Bike Recommendations

[Steven M. Schar]

"S o r n i" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> ydm9 wrote:
> > Looking for bike recommendations. Prefer steel
> > (absolutely no aluminum) frame. Will settle for Tiagra
> > components. Prefer 9 speed. I have a short torso, so top
> > tube length is an issue. Budget is $700. I prefer new
> > bike suggestions as I look for used ones, but no luck
> > yet. Any ideas?
>
> Visit your local bike shop.

The number of bike shops that carry bikes such as he is
looking for is small, so narrowing down the choices first is
wise, beore driving all over.

I.e., the four bike shops closest to me would not have a
single bike that meets his requirements, even below
Tiagra. One shop is Trek only (Trek/Lemond/Fisher), one
is mainly Giant, one is very high end only, one
concentrates on BMX with a few mountain bikes, but
nothing steel in a road bike or mountain bike. There is
an REI near me, without a single bike that meets his
requirements as well. Ironically, Performance has bikes
that will fit his requirements; much as I'd rather give
money to locally owned shops, too many of them have gone
down market, or only have steel bikes in the higher end,
$1000+. I was at one local shop looking for a road bike,
and the salesperson explained that they didn't have
anything that fit my requirements because they only
carried Trek's brands; fair enough, I guess that they
get better pricing from Trek if they agree to be an
exclusive Trek dealer, but don't go complaining about
people shopping at Performance!

> Bill "Fuji, perhaps?" S.

Fuji is a good idea, as is Bianchi. These are not as widely
available as Trek or Specialized. Performance carries Fuji,
and some higher end shops carry Bianchi.

 

[Luigi De Guzman]

On Sat, 13 Mar 2004 15:12:32 GMT, "Steven M. Scharf"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Other than a used bike or those two choices above, I
>don't think that $700 is going to get you a new
>chromolloy steel bike.
>

Jamis.

www.jamisbikes.com

I like my Aurora. I'm not sure that's what the OP is
looking for. There's also the Satellite and the Quest. The
latter is probably out of the price range, but I've seen at
least one and it's a spiffy bike for the money. All three
of those are steel ( first two are Reynolds 520, the latter
is Reynolds 631)

-Luigi

 

[Steven M. Schar]

"Luigi de Guzman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> Jamis.
>
> www.jamisbikes.com
>
> I like my Aurora. I'm not sure that's what the OP is
> looking for. There's also the Satellite and the Quest. The
> latter is probably out of the price range, but I've seen
> at least one and it's a spiffy bike for the money. All
> three of those are steel ( first two are Reynolds 520, the
> latter is Reynolds 631)

The problem with the Jamis models is the threadless
headsets. The Bianchi and the Fuji have the older,
adjustable quill headsets.

The Bianchi Brava is around $510-600, the, Strada around $650-
750. They're both Reynolds 520.

If money is no object, then the Rivendell Romulus at $1500
is about the optimum road bike for a decent price.

 

[Luigi De Guzman]

On Sat, 13 Mar 2004 20:37:34 GMT, "Steven M. Scharf"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>
>"Luigi de Guzman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>
>> Jamis.
>>
>> www.jamisbikes.com
>>
>> I like my Aurora. I'm not sure that's what the OP is
>> looking for. There's also the Satellite and the Quest.
>> The latter is probably out of the price range, but I've
>> seen at least one and it's a spiffy bike for the money.
>> All three of those are steel ( first two are Reynolds
>> 520, the latter is Reynolds 631)
>
>The problem with the Jamis models is the threadless
>headsets. The Bianchi and the Fuji have the older,
>adjustable quill headsets.
>

True, this. My Aurora has an older quill stem in a threaded
headset, though; and so far as I know the Aurora has not
gone over to a threadless headset yet.

The OP wasn't terribly specific about exactly what sort of
frame he was looking for. Maybe the Aurora would do?

>The Bianchi Brava is around $510-600, the, Strada around
>$650-750. They're both Reynolds 520.

Sound and look like neato bikes.

>
>If money is no object, then the Rivendell Romulus at $1500
>is about the optimum road bike for a decent price.

The Romulus is ceasing production, I believe. At around the
same price range and geometry is Thorn's Audax Classic:

http://www.sjscycles.com/thornbrochure.asp

(look for the Audax Classic bit in the scheme)

No dealers in the USA, sadly, but Thorn has a great
reputation over in Britain. (Then again, Rivendell isn't
exactly an LBS item either!)

OK, enough bike ****.

-Luigi

 

[Chris Zacho "Th]

I'm looking for a motor vehicle, any recommendations?

The same answer applies. "What are you using it for?"

Racing? Touring? Bikepacking? Endurance? Road? Mountain?
Recreational use? Casual round-the-block Club rides (Fast?
Slow?)? Cool factor? Commuting?

"May you have the wind at your back. And a really low gear
for the hills!"

Chris Zacho ~ "Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

Chris'Z Corner http://www.geocities.com/czcorner

 

[Dan Brussee]

Think about it. Your Giant bike probably has Shimano
shifters. The Shimano shifter broke. All Giant can do is
warrantee it, which I assume they did. Spokes break for many
reasons, and it would certainly be unfair to blame the
manufacturer of the bike for loose, tight or defective
spokes unless it is a defect they knew about. About the only
thing you should blame a bike manufacturer for is the frame,
and even then they often have those supplied by a mass
producer from China or Taiwan.

Warantee the shifters, upgrade them if you think plastic is
so evil, and have the wheels taken care of by a
professional. Then go and ride and relax

Dan

On 13 Mar 2004 13:38:47 GMT, [email protected] (GABIKE) wrote:

>>
>>Just a friendly comment about Giant bikes - STAY AWAY. I
>>managed last summer to break a rear spoke two separate
>>times and also had my derailer shifter break (plastic
>>insides). This is on a bike that in the two summers I rode
>>is went about 900 miles total.
>
>I have a Giant OCR1, for the money its a outstanding
>beginner bike. If you had it 2 years and only went 900
>miles the failures were most likely a matter of neglect.
>Any bike that gets ignored will have failures. Mine came
>with 105 components, very reliable though a bit heavy, I
>have upgraded and have about 50% ultegra on it now. Ive
>broken a couple of spokes on my bike also but ive put
>several thousand miles on it in the 3 years ive had
>it. The biggest problem I have with Giant is that thay put
> too many stickers on the frame. For my next bike im
> torn between a trek 5200 and a Giant TCR elite. Ill
> probibly just buy a frame and transfer my ultegra parts
> and replace the 105 parts.

 

[Andrew Price]

GABIKE wrote ...

>biggest problem I have with Giant is that thay put too many
>stickers on the frame.

Hairdryer, highest power setting, 2 minutes with a scraper,
no stickers.

best Andrew "no names" Price (who likes being asked about
his custom frame which isn't really)

 

[Rick Onanian]

On Sat, 13 Mar 2004 20:37:34 GMT, "Steven M. Scharf"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>The problem with the Jamis models is the threadless
>headsets. The Bianchi and the Fuji have the older,
>adjustable quill headsets.

This does not need to be a deal breaker. It's not hard to
adjust...it's just different. Certainly no reason to avoid a
bike that you would otherwise buy. OTOH, if the bike you
want has threaded, great. It's a damn silly reason to
disqualify a bike.

Make sure you leave the bike shop with it at a good
height, and maybe with a stem that provides for some
adjustability w/o buying a new stem -- for example, a stem
with a good rise to it, with all the spacers above it.
That leaves adjustability both up and down without having
to buy a new stem.
--
Rick Onanian