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Who knows their Bicycles?

Moshiiii

Moshiiii

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 4, 2006
553
1
Sarasota, FL
I'm moving to a University soon and I'd like to buy a nice road bicycle. I plan to use it a few times a week to get to school and exercise. I don't know the first thing about purchasing these road bicycles. My dad has a 10 gear Schwinn (Its Old! Like 1983) and I suppose I want a bike like this but newer. I'm not looking for anything spectacular, I'm looking for a nice entry bike.

Is there any good websites or someone blogged bike reviews around $200-400 and the best one for the price in their opinions?

Could anyone recomend me a brand or a certain bike?
 
Schwinn will always be a top brand for bikes, I would suggest a mountain bike. They work just as good on the road plus you can take it anywhere.
 
MacNut said:
Schwinn will always be a top brand for bikes, I would suggest a mountain bike. They work just as good on the road plus you can take it anywhere.
Click to expand...

I used to agree with this until I started riding my mountain bike to school and my roommate used his road bike. I switched with him once and it literally took half the effort on the road bike... If you are riding to school more than 1 mile, you will notice a big difference between a road bike and a mountain bike. I was 3 miles from my school and I really noticed the difference.

Just remember to buy a bike that is your size. You may want to go get measured for a bike at a shop to make sure you order the right one when you find it.

To find a bike in that price range, I would search Ebay for bikes between $200-$400 and then try to find reviews of them online. Road bikes are expensive usually so it is hard to find a good new one for that cheap.

I have a friend who is big into road bikes, but I don't know when I'll see him next, but I'll try to see what he says.
 
MacNut said:
Schwinn will always be a top brand for bikes, I would suggest a mountain bike. They work just as good on the road plus you can take it anywhere.
Click to expand...

I thought of buying a mountian bike. I notice that it takes a lot less effort in traveling distance in the 10 speed compared to my mountian bike. Thats why I was thinking the road bike, for the speed and also the weight and size.
 
Yeah, $200-$400 isn't going to get you a nice, new road bike of any sort. You're looking at close to $600 for starters. I'd probably check around the usual used places...shops, eBay, craigslist and see what you find. At that price level, you won't really be able to get into a lot of quality, so I'd probably just go for something that seems to be in good condition. Go with a decent name brand (not a Wal-Mart bike) and it should get you where you need to go.
 
Danksi said:
How about a Mountain Bike, with skinny road tyres?
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Agreed.

I use my 95 vintage Gary Fisher Tassajara (that I used to race) on the roads with road tires now. I have also removed the Rock Shox and replaced them with the stock front forks to make the bike lighter overall.

I had to do a minor brake modification, otherwise it rides really smooth, and the Chromoly frame is really light compared to many other mountain bikes of it's time, and even now!

An older mid to high end mountain bike will cost you less than a cheap new one. You can also get them updated (if you need to) with newer components to make them a great bike!
 
I'm biased toward Treks, but only because the one bike dealer in town is primarily a Trek dealer. I looked around a lot, and there are just sooo many brands and styles, but I did finally settled the right bike for me and my commuting needs. Brand isn't really that important, it's just a good way to eliminate LOTS of other choices.

The Trek line of 'fitness' bikes has a more 'open' geometry, meaning a more upright riding position (good for maneuvering in/around traffic and potholes), brazons for fenders and racks on both front and back, has a larger diameter 'road' wheelset (750mm) with slightly wider tires than a road tire, but much narrower than a mountain bike.
I bought a higher end model for some personal reasons, but the entry level model might be worth a try since it's just a tad above your price range new:
7.2fx

The best thing to do is to get out there and get on some bikes, take them for test drives and let your body be your guide. Look into how a bike is 'fitted' to your body type as well, so that you have an idea of frame size, etc. before you go into a bike shop - knowledge is power.

Good luck!
 
I have consulted my brother, and he says a Schwin would be fine for what you do. But he'd reccomend going to a bike store and then they would tell you what bike is best...:)
 
Moshiiii said:
I'm moving to a University soon and I'd like to buy a nice road bicycle. I plan to use it a few times a week to get to school and exercise. I don't know the first thing about purchasing these road bicycles. My dad has a 10 gear Schwinn (Its Old! Like 1983) and I suppose I want a bike like this but newer. I'm not looking for anything spectacular, I'm looking for a nice entry bike.

Is there any good websites or someone blogged bike reviews around $200-400 and the best one for the price in their opinions?

Could anyone recomend me a brand or a certain bike?
Click to expand...

bikeforums.net

$400 isn't going to buy much. For that I'd go with Trek's entry level mountain bike. $200 buys a poorly assembled WalMart hunk of steel.

A half-decent road bike will start at around $600. $1000 buys much better. If you need more bike than that you won't need to ask about what to buy.

Any local bike shop's road bikes will be about the same in the $600-1000 range no matter the brand. It will be a Taiwanese aluminium frame hung with lots of generic stuff and Shimano Sora/Tiagra/105 components. For $1000 you should get some Ultegra.

Good bikes cost lots of money, but they're well engineered and last a very long time with a minimal amount of upkeep. You might want to look for something in a used bike shop. Anything hung with Campagnolo will be awesome.
 
Danksi said:
How about a Mountain Bike, with skinny road tyres?
Click to expand...

If you're going to do that, get a cyclocross bike.

Then, if you want the speed, you can always get an extra set of wheels and put some 23 or 21 mm tires on them.

Best of all worlds. You can pry my 'cross out of my cold, dead hands.
 
check out felt bicycles
they typically offer the best bang for the buck especially compared to low end treks
HTML: 
http://www.feltracing.com/products/default.asp?catid=18

or maybe not
just went through their website and
they dont offer their flat bar multi purpose bikes anymore
 
Well, I'm at that age where the cool factor has given way to the practical factor. I have two bikes: One is an ultra high end mountain bike, the kind that only weighs 23 lbs, and the other is an old cruiser that a neighbor gave me.

The mountain bike sits in a room collecting dust and never gets used. The cruiser is what I grab when I need go somewhere. I call it "the parts bike", because I use it to go get parts for the car when the car is disassembled. ;)

Riding position: The mountain bike flat out hurts my neck. The seat is way up high and the handle bars are way down low like a typical racing mountain bike. Like I said, it hurts my neck to ride it.

The cruiser: It ways a ton, but it's nice and comfortable with it's high rise handle bars giving me an upright riding position and it has the great big seat. I could ride it for 50 miles and never get tired. It's not fast though; it has the big white-wall tires and a coaster brake. If I needed to stop real fast, I'd be dead. :eek:

Road bikes: Yes they are fast, but they are so hard to get to fit. If they don't fit you just perfectly, you're going to be in pain. That's why the professional athletes have their bikes custom made to fit them and only them. A road bike can be comfortable if it fits, and flat out painfull if it doesn't. I caution against getting one unless you're going to make a hardcore hobby out of it. :cool:

Hybrid/Comfort bikes: These are the perfect compromise between fast and comfort. Faster than a cruiser and not something that's going to put you in a world of hurt after 5 miles like a mountain bike. They have the high rise handle bars and skinny tires. So if you're using a bike for transportation and not trying to win a race, they're the way to go. :)
 
MACDRIVE said:
Road bikes: Yes they are fast, but they are so hard to get to fit. If they don't fit you just perfectly, you're going to be in pain. That's why the professional athletes have their bikes custom made to fit them and only them. A road bike can be comfortable if it fits, and flat out painfull if it doesn't. I caution against getting one unless you're going to make a hardcore hobby out of it. :cool:
Click to expand...

Most professional cyclists use stock bike sizes. They are of course the proper stock size, and they always fine tune the fit with stem and seatpost adjustments, but that's nothing you can't do yourself. Road bikes might be painful for maybe the first two rides out in a season. After that you can ride for hours virtually pain-free unless you're pushing yourself.

I've found "hybrids" to be a horrible compromise. No good offroad, slow over the country roads, and too cumbersome and not agile enough for city riding. It doesn't help that their component sets are bottom of the barrel.
A mountain bike with slicks would be a more suitable choice for most "hybrid" buyers.
 
WEll personally i have a mountain bike and i really like Trek and Gary Fisher.

As for Road bikes I really like treks, though they are all really high priced there are however amny nive cheaper ones in the 800 range.

All in all i would suggust a used mountain bike as they can do both, and if you decide you like road better you can drop big bucks on a new one or just get used ones from both. I ride a 15 year old trek roadbike and it runs great. Bikes arent like computers and a bike you buy now will still be good in 15 years with adequate care. Most people arnt going to be able to go muhc faster on a 15 year old trek racing bike that is 6 pounds and a new $4000 trek bike that is 2.8 with tubless tires and carbon fibre.

Good luck
 
pseudobrit said:
Most professional cyclists use stock bike sizes. They are of course the proper stock size, and they always fine tune the fit with stem and seatpost adjustments, but that's nothing you can't do yourself.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I was referring to Lance Armstrong's custom made frame with a specific top tube, down tube, seat tube, seat stay, and chain stay length to match his arm reach and inseam. "A made to measure frame." ;)
 
Thanks so much for all this information! I'm going to examine all the post and check the internet sites you linked.

Also I'm gonna run up to this local bike shop and see if they can let me ride any low end bikes than a high end bike so I can compare.
 
Sdashiki said:
Just had to add that Walmart AND Target both sell Schwinn bikes.

does that mean they are sub-par Schwinns?
Click to expand...

Yes. Schwinn was bought out about 5 years ago by bottom-of-the-barrel bike manufacturer Pacific Cycle, which was subsequently bought out a couple of year ago by another company (whose name escapes me). There are still some decent Schwinns on the market, but the ones you see at Wal-Mart don't fall into that category. They're able to sell them at Wal-Mart prices for a reason...they suck. The Schwinn name alone is no longer a mark of quality...not by any stretch of the imagination.
 
I know my bike very well. We talk a lot. But our relationship is purely friendly.

No seriously, I don't know too much about bikes. I'm actually afraid of bikes, I was never able to ride one. My stepfather works at a bike shop, and know's a lot about bikes. If you have any questions, you can PM me, and I can ask him for you.
 
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