

Right now I am browsing BikesDirect and considering this


This should serve my needs just fine.

Any other alternative suggestions appreciated
Must have freehub, because old freewheel style is a ticking timebomb, they always fail quickly in my experience.
 
Looking to spend
My good old (stolen) Fuji Thrill was $169 out the door at Performance brick and mortar at the turn of the century. I put at least 40k miles on that bike. Man I miss that bike.

Right now I am browsing BikesDirect and considering this


This should serve my needs just fine.

Any other alternative suggestions appreciated
Must have freehub, because old freewheel style is a ticking timebomb, they always fail quickly in my experience.

Flat bar "hybrid" bikes are great to ride, the 700x35 tires can be ridden anywhere. The parts are pretty low spec but if you got 40k miles on the Fuji this should be good for 100k.
The components should last a good while with maintenance. The Fuji had a SRAM derailleur that lasted about 30k miles. I got a replacement SRAM off eBay for about 15 bucks. As long as the frame is decent, it's all good.
 
Decent bike and if you select the correct frame size, I bet you'll be very pleased.

The bike has a modern cassette hub by looking at the Shimano part number MF-HG31-8 11-34T-8.
The components aren't Junk that belongs on a $199 bike you'd get at Walmart or Target.

I've noticed several of Bikes Direct bicycles have a higher spoke count than bikes you see at bike stores.
That is actually a good thing.

My wife is an avid bike rider. She has three bikes. One is a cyclocross with wheels that have a low spoke count and I've had to true them twice. They cant handle her at 120lbs--5'8.5'.

rachel bike cmh.JPG
 
Trueing wheels is part science & part art and spoke count has nothing to do with reliability. Doing the spoke pluck and listening to the sound or pulling a rim true on one side doesn't last as you've seen. It goes out of true again because the wheel tension is uneven.

Hope they have the size you need McQ.
 
Flat bar "hybrid" bikes are great to ride, the 700x35 tires can be ridden anywhere. The parts are pretty low spec but if you got 40k miles on the Fuji this should be good for 100k.
Lots of parts replaced over the years! New crankset, SRAM rear derailleur, bottom bracket, rear wheel (original was freewheel), cassette or 3, new tektro v brakeset, Frame needed nothing at all in nearly two decades. Somehow the front wheel survived all those 40k+ miles. I bought a bunch of Sedisport chains when Bike Nashbar had a sale on them, I think about 4 bucks each, decent chain.
 
... spoke count has nothing to do with reliability. ...
Not quite. All else equal, more spokes makes it stronger. That's why tandems frequently have 40 spoke wheels.
However, all else is often not equal, so a high quality 32 spoke wheel can be stronger than a low quality 36 or 40 spoke wheel.
 
Not quite. All else equal, more spokes makes it stronger. That's why tandems frequently have 40 spoke wheels.
However, all else is often not equal, so a high quality 32 spoke wheel can be stronger than a low quality 36 or 40 spoke wheel.
Agreed. Had to disagree with Skyactiv's claim that the wheels can't handle his 120# wife because of low spoke count alone. Well, maybe if she's jumping it off curbs and stuff. They keep going out of true due to uneven spoke tension. And the front wheel of her bike is 20 spoke radial laced, in my experience they're more sensitive to uneven tension. Small chance the spokes or rims are faulty but unlikely.
 
Agreed. Had to disagree with Skyactiv's claim that the wheels can't handle his 120# wife because of low spoke count alone. Well, maybe if she's jumping it off curbs and stuff. They keep going out of true due to uneven spoke tension. And the front wheel of her bike is 20 spoke radial laced, in my experience they're more sensitive to uneven tension. Small chance the spokes or rims are faulty but unlikely.
Back in the stone age, I had a Trek with Rolf Vector wheels. Front was 20 spoke radial. It lasted thousands of miles of my 180 # hammering on it through sprints and steep hills.
 
Back in the stone age, I had a Trek with Rolf Vector wheels. Front was 20 spoke radial. It lasted thousands of miles of my 180 # hammering on it through sprints and steep hills
Point made about low spoke count is fine if the wheel is built properly.

A 190# friend ride his mountain bike hard, his front wheel has 16 on one side and 8 on the other and in thousands of miles he's never touched a spoke. I didn't think that wheel would hold up but it has.

If skyactiv continues to have problems he should have the wheels trued by a reputable shop.
 
... If skyactiv continues to have problems he should have the wheels trued by a reputable shop.
True. The wheel may or may not be able to be saved. If you're not a wheel builder then it's worth a trip to your LBS to find out.

IME, if the wheels are round and true, yet with uneven spoke tension, then the rim is toast. Or at least needs to be rebuilt. I rescued a rim once by unlacing it from the wheel, manually bending/stressing it to get the warps out, make it roughly round & true laying on a flat table, then rebuilding it back into the wheel. But that is a lot of tedious labor. If you had to pay someone else to do that, it might be cheaper to buy a new wheel.
 
Decent bike and if you select the correct frame size, I bet you'll be very pleased.

The bike has a modern cassette hub by looking at the Shimano part number MF-HG31-8 11-34T-8.
The components aren't Junk that belongs on a $199 bike you'd get at Walmart or Target.

I've noticed several of Bikes Direct bicycles have a higher spoke count than bikes you see at bike stores.
That is actually a good thing.

My wife is an avid bike rider. She has three bikes. One is a cyclocross with wheels that have a low spoke count and I've had to true them twice. They cant handle her at 120lbs--5'8.5'.

View attachment 104301
Which airport? Regional?
 
Don't sweat 32 spoke wheels. My son and I are both 6'4"-6"5", I'm 260, he weighs 230. We both hammer MTB on wheels that I build myself. We have ZERO wheel failures. I've found double butted spokes, tensioned and destressed properly along with quality nipples make for long term trouble free wheels.
I could fix Skyactiv's wife's wheels. Probably re spoke em. That spoke count wouldn't bother me a bit. I used to build wheels for a guy that was a retired racer. He was 6'6" and 230. Always rode super light weight rims with 28 triple butted spokes. When I first met him I said let me build you something a little more robust. He insisted these would be fine. They always were.
99% of wheel failures are improperly built wheels. I have successfully turned all of my friends into wheel snobs.

OP, for you, I like Velocity Cliffhangers laced to Bike Hub Store hubs with double butted spokes and brass nipples. I have that exact combination in 20" on my folding Dahon for years now and I've not had to touch them in forever. I'm currently on a waiting list for a Surly Bridge Club frame that I plan on using 700c Cliffhangers. Bomb proof rims.
 
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I just re read the first post. I guess you're looking for a whole bike. I was suggesting wheels for a bike you were planning on buying.
 
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