Buying First "Adult" Bike, Very Confused
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Hi everyone – first time poster here.
As the title says, I have not really had a bike since I was about 12. I’ve been looking for a few months now, and haven’t managed to find anything for what I’d like to spend (preferably under about $850). So I’m hoping for suggestions.
I have tried a lot of bikes in a lot of styles, and the two I’ve like best are the Bianchi Volpe and the All-City Space Horse. Here’s why: they are relatively light and fast, the steel is amazingly smooth, I feel very safe on the road due to the slightly less aggressive position, and they can be outfitted to carry groceries or even do light touring. So far I’ve found touring bikes too heavy, commuter/hybrid/mountain bikes too upright/heavy/slow, and I don’t feel in control enough with most road bikes (plus some aren’t designed for panniers).
Does anyone know of any bikes like the Volpe or Space Horse that cost a bit less? Would the quality be so inferior that I’m better off sucking it up and spending the $1300-1400? If it helps, I’m basically planning to use the bike to commute 3-4 days a week, run errands, and would also like to do some long weekend rides and maybe even some light touring.
Your help would be much appreciated!
Oh – and I am a bit leery of trying to find a used bike. I don’t really have the time to search for one, and I worry about stolen bikes.
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@saddlesoar 65223 wrote:
Hi everyone – first time poster here.
As the title says, I have not really had a bike since I was about 12. I’ve been looking for a few months now, and haven’t managed to find anything for what I’d like to spend (preferably under about $850). So I’m hoping for suggestions.
I have tried a lot of bikes in a lot of styles, and the two I’ve like best are the Bianchi Volpe and the All-City Space Horse. Here’s why: they are relatively light and fast, the steel is amazingly smooth, I feel very safe on the road due to the slightly less aggressive position, and they can be outfitted to carry groceries or even do light touring. So far I’ve found touring bikes too heavy, commuter/hybrid/mountain bikes too upright/heavy/slow, and I don’t feel in control enough with most road bikes (plus some aren’t designed for panniers).
Does anyone know of any bikes like the Volpe or Space Horse that cost a bit less? Would the quality be so inferior that I’m better off sucking it up and spending the $1300-1400? If it helps, I’m basically planning to use the bike to commute 3-4 days a week, run errands, and would also like to do some long weekend rides and maybe even some light touring.
Your help would be much appreciated!
Oh – and I am a bit leery of trying to find a used bike. I don’t really have the time to search for one, and I worry about stolen bikes.
Howdy!
As a very happy new Space Horse owner (got mine in May), I highly recommend the Space Horse.
The Volpe was also on my list, as well as the Surly Cross Check (the unofficial commuting bike of DC).
As everyone on the forum can tell you, I did a LOT of researching and thinking and question-asking before buying my bike – I hadn’t had a new bike in 20 years and the Space Horse is my first drop-bar bike. I’ll be happy to talk your ear off about it!
The Volpe is a bit better value for money – either one would be awesome!
I originally was looking at bikes in the $800-ish range and decided to go ahead and save up the extra money to jump up to the next price point – if you really like the Volpe & Space Horse I’d say it’s worth it
@jabberwocky 65229 wrote:
My only comment is that the two bikes you like don’t seem too far outside your stated budget. I don’t know that a cheaper bike would be objectively worse or anything, but if you found a bike you really like, that fits your needs and you enjoy riding, its probably best to suck it up and just get that bike.
As an addendum to my post: in my experience, its worth the money to get the bike you’re excited about, even if the reasons that bike excites you aren’t totally rational. A bike you’re into is a bike you’ll look forward to riding more, and a bike you’re looking forward to riding more is a bike you will ride more.
Doesn’t matter if the reasons are that its lighter, feels faster, is an awesome color or has pretty streamers or whatever.
That said, don’t, like, go bankrupt and end up on the street purchasing a bike. But if a few hundred bucks is the difference between a compromise and the bike you really click with, eat ramen for a month or two and get the one you truly want.
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My last comment is that I’d really recommend against buying online for a first bike. If you’ve been test riding a lot, you certainly know that bikes have all kinds of subtle differences that don’t show up in an online list of components. You can get a good deal online, but you can also get saddled with a bike that looked great but just doesn’t feel right.
Once you’ve gone through a few bikes and studied geometry you can get a good feel for how you’ll like the fit of a bike by studying geometry, but for a new rider its a total crapshoot.
First, make no mistake, trying to pick a new bike sucks. There are local bike shops that are good about ordering you something to try out, but not many that will order you 5 at the same time to compare, and none that stock a really broad selection of the kind of bikes you’re looking for.
Second, don’t even think about labels like “touring” or “cyclocross”, they’re basically meaningless and exist so the manufacturer can find a bin to put the bike in on the web page. You’ve already listed features you’re looking for, which is good–just look for bikes with those features and don’t worry about the label.
Third, don’t get hung up on the frame material, it doesn’t really matter that much.
Finally, remember that bikes are on a spectrum with a bunch of attributes. Light, Functional, and Cheap are three of those attributes, and you can only have two of them.
So, for some bikes to look at if you haven’t already: Trek CrossRip (starts at $1k), Specialized Tricross (starts at $1k), Redline Metro ($850 for Al, $1100 for Steel), Jamis Quest Sport ($730) (this used to be called the Satellite Sport, they just renamed everything for 2014). If you have tried them, say what you didn’t like to help narrow it down more.
@saddlesoar 65239 wrote:
jabberwocky – OMG do you think I could get RAINBOW streamers on the Volpe?! Seriously, though – I’m not going to end up on the street, but it’s a 50% hike from my original budget. And if I don’t ride it as much as I think I will, I’m going to feel silly about that.
Whatever floats your boat, sir. Whatever floats your boat.
I couldn’t find a price on the Space Horse, but the MSRP on the Volpe is $1300. Its generally not hard to get a bike a hundred or two under MSRP if you ask around. Feel free to email a few shops and tell them you want a Volpe in size whatever and ask what sort of price they’ll give you if come down and pay cash for it. I’ve done that several times. Sometimes you luck out and get a shop with one on the floor they’d like to get rid of, or barring that, a shop thats willing to give you a deal. Can’t hurt to ask. Don’t be too demanding about it (shops hate that), just say you’re shopping around and wanted to check whether they have it and for how much.
@jabberwocky 65242 wrote:
Whatever floats your boat, sir. Whatever floats your boat.
I couldn’t find a price on the Space Horse, but the MSRP on the Volpe is $1300. Its generally not hard to get a bike a hundred or two under MSRP if you ask around.
You can also inquire about last year’s stock, which some bike shops will be getting rid of pretty soon in anticipation of the new crop of 2014 bikes coming in. Just make sure you know the differences (if any) between the years. you don’t want to research fun new features on a 2014 only to find they were not included on the 2013 you just got at 20% off MSRP.
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