Anyone have some suggestions on how to pick out a good bike?

[Arkitech]

My wife and I are planning on adding biking into our cardio regimine. We're both hoping to get a 5-10 mile ride in before breakfast every morning. So since we're gonna be doing a lot more biking than we previously used to do I figure we should invest in some decent equipment. I guess my big question is should we be looking into road or mountain bikes. Most of our riding will probably be on the streets early in the morning with some lakefront riding and the occasional trail.

What would you guys suggest?

 

[Fausto]

Sounds like a hybrid bike might be up your alley based on your description of what you'd like to do. They do paths and streets fine and can handle light off-roading pretty well. If you think you're going to do any kind of real mountain biking I'd go ahead and get mountain bikes; the knobbies aren't super on pavement, but at least you won't be limited by the difficulty of any trails you might ride on.

With mountain bikes, you can also pick up an extra (cheap) wheelset and put slick tires on it for road riding and reserve the knobbies for trails. It's a bit more money to go this route, but it's really the best of both worlds since you can swap wheels for whatever kind of riding you're up to in less than a minute.

 

[chiwawa626]

Anyone have some suggestions on how to pick out a good bike?

If nobody is around, it looks new, and the lock/chain isnt too thick...go for it

 

[amnesiac]

I have a Specialized Sirrus. It was pretty cheap and works great on the pavement but it doesn't have road bars which I find super unstable at low speeds and in traffic. linky

 

[Arkitech]

Thanks for the advice guys

I went with your suggestion Fausto and I got my wife and I a hyrbid Trek (7100). Its just a cheap one, I only paid about 269 but I figure since I have'nt really done any serious riding in awhile I should probably start with something inexpensive and then when I know what I really need I'll upgrade later.

I went for a 8 mile ride this morning on the streets, traffic is usally pretty light early on a Sunday so I got a chance to see how it feels being on the bike for more than 30 minutes. So far everything feels good except for the seat, by the time I finished my ride my butt was sore. (no jokes please ) So sometime during the week I'll be looking for a new seat.

 

[flot]

Ark, you might want to look into a suspension seatpost, if your bike didn't come with one already. That combined with a decent gel seat will make for a very comfortable ride.

 

[Supahfreak]

Originally posted by: Arkitech
Thanks for the advice guys

I went with your suggestion Fausto and I got my wife and I a hyrbid Trek (7100). Its just a cheap one, I only paid about 269 but I figure since I have'nt really done any serious riding in awhile I should probably start with something inexpensive and then when I know what I really need I'll upgrade later.

I went for a 8 mile ride this morning on the streets, traffic is usally pretty light early on a Sunday so I got a chance to see how it feels being on the bike for more than 30 minutes. So far everything feels good except for the seat, by the time I finished my ride my butt was sore. (no jokes please ) So sometime during the week I'll be looking for a new seat.

You'll ge used to it. It might also be the positioning of the seat, play with that.

FreAk

 

[Ausm]

I have trek 7600 paid around 650 for it.....a VERY nice bike.

Ausm

 

[HomerSapien]

Before buying a new seat, make sure that your seat is at an appropriate height and position. Having the bike adjusted properly will really determine how much you like riding and even how much it helps you exercise. See if you can slide the seat forward or back any(usually only a few centimeters of movement). This can can be done by loosening the bolt under the seat. Some have two bolts, one for pitch the other for position.

Also realize, that if you hadnt ridden in awhile, it will hurt no matter what seat you have, with the exception of the huge granny seats with a couple of inches of padding. If you get a suspension seat post, make sure you get the proper size. Pull the current seatpost out of the frame and it should have the size on it near the bottom.

Enjoy your riding.

 

[Stark]

sweet... spring is in the air and people are riding their bikes.

I went for a good ride friday and again yesterday on my hardtail. I've found that the combination of a terry liberator seat and a cane creek thudbuster seat post do absolute wonders for the derriere. My butt is still a little sore, but no where near when I rode with the factory seat and solid post.

I'll try to post pics soon.

 

[Thegonagle]

I love my Terry Liberator seat! I don't even use a suspension seat post.

 

[pinoy]

Originally posted by: ausm
I have trek 7600 paid around 650 for it.....a VERY nice bike.

Ausm

Ausm,

is it a nice bike (comfortable)? I'm also planning of buying a bike but i'm thinking of getting a road bike since i live here in the south and its a rural-setting. No traffic, asphalt road and plain, although i don't mind getting a mountain since i can go somewhere and use it.