Please Help Me Buy My First Decent Bike? (hybrid)



Bluemoon

New Member
Jul 13, 2015
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I really need help finding a bike at a price I can afford.

I've carefully narrowed my needs down to a hybrid. My goal is to for once to have a bike that's actually decent quality, I've had heavy cheap bikes that I've hated for most of my life, which doesn't make a lot of sense because this is something I do every day. Problem is, I don't have a lot to spend. For a while I've been unhealthy, mind and body, but I'm eating healthy now, getting exercise, making positive changes, and I'm planning on going back to college. Cycling is a major part of my lifestyle now as it used to be when I was a child and in my teens, but my old near forty pound Mongoose is really holding me back. It's just heavy as hell, ironically advertising "Aluminum" on the side of the frame. Its also too small for me, and its literally about to fall apart. Its a frankenstein bike, two bikes of the same model I've slowly combined into one bike as they both fell apart. I plan to donate it to a guy I found locally who fixes up bikes to give to poor kids, when I can find a replacement or to another guy I found who fixes up bikes to sell for a local food drive.

I've looked around randomly at a bunch of different bikes and I've got a pretty good understanding of what I want and need. Hybrid that's 26 to 28 lbs, ~21 inch frame, front suspension with decent travel. I'm just under 6 feet with a thin frame (140lbs), so thats why I keep gravitating to bikes of that weight. The last bike I sat on that was a perfect fit for my body size was a Medium 20.5" Scott Hybrid on sale at Conte's, but it was just too heavy for me. Store employee said it was 30 lbs.

I've been told that a bike like that will cost $1,200, which I can't even confirm because I can never find weight values on bikes I see for sale. Problem is, the max I can afford is about half that.

I've tried craigslist for about a week now, only to be frustrated. No one posts the weight of their bikes, and most of the stuff I see being sold is older than what I'm looking for. Also most people are shorter than me it seems (the national average is around 5' 10" right?) so most of the stuff I see being sold that's what I'm looking for is too small for me. When I do find something and inquire the weight, they don't respond.

I'm not sure what to do now, and I really don't like the idea of ordering something this expensive from an online store I can't walk into in person, if I have a problem with my order. I've been burned by online stores too many times.

I've gotten to the point where I really need some help. :( I'm hoping I can find someone in here who can help me out?

I'd also like to quickly ask, what can I safely do on a hybrid? What are its limits? How hard can you land on one from a jump and how rough of a trail can they handle? I'd like to be able to jump curbs, do some front wheel pivots, and jump off stuff maybe two or even three feet at the highest. I've been known to land hard a few times, but I've never broken any bike from doing that.
 

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Well... I guess I over exaggerated when I said its ready to fall apart. A lot of things just need to be adjusted and it has some bad lines. A mechanic could get it in good working condition. That's why I'm going to donate it.

Well I really don't want another red bike. Also that doesn't have disk breaks. How much does it weigh? I've also heard from... well to be honest, everyone that Schwinn is terrible these days, and they have been for a while. Come to think of it I haven't seen any bike shops selling anything by them in a long time.

I was hoping with some luck I could find a used Giant or a used Trek, but I keep getting the feeling that's not gonna happen because of the frame size I need. Now I'm thinking there are tons of brands out there I'm not familiar with that may make something in my price range you guys might know about? I won't know the weight of any of these bikes and I'm hoping some of you do. If I found something with some help from you guys it may not be on any store shelves here so I'll probably have to order it from Conte's, Agee's, or Pedal Power.
 
No front suspension. :( Is there one with front suspension that's 28 pounds or less? </= $650 is my limit.

Otherwise it seems okay. I noticed it has all Shimano hardware, so that's good. The only way I've had Shimano anything fail is if its crushed or severely damaged..
 
Trek FX, Specialized Sirrus, Giant Fastroad and Escape, Cannondale Quick, Scott Metrix, Raleigh Misceo, Felt V, . . . Have I left anyone out? Lots of first rate companies are marketing lightweight rigid-fork sporty hybrids.

My favorite is the Trek FX series, but I work at a shop that sells them. These are all excellent bikes and the trick is to just find the best fit for your needs at a shop that you would like to patronize.

Trek FX, Specialized Sirrus, Giant Fastroad and Escape, Cannondale Quick, Scott Metrix, Raleigh Misceo, Felt V, . . . Have I left anyone out? Lots of first rate companies are marketing lightweight rigid-fork sporty hybrids.

My favorite is the Trek FX series, but I work at a shop that sells them. These are all excellent bikes and the trick is to just find the best fit for your needs at a shop that you would like to patronize.
 
This may sound laughable, but there was this one off brand bike that I had that I bought from my local Walmart and it worked extremely well. That is a really low price range for a reliable, yet decent bike.
 
oldbobcat said:
Trek FX, Specialized Sirrus, Giant Fastroad and Escape, Cannondale Quick, Scott Metrix, Raleigh Misceo, Felt V, . . . Have I left anyone out? Lots of first rate companies are marketing lightweight rigid-fork sporty hybrids.

My favorite is the Trek FX series, but I work at a shop that sells them. These are all excellent bikes and the trick is to just find the best fit for your needs at a shop that you would like to patronize.

Trek FX, Specialized Sirrus, Giant Fastroad and Escape, Cannondale Quick, Scott Metrix, Raleigh Misceo, Felt V, . . . Have I left anyone out? Lots of first rate companies are marketing lightweight rigid-fork sporty hybrids.

My favorite is the Trek FX series, but I work at a shop that sells them. These are all excellent bikes and the trick is to just find the best fit for your needs at a shop that you would like to patronize.
Thanks for taking time out of your day to try and help..... but I'm not looking for a ridged fork. If you know of a decent hard tail hybrid with front suspension that has good travel, that is under 28 lbs and has hydrolic disk breaks, I'd really like to get your input. :)
 
I have tried to look for the listed weight on these but I could not find it. I'll try tonight to look more.
 
The way I looked at it when I was shopping that they had light aluminum frames and pretty much the same components as the others in this price range so I guessed they were all within a few pounds of each other. More important is I am 246(now 238)pounds so a couple more or less of the bike really did not matter.
 
Thanks for the link Darktone, that's a good lead. :)

And yeah, weight in a bike is really important to me because I'm really light myself. I'm just a fraction under 6' and I barely weigh 140. When I was a kid, my mother called me "Boney Maroney" from the song. :lol:

Larry Williams - Bony Maronie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdmuqYCf5Ik

lol
 
Wow you are light. I am 6'1" and I can't imagine being that light. I bet you could find a Schwinn dealer in your area that would have them in stock.
 
Bluemoon said:
Thanks for taking time out of your day to try and help..... but I'm not looking for a ridged fork. If you know of a decent hard tail hybrid with front suspension that has good travel, that is under 28 lbs and has hydrolic disk breaks, I'd really like to get your input. :)
Trek 8.5 DS. http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/city/dual_sport/ds_series/8_5_ds/

Shock fork, Shimano hydro brakes. These are also manufactured by Giant.

Trek doesn't publish weights for these bikes. Ask your Trek dealer to weigh one for you. If it's too heavy, there's an 8.6. This one's fork has alloy stanchions, which should knock off a pound or so.
 
http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/cafe_noir.htm

Started to purchase one of the above. 50.00 over your budget, but well worth the extra. I've ridden one of these a friend purchased. Excellent ride. 24h rims.

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/fantom_cross_cx2.htm

Then purchased one of these instead. Preferred a double crankset and drop bars. 32h rims

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mobile/us/en/schwalbe-marathon-plus-road-tyre-smart-guard/rp-prod24544

Upgraded the tires to these. 700x28mm

These bikes are delivered 90% assembled. The tires are really the only comp needing to be upgraded. The Kendas on either bike are either too thin or too soft for commuting everyday.

My Fantom CX has 40,000+miles. Frame is still fine. Changed drive train and wheelset last month. It's been a great bike.