Getting back to biking...need help narrowing down options
shredical1
Posts: 23
So am in the market to buy a bike. Need to get back into cycling mainly for fitness sake and a desire to train and have fun pushing myself to do a triathlon, spring and eventually a half ironman by this time next year.
I did a ton of biking, exclusively on dual shock, heavy steel frame single speed bikes with MTB tires back in India and some during my grad school days here in portland on a 2001 Gary Fisher Tassajara.
I also want to try my hand at cyclocross and be able to do long rides like the Seattle to portland next year and weekend endurance rides. The goal is to try and find one bike that can do all of these and a year form now, see how I like each of these sports and figure out if I want to dedicate separate bikes to pursue any further goals that might arise.
One thought was to refit my Gary Fisher with new components (it needs a complete full set) and take it to the Cyclocross races and getting a seaprate bike for road and triathlons.
Or to find a bike that can do it all.
On the second option, i've been pointed to the following bikes:
Jamis Novice
Giant TCX SLR 2
Focus Maeris
Felt 65X
Cannondale CAADX SRAM Rival
Ridley Xfire
Other than the Jamis , I tried out all the above and felt most comfortable on the Felt and the Cannondale. Being offered the Felt for about 1300 (retails at 1500) and the CAADX for a few hundred more (retails for 2200). The CAADX is equipped with full hydro disc brakes, but I am not sure if there are enough acocnts of this being a good solution in the long term.
I'd welcome any opinions and recommendations other than the bikes listed.
Am located in Portland, OR.
Any opinions ?
here's a link to the CAADX
www.cannondale.com/nam_en/2015/bikes/road/cyclocross/caadx/caadx-sram-rival-disc
The felt
www.feltbicycles.com/USA/2015/Bikes/Cross/FX-Series/f65x.aspx
Thanks for your time!
I did a ton of biking, exclusively on dual shock, heavy steel frame single speed bikes with MTB tires back in India and some during my grad school days here in portland on a 2001 Gary Fisher Tassajara.
I also want to try my hand at cyclocross and be able to do long rides like the Seattle to portland next year and weekend endurance rides. The goal is to try and find one bike that can do all of these and a year form now, see how I like each of these sports and figure out if I want to dedicate separate bikes to pursue any further goals that might arise.
One thought was to refit my Gary Fisher with new components (it needs a complete full set) and take it to the Cyclocross races and getting a seaprate bike for road and triathlons.
Or to find a bike that can do it all.
On the second option, i've been pointed to the following bikes:
Jamis Novice
Giant TCX SLR 2
Focus Maeris
Felt 65X
Cannondale CAADX SRAM Rival
Ridley Xfire
Other than the Jamis , I tried out all the above and felt most comfortable on the Felt and the Cannondale. Being offered the Felt for about 1300 (retails at 1500) and the CAADX for a few hundred more (retails for 2200). The CAADX is equipped with full hydro disc brakes, but I am not sure if there are enough acocnts of this being a good solution in the long term.
I'd welcome any opinions and recommendations other than the bikes listed.
Am located in Portland, OR.
Any opinions ?
here's a link to the CAADX
www.cannondale.com/nam_en/2015/bikes/road/cyclocross/caadx/caadx-sram-rival-disc
The felt
www.feltbicycles.com/USA/2015/Bikes/Cross/FX-Series/f65x.aspx
Thanks for your time!
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Comments
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With the way things are at the moment, I doubt you'll be able to get a jack of all trades that will do will in all 3 disciplines.
An aero road bike could double as an tri bike with clip ons but not as an cyclocross bike and vise versa.
If I were you I'll get a good aero road bike and a decent cyclocross bike... I think winning is more important lol!0 -
I think hoping for a bike that does well on cyclocross, endurance rides and TT (triathlons) is hoping for a bit much if you want to excel in all disciplines. However, a decent cross bike does make for good road rides with a little modification (perhaps a spare set of wheels with some slick/fast road tyres would make the transitions less painful). One could also then use it for TTs with the addition of some detachable TT bars and perhaps a saddle with zero setback (look a bit odd but TT is not the right discipline if you worry about looks, let's face it). That would be one way of doing the 3 types of riding with one bike. It might also be a good way of getting you back out and riding until you decide you want to take the TT side more seriously and invest in something more purposeful for that discipline.
Many of the guys in my club ride cyclocross and they are often out doing long winter base miles on their cross bikes in the winter as the large clearance helps get some guards fitted and the cross (disc) braking works better than road in the wet. All that and some good winter road tyres and they certainly don't hang about.0 -
Thanks for the responses.
Ended up paying for the CAADX yesterday.
I am not sure how serious I am yet about CX racing. I will likely take it to the track come sept 1st here at Portland raceway and give it a go and see how I like it.
I have been dirt biking for the last 3 years or so but not much this year due to the forest fires shutting down riding grounds.
Figure CX is a great way to get back in shape and riding bicycles in general and have some fun socializing, meeting new people.
Both the Felt and the caadx were great and having no bias on the shifters, leaned towards the caadx for the full hydro brakes. The LBS gave me a great deal on the CAADX too, less than list price on the Felt!
Getting a trainer based fit tomorrow.
As per your advise, if I like it enough i'll consider a separate bike for the road next year. Cause yeah, winning does matter as well!0
