Which bike to buy - preselection

nevar

Didn't really know where to put this since I'm new to the forum, and also to bikes like this.

I've been looking for a good bike to use for driving around the city and also for longer tours and since this is the first time I'm going for a quality bike ( I'm planning on using this one a lot) I have no real idea about what components are better and what would suit my purpouse the best.

What I'm looking for is something thats comfortable to ride, even for a longer time, fast (almost only for on road use - although there are some bumpy sidewalks here) and would also work in not so good weather ( tirewise and able to add mudguards)

After looking up some Im letf to choosing between the following:

Specialized Sirrus Elite (http://www.specialized.com/ja/en/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=47260&eid=4356&menuItemId=9724)

Bianchi CAMALEONTE IV Alu Carbon (http://www.bianchi.com/en/products2010/Sport_Camaleonte_Y0B51.aspx)

Trek FX 7.5 (http://www.trekbikes.co.jp/bikes/bike.php?eid=00003)

Felt Speed 30 (http://www.feltbicycles.com/International/2010-Product-Catalog/Speed/SPEED-Series/SPEED-30.aspx)

dahon cadenza (http://www.dahon.com/intl/cadenza.htm)
only considering it because i will be traveling a bit by train and plane for the next year but folding isn't a must , especially if the components and quality suffer heavily just because its a folder

Scott SUB 20 (http://scottusa.com/us_en/product/8299/45247/sub_20)

The biggest difference so far seems to be the components on some of the bikes , like disk brakes , adjustable handle and the gears

If anyone would have any advice, maybe even a K.O criteria for one of them it would really help with choosing, since they all seem like good bikes only it is still a bit of a price for me and i'd like to get the best deal for my needs.^^

stuaff

nevar wrote:

dahon cadenza (http://www.dahon.com/intl/cadenza.htm)
only considering it because i will be traveling a bit by train and plane for the next year but folding isn't a must , especially if the components and quality suffer heavily just because its a folder

A bit heavier than some alternatives- an inevitable consequence of having hinges- but an excellent bit of kit nonetheless, particularly if you get a good deal on one.

downfader

Having ridden the Sirrus I know its a good ride for the money. The cheapest ones here are still really good, sturdy wheels, good tyres and gears etc.

I have seen a few peeps on here like the Scott Sub 30, so the 20 should be reasonable for the money too.

Best thing you can do is if you're in an area with some good cycle stores (guessing you're stateside by "sidewalk" ) is to simply go down and try a whole load of bikes. Set yourself a reasonable budget and range of options (eg is comfort important, fast wheels, more gears if you're going up and down hills etc etc). A good shop will also be able to fit you to the bike.

Hope that helps and welcome to the forums!

Eau Rouge

The south coast contingent is awake then.

I have to ask, why are they all hybrids? You say you want something thats comfortable to ride, even for a longer time. That is what drop handlebars are designed for, being comfortable over a long time and over varying terrain. They let you move your hands around and put them in different positions depending on what bit of road you are riding on at that time. Flat handlebars are lovely for shorter rides, or where slow speed agility is needed, which is why they are suited to MTB's and city bikes, but for longer rides drops are a godsend.

After that go and sit on them, and look at them in the real world.. The right one will probably become pretty obvious to you after that. The companies listed (amongst others) don't make "bad" bikes, so don't be worried about buying some heap of junk, but they bike that you like sitting on and like the look of.

UndercoverElephant

I smell a Tifosi CK7 owner coming up, or perhaps a Ribble Audax :





Both would be very comfy, fast and both come with mudguards.

Rich158

I've got Ribble and can vouch for what an excellent bike it is. Far better than my old Trek 1.5 imho, and it seems very well suitaed to city life, and longer weekend rides

nevar

wow, thanks for all the great advice in the replies.
I was looking mainly at hybrids because It seemed to me that drop handle bars have a riding position that seems very leaned forward and not so comfortable to me - which probably shows that I'm still very new to the whole biking thing

@downfader , I'm actually from Germany^^, living in Tokyo at the moment though - which is why I'm looking for a good bike, because i think it'lll be very usefull for getting around and seeing the city; maybe taking it on some tours or with me when I go and do some site-seeing.
It's also a bit of a problem since getting info in a shop seems to be a bit harder with my not so good language skills.

UndercoverElephant

To be honest, on a drop-bar bike you have a few more options. On the top of the bars, you'll be pretty upright. With hands on brake hoods, you'll probably be in a similar position to most fast hybrids, but with your wrists in a more neutral position. And going into drops position is a godsend when you're riding into the wind.

suzyb

Get a hybrid with bar ends and you can vary your hand position a bit more.

Still sucks in the wind though

g00se

If you're going to be doing some distance when you refer to 'touring' and are not looking for the top end performance of a road bike - then you could consider 'touring' or 'audax' style bikes. These look like road bikes but usually have a more 'relaxed' geometry and the mountings for racks and mudguards - and still have the drop bars.

What sort of budget do you have?

downfader

g00se wrote:

If you're going to be doing some distance when you refer to 'touring' and are not looking for the top end performance of a road bike - then you could consider 'touring' or 'audax' style bikes. These look like road bikes but usually have a more 'relaxed' geometry and the mountings for racks and mudguards - and still have the drop bars.

What sort of budget do you have?

And often proper tourers come with mudguards/rack already installed. Dawes used to be pretty good for that.

nevar

Well I will be using it mostly inside the city, which is why I've only looked at hybrids so far. I'd just want them to have the tires and gear range to also be able to go a bit faster.

My Budget isn't exactly fixed but I'd say something around 770€ (100.000 Yen) would be my limit - although I don't mind paying a LITTLE bit more if it really is worth the extra money

The drop bars started to sound really interesting after everyone's suggestions but I don't know how well I can handle them in the city and considering shifting gears, since I've never used anything like it , especially when I have to move to the sidewalk (can be quite crowded here in Tokyo ^^)

If there would be some more suggestions on something with drop bars, like the two above I'd like to look into them, since I'm still having a hard time identifying which drop bar bike might be one of the more relaxed kind and sadly the two suggestions above seem like they'll be almost impossible to find here in Japan (plus the Ribble site seems to not be working properly)

g00se

With modern bikes with drop bars, the gears are built into the brakes - much like hybrids - either by pushing/pulling the brake levers to the left or right - or with a smaller lever underneath the main lever. The majority seem to ride on the hoods - hands covering the brakes - so changing is very similar to hybrids.

What sort of brands are available near where you are?

UndercoverElephant

This guy is a tourer based in South Korea, do they have a similar bike market to Japan?

http://recklesscognition.wordpress.com/

He's reviewed and rated a load of bikes on his site.

nevar

I've been around town today to look at some shops and maybe get a chance to try out some of the bikes i was interested in, the second part didn't work so well, but i did get to try out the Trek 7.5 and some roadbike form cannondale ( just to see how drop bars would feel )

The trek had a nice position and was really fast , but a bit hard since its not the bike I'm used to.
The dropbars on the other bike, I somehow had mixed feelings, maneuverability seemed very hard, probably because of not being used to them and the seating position was too leaned forward no matter how i held the bars, though that might've been because it was a pure roadbike.

The shop also had a few of the other bikes I was looking into, like the specialized sirrus , which looked really nice, and also the dahon cadenza 16 (i think) - the disc brake version, which was going for around 670€ at that shop (not sure, but i think that's a good price for that bike)

About which bike manufacturers you can find around here, it's pretty much all the bigger international names , like trek, cannondale, specialized,felt, dahon, giant, louis gataeu, etc. ... and also some japanese brands like Panasonic and anchor.
Also, what I've seen in a catalog that seemed pretty similar to some of the above suggestions was the Anchor C9 - though they sadly didn't have it at the shop. That one seemed pretty got and it's also around the 700€ range http://www.anchor-bikes.com/bikes/2010c9.html (in Japanese but the specs are readable )

And again thank you for all the good advice I've been getting so far, it's really helping me with getting closer to the bike I'm looking for

UndercoverElephant

I quite like the Anchor bike, it looks pretty light and the cantilever brakes are a nice touch too. Looks as though it would be a more relaxed ride than the Cannondale you tried, which sounds like a more race-oriented model.