beginner bike suggestions

[asiancivicmaniac]

First let me say that I realize there's another thread about inexpensive (to cyclists)bicycles, but I would like opinions more specific to what I've found.

I'm thinking (not a sure thing yet) about getting a new bike for getting to class and just riding around for some exercise. I would like to spend no more than $350 but will go up to $400 if that $50 makes a difference in what I get. I would prefer a new bike since I don't know much about bikes and don't feel comfortable with buying a used one from someone. I know that there aren't many choices in my price range but I'm not a serious cyclist and I really don't need something upwards of my budget. Heck if I tell my parents about the price of the bikes I'm considering they might think I'm crazy because I could probably get a Roadmaster from Wally World for $50.

I am 5'11" and right now at 220 lbs (part of the reason why I want to start riding to shed some of that weight) if that helps with the suggestions. I've been to a bike shop close to my Uni and they have a lot of bikes but very few in my price range and there is a bike shop back home and I've been to their website and there is a couple there. I'll list them:
Raleigh Mojave 2.0
Specialized Hardrock
other bikes close to Uni
others from lbs close to home
Trek 7100

Opinions on the bikes?

For some reason the prices at the actual store of the Uni Lbs is higher than the prices that they have online for the same bikes. Should I print out the page from their website and see if they will match their own price if I decide to buy from them?


I know this post is long so thank you for reading.

 

[NYEngineer]

I keep beatin' this dead horse. I bought my stepson a Giant Yukon. It has Avid mechanical disc brakes, a Suntour shock and some sort of Shimano trigger shifters. It was either 400 or 450. I think it was a good value. He's like 6' and 220 and he hasn't hurt it yet. We do mostly offroad riding and it holds up well.

 

[UncleS2]

Sorry, I don't know enough about bikes to offer you a useful opinion on the ones you listed, except that some regard the Mojave 2.0 as more of a bike for streets & hard paths mainly. I dunno if that's true or not, some people make a religion out of this which makes it hard to separate info from propoganda.

I know you didn't really ask for other brands, but: Have you heard of Forge brand? Frame sizes are limited, but they use good components, by all accounts these are great bang-for-the-buck bikes. At 5'11", one of their mtn bike frame sizes(17" & 19", that's it) should fit you well enough. Their hardtail mountain bikes are $320. To buy one with the same components at a bike shop would cost at least $600. You buy them from Target, online only, they're shipped direct to you, "some assembly required"

. The stores don't even have a Forge bike to look at in them.

If your state has a Target store, you'll be charged sales tax. Shipping seems to run about $30 to my location. Google & find a 10% discount code to use at Target.com, until Jan 31 try BABYSALE. May even be a free shipping code out there somewhere. Or if you can apply & get a new Target credit card, might get 10% off with that, if it's your first purchase with the card. Full price, full shipping to my location comes to $376 total. Since you mentioned going to $400 bike shop price even that might save you a few bucks. They have disc brakes, Shimano Deore shifters, 27 speeds, lotsa bike for the buck. I haven't ridden in ~40 years, & like you am thinking strongly about getting a bike for exersize.

OR: they have a "comfort mountain-style bike" for $200, if you were gonna ride almost all pavement & hard paths that might be good enough. Also very good components for the price.

Link: http://www.forgebikes.com/mountain.asp

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

Thanks for the replies.

Unfortunately the two bike stores that I may buy from don't carry Giants.

I went to a ****'s store today and they had a few Diamondbacks that are around my price range. Are they any good? I tried looking for them on their site but they don't even have Diamondback listed as one of the brands they sell.

I would prefer buying in person so if there's any problems I can deal with the store in person. Plus paying for shipping seems like a waste. But thanks for the suggestion on the Forge.

And if I buy from the store they will tune the bike for up to a year in 30 days, 6 months, and 1 year after purchase.

Also how reliable are the Bell trunk carriers that are at Walmart? I drive a Civic and I doubt I could fit a bike in it. It appealed to me since it is only $30 but I don't want to cheap out and lose my bike while going 80mph down the interstate not to mention hurt someone. But if I have to get a pricier carrier then the bike has to be under $350.

 

[huffmuds9320]

If you are using your bike to commute to school, I probably wouldn't get an expensive bike since you have to lock it somewhere. I don't know a whole lot about bikes but I say the Raleigh Mojave 2.0 is a good choice. Aluminum frame is not too heavy which makes riding a little easier. You don't really need disc brakes unless you ride a lot of off road. 21 speed is like the standard, good for around town and beyond.

The Roadmaster bike at Walmart doesn't look like its great quality. Brake handles are plastic which can break off, happened on my old Huffy bike.

 

[UncleS2]

I sure understand about buying "in person". The closest real bike store/shop to me is ~32 miles away. According to a local bike enthusiast, the closest *good* bike store/shop is almost 70 miles away! If they were a lot closer, I'd be a lot more likely to buy from one of them.

For what you describe, I suspect the Raleigh would do just fine. I plan to ride some old dirt roads nearby, & so need a little more off-road oriented bike.

Let us know what you get & how you like it. After not riding for 40 yrs

I need all the input I can get!

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

Stuart, on second thought the Forge you suggested looks tempting. But I don't trust myself with assembling it and am afraid that by the time I pay a store to do it that it will defeat the purpose of buying from the store. Anybody know much about the Forge 5xx?

 

[Bill Kapaun]

The Hardrock tends to be a favorite of the "heavy" guys at bikeforums.net. I'm talking about the 300+ pounders!
IF you plan on sticking to pavement, one of the lower cost options you listed should suffice.
Keep in mind, a GOOD suspension fork costs more than any of the bikes you listed. A $200 bike with a suspension fork isn't going to take abuse for long.
IF you plan on sticking to pavement, look for a bike with "street friendly" tires. Knobbies have a lot more rolling resistance and just make you wotk harder to plod along. The TREK 7100 would be the way to go.
Sometimes you can find good deals on Craigs listm especially between semesters in a college town.

 

[UncleS2]

acm, I dunno- if you had tp pay someone to put it together, you lose some of the price advantage. Here are links to a couple of forge bike threads at Bikeforums dot com, note that some of the posts are pretty old, maybe 2 yrs or more. And note that they no onger use the Manitou fork, among other things otas folks say8ing it's junk at first, some changing their mind after seeing/using one. Take every thing with several grains of salt & sift the wheat from the chaff.

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=199758

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=292931

As for myself, I've about decided to try a much cheaper way to try bicycling again- there's an old blue Sears, Roebuck & Co. "Free Spirit" with 3-sp Shimano rear hub locally that has a little rust here & there, needs tires badly(tubes just replaced), but otherwise looks pretty good to me, asking $50. I'll have to give up most of my ideas about dirt-road riding- but other than that it may be ideal for me. Pretty cheap, nice wide padded springer saddle, upright handlebars, handbrakes, only one sprocket per end to keep clean, real fenders & chain guard, nice shiny chrome-plated rims ro offset the slightly rusty chrome handlebars & rust spots on the painted fenders.

Remember, I'm still just looking, haven't even gotten a bike yet. Bill & others here have lots of practical experience here, & it sure wouldn't hurt to keep checking Craigslist & the newspapers for your area.

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

Turns out there is a Trek dealer several miles away so I might go take a look at the 7100. I sent an e-mail to a dealer 40 miles away and he quoted a 7100 for $330 which is $30 less than MSRP so I'll have to see what the closer Lbs sells it for.

Now I just have to figure out how to put a bike in my car before I go buying one.

 

[UncleS2]

Bike Rack! Next time I get to the big city gonna get a strap-to-the-trunklid bike rack. Walmart has a strap-mount(made by Bell, I think), holds 2 bikes, for ~$31.50. If your car has a trailer hitch, lots of models available for either 2" or 1 1/4" drawbars. Or your Trek dealer might have a decent deal on one- especially if you buy the bike from him.

Besides, with a rack in the trunk, if I spot a good deal on a nice old used bike, I can take it home right away.

 

[wantin150]

Can't really ever go wrong with the Specialized Hardrock. It's a good beginners bike and I have seen many rode hard and put away wet and still keep on ticking!

 

[wavinwayne]

As a serious cyclist myself, I have to second wantin150's opinion here. Of the bikes you listed, I would choose the Hardrock in half the blink of an eye. I wouldn't waste time considering anything else.

I had a guy (in better shape than me at the time) kick my arse in a cross-country mountain bike race a few years back. I was on my fancy-schmancy handmade uber-bike, and he was riding a completely stock Hardrock. That guy made me look like the biggest poser on the block, let me tell ya.

Hardrock - great bike, low price, you can't go wrong!

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

Ok so I from the suggestions I've narrowed it down between the Hardrock and Trek 7100. The store carrying the Trek seemed more helpful than the store carrying the Hardrock. The Trek store also carried Gary Fishers so any suggestions from that brand will be considered too.

Now I'm just going to evaluate my needs and then I will take the stores' helpfulness into consideration. Sometimes I wish I was one of those people who just buy the first thing they see.

 

[MarkC]

Gary Fisher is owned by Trek now. They do have decent hardtails for under $400, I think, see the Marlin and/or Wahoo.
Of course, I could be wrong and/or mistaken.

 

[wavinwayne]

Gary Fisher bikes are very good. I rode a '99 Fisher Aquila hardtail, very hard year-round for 4 straight years, and beat the snot out of it. It never let me down.

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

ok so another question.

If I were to get a mountain bike, between the Fisher Tarpon, Mako, and Specialized Hardrock which one is more durable and is in your opinion better?

Right now I'm having a hard time deciding between a hybrid or a mountain bike. I did a search on bikeforums.net and it seems like there's a lot of bashing on hybrids.

Again I appreciate you guys for taking time to read this thread and giving me your opinions.

 

[wavinwayne]

Originally Posted By: asiancivicmaniac
ok so another question.

If I were to get a mountain bike, between the Fisher Tarpon, Mako, and Specialized Hardrock which one is more durable and is in your opinion better?...


IMO, the Hardrock will be most durable. That's not a slam on either of the others. They will serve admirably as well. It comes down to personal choice, and $$$. Pick your fave.

 

[huffmuds9320]

My vote goes to the Specialized Hardrock. But do test ride on all those bikes and see which one you really like, theres going to be one that you say "this is the one I want." I would get a mountain bike since you can take it off road and have fun with it. You can get thinner tires for your mountain bike and it would be sort of like a hybrid. A mountain bike is like a suv and a hybrid is like a crossover vehicle. To me a mountain bike feels more stable and you can go over anything. With thin tire bikes you have to be careful with gutters, potholes and train tracks.

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

I'll probably go and test ride a few bikes tomorrow and possibly make my purchase but how do you know the 'one' when you ride it, especially for a novice?