Help on bike buying, part 2

[lordofthemark]

Okay so I still haven’t bought a new bike.

But I’ve now commuted four times, ridden a lot more than that, and read some stuff here and elsewhere. So I think I’ve learned something, but still want helpful tips.

I will try to isolate some issues.

1. Test ride bikes – yes, I know thats going to be the key and I haven’t done much yet. I resolve to do so.

2. New vs used – I expect to look at both. I think a better deal can be had used, but I’ve seen tempting sales on new. If I get used, it will be from a shop – I do not know enough to try any refurbing myself.

3. Needs – I want to make it mainly about my commute. If I can manage weekend rides on my old low end mtb, I can probably manage them on whatever I get to commute. and then someday I can get ANOTHER bike for weekend rides, right? My commute is a mix – well paved roads around the pentagon, trail through LBJ grove, MVT and 14th street bridge, sidewalks to Water Street, Water Street itself, and the Eye street bike lanes (terribly “paved” for now).

4. I want upright handle bars. I think I want 26″ tires. I want a rack and fenders – and maybe a chain guard? I want something I won’t have to fix on the way to work. I want tires that are less knobby than my old MTB’s. The center ridge thing? I may want a step through – I am less than 5’6″ tall and often find a diamond frame uncomfortable, and at least so far I stop a lot. I am pretty sure I want flat pedals (IE I want to be able to ride without special footwear)

5. I think this means I want a hybrid, maybe one of the bikes marketed as city or commuter bikes.

6. The Novara Transfer I saw before struck me as a possibility – but I need to test ride it. Although it lists at $700, it seems to be on sale at less than $400 at REI pretty regularly. I am at least mentally using that as a standard to compare to.

7. My local LBS sells used, but is tiny. I will look there. I should probably look at Phoenix bikes. I will go back to REI, to test ride the Novara. Of the local stores that are more focused on new bikes, which would come closer to my needs and price range?

Topic

[Popsicleian]

@rcannon100 65094 wrote:

Look at the welds. This past summer we bought a new bike for my son. We went to REI to try out the cannondales. But we also tried out the novaras. First, the welds on the novaras were down right sloppy. Second, it just was not a comfortable ride. My son test road it for seconds before he got off it and said no. In the end it was a choice between the Trek 1.3 (or 1.2 I dont know) and the the Specialized Allez. In general, the Treks were excellent bikes. A quality brand.

Just in terms of brand, I would take Trek over Novara.

I’ve had pretty good experiences with Novara bikes, personally. I had a lower-end MTB (Aspen?) that I loved until it got stolen when I lived in Oregon, and earlier this year I bought the Trenta, which is their higher-end road bike. I love the Trenta, it’s holding up quite well, and it was a wonderful value for the money.

You’re probably not going to find gorgeous welds on a commuter bike in the $400-500 range, and on that kind of bike they don’t really matter. The frame is not going to be any less durable than a similarly-priced bike from a major manufacturer.

I have no experience with the Transfer in particular, but it looks like a pretty good value for the parts spec (especially at the sale price). As others have mentioned, it will be pretty heavy.

[NicDiesel]

I also highly recommend getting a good pair of tires as well. I’m running 32×700 Continental Contact IIs that picked up on Amazon for $60 delivered that are great for commuting and light off road riding (think crushed gravel). I used to run 28×700 Bontrager Race Lite Hard-Case slicks (~$50 each) but went with the Contact IIs now that fall is here. The Contact IIs run at about 85psi and are a much smoother and forgiving ride than the Race Lite Hard-Case slicks that I ran at about 120psi.

[lordofthemark]

more info

1. My mtb is 3X6 speeds. But I find I rarely use any but the middle 6 speeds (IE I stay in the middle gear in front) as I usually don’t think to shift to granny gear till its too late. I’m not sure I need more than 6 speeds.

2. I weigh about 150 lbs currently, and intend to lose a few.

3. My current MTB is about 35 lbs

[mstone]

@DismalScientist 65110 wrote:

My wife has a Trek 7300. It’s a heavy aluminum hybrid with 3×8 gearing, so-so components, a lightly suspended fork and 35 mm tires. She doesn’t like it.
The Novara Transfer is a steel bike with an 8 speed internal hub. Apparently, it weighs 36 pounds. That is HEAVY.

I would look for something with specs like these:
http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/cafe_latte_x.htm

My commuter/etc bike is somewhere between 30 & 40 pounds on the way to work, probably more toward the upper end of that. I think that’s pretty normal for a durable bike with sensible wheels & tires and a rack & the other normal stuff (lights, etc).

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/windsor/kensington8.htm is a more direct comparison to the transfer, I think. The IGH is a nice feature for a commuter, but you can definitely save money by switching to a derailleur.

@rcannon100 65094 wrote:

Look at the welds. This past summer we bought a new bike for my son. We went to REI to try out the cannondales. But we also tried out the novaras. First, the welds on the novaras were down right sloppy. Second, it just was not a comfortable ride. My son test road it for seconds before he got off it and said no. In the end it was a choice between the Trek 1.3 (or 1.2 I dont know) and the the Specialized Allez. In general, the Treks were excellent bikes. A quality brand.

Just in terms of brand, I would take Trek over Novara.

In general you can get more bike for the dollar with a novara, especially with the 20% coupons. You will definitely get more brand cachet with trek or spec, if that’s what you’re after. Also, to be fair, it’s a bit of a stretch to say that novaras are uncomfortable because of an anecdotal report of someone riding one bike from the line for a few seconds. Now none of that is meant to suggest that everyone should go get a novara, or that they have a good bike for everyone (I don’t ride one), but they do have some nice models for various needs that people should try to see if they’re right for them. It is definitely not the case that looking at welds tells you much about the strength of the weld unless there are gaps; some manufacturers go so far as to grind & smooth the welds, but that’s purely aesthetic rather than functional.

To the OP, I suggest perusing this thread: http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?5037-Novara-Transfer-at-REI-Questions I don’t think there will be a lot of new answers.

[mstone]

@NicDiesel 65116 wrote:

I also highly recommend getting a good pair of tires as well. I’m running 32×700 Continental Contact IIs that picked up on Amazon for $60 delivered that are great for commuting and light off road riding (think crushed gravel). I used to run 28×700 Bontrager Race Lite Hard-Case slicks (~$50 each) but went with the Contact IIs now that fall is here. The Contact IIs run at about 85psi and are a much smoother and forgiving ride than the Race Lite Hard-Case slicks that I ran at about 120psi.

I love the contacts. I run 37s at about 40/60psi for commuting, 55/65 touring (more weight & front panniers). I was using 32s, and moving to the 37s and dropping the pressure was the best upgrade ever–they just eat road roughness.

[Greenbelt]

@ShawnoftheDread 65069 wrote:

Bikenetic stocks the Kona Dew for around $500 new. Fits most of your parameters, easily takes fenders and rack, and is a fairly light hybrid.

Second the motion on the Kona Dew, and on Bikekinetic as a shop to consider. Try the Kona Dew plus if you want excellent hydro disk brakes, although it raises the price. Kona is a mountain bike company by origins and their hybrids ride are sort of MTB derivative. You may notice a familiar handling and ride character. If you prefer the ride of a steel commute bike, I’d consider a Jamis Coda (closer to $600 with rack and fenders).

[vvill]

Your existing bike sounds like my beater MTB.

I would consider getting something like DismalScientist’s recommendation, or the Kona Dew – an aluminum flat bar road bike. They’ll probably have clearance for say, 700×28-35s which I think is a good size for general riding. At 150lbs you won’t need to worry about stock wheels being strong enough for you, and you won’t need to run super high tire pressures anyway even with skinnier tires.

I imagine that sort of bike will make a big enough difference to your commute in terms of being a lighter, faster bike to be worthwhile buying. Otherwise you might as well just get smooth 1.5in tires on your existing bike (if you don’t already have them).

One difference between commuting and weekend rides is that as your commute becomes more regular, you might not always want to ride it. It’s basically the same route, the same time, the same destination, etc. So there’s also the consideration that you don’t want something that’s too heavy and inefficient. Balance it out to be comfortable and practical, sure, but I wouldn’t want to ride up hills on a 30-40 lbs commuter every day I need to get to work.

Also: if you go with a brand like Trek/Specialized/Surly/etc your bike may be more of a thief target than say Novara or bikesdirect. Just a thought.

[FFX_Hinterlands]

I’ll pile on here. The Novara Transfer has fenders, rack, dyno lights. If you get a generic hybrid, you’ll need to add these things. I highly recommend fenders and a rack at a minimum (you get these for $60 total if you install yourself).

[DismalScientist]

@lordofthemark 65117 wrote:

more info

My mtb is 3X6 speeds. But I find I rarely use any but the middle 6 speeds (IE I stay in the middle gear in front) as I usually don’t think to shift to granny gear till its too late. I’m not sure I need more than 6 speeds.

You probably won’t pay a premium for adding up to 8 gears in back nor a premium for having a triple rather than a double crank. So, I would look at 3×8 gearing.

On the bikesdirect cite, I meant to give an example of a lower price flat bar road bike rather than something comparable to a Novara Transfer.

[hozn]

I will throw my 0.02 in.

I would get the lightest possible bike you can get for the target geometry and price. A flat bar road bike sounds like the ticket. My wife has a GT Legato that is pretty nice, so you could consider Performance Bike too (though in my experience the people that work there tend to be pretty ignorant of bikes/bike fit/etc.). I always liked the Trek Soho line, not sure if that’s still a thing.

Definitely stick with 700c wheels. 26″ is a mtb size, which is going to flavor the offerings that meet that constraint (and tire options, etc.). And you already have a mtb. A bike that comes stock with 700×28 or 700×32 tires is probably what you’re looking for.

Fenders? Are you going to ride in the rain? If the answer is “no” then don’t worry about fenders. They are nice once they are setup, but it sounds like you don’t want to do any bike maintenance and setting up fenders so they are close but don’t rub, etc. is often an exercise in creativity. Especially if you have disc brakes on your bike. Don’t get me wrong, I love my fenders for winter and spring commuting, but it doesn’t sound like you are commuting daily/rain-or-shine.

Rack? Probably not a bad idea if you use one now. But it adds not insignificant weight. Or just wear a backpack and call it a day.

Dynamo hub? That is just gonna add weight and drag — and IMO is a waste of money if you’re not planning to commute daily through the dark months. And even if you are it’s questionable. I haven’t looked at the ones that are spec’d on bikes in your price range, but I know that good (bright enough, low drag) dynamos are many times the price of good rechargeable lights. Just get one of the myriad of rechargeable lights. You can then get a couple of mounts and put one on the mtb too. Very versatile.

If you are commuting in work clothes (hence chain guard?) maybe consider a belt drive + internal gear hub. I think Trek has a model or too (Soho?). I am sure the other brands do too. The marketing promises a cleaner and lower-maintenance experience. I have seen some reviews of them being creaky, but it probably is a nice option when cleanliness is a priority.

Good luck. Bike-buying is fun. The good news is that anything sportier than a beach cruiser sounds like it will be a step up in terms of speed/efficiency. I would just find a bike that you would really like to ride as often and far as possible and buy it!

[lordofthemark]

In terms of commute schedule – My goal since August has been to commute every other Friday. But that hasn’t worked out, I’ve only commuted 3 times in that period. However I find its hard to improve that way, especially if I don’t get to ride on the weekend. I am changing my telework schedule so I can commute each Friday. I would prefer not to switch to transit due to ordinary rain. I also hope to commute more frequently, at some point.

I ride in casual clothes, so I guess I don’t need a chain guard?

Carrying – so far I have done my commute rides carrying nothing beyond what I can keep in my pockets, to minimize any additional weight. Thats clearly not sustainable. I’ve ridden recreationally with a conventional backpack, which sometimes feels awkward. A smaller biking type backpack may be better.

I don’t know much about tire widths and sizes.

[DismalScientist]

You can substitute rolling up your pants leg or a velcro-ized pants clip for the chain guard. As for racks, make sure the bike has a place to mount one, but you don’t have to buy the rack with the bike. You can get racks off of Amazon for less than $20.

As for tires, I ride Panaracer Pasellas with TourGuard (an internal Kevlar belt) I get for about $25. I have 28 mm tires and run them at 100 psi. Gravel roads are OK with them, but not my favorite. Of course, any discussion of appropriate tire size and pressure will open up a non-ending flame war.:rolleyes:

[vvill]

^ Agree with Dismal

Performance Bike also does lifetime basic maintenance for free, and they have some good value mass market options too I think. I’ve had good experiences with their mechanics but I do find their on floor staff not so knowledgeable.

http://www.performancebike.com/bikes/Product_10052_10551_1123952_-1_400316__400316
http://www.performancebike.com/bikes/Product_10052_10551_1127095_-1_400316__400316

[KLizotte]

Yeah, you’ll want to be sure there are little holes in the part where the chain and seat stays meet so you can attach a rack; not all bikes have them (grrrrrr). Anything geared to commuting should have them but you’ll want to check before you whip out the credit card. I commute with 25mm tires; they are Armadillo All Condition tires and seem to be indestructible.

[lordofthemark]

Went to REI at Baileys. No Novara Transfers (except for the fixie) Turns out the 7 speed Transfer is discontinued, only a few stores in the country still have some – they would ship it in for $60 if I wanted. (a replacement is coming, but will cost $750 IIUC) So instead I test rode a Marin Bridgeway – 700 by 35 tires, 7 speed, without rack but with fenders and chain guard. Weighs about 30 lbs. It was very nice. I liked the shift levers, and the general feel of the bike. It lists at 599, but its on sale at 478, coincidentally just offsetting the fact that as a sale price, the 20% discount coupon does not apply. As REI members we would get the 10% dividend.

Then went to Bikenetics. They had no Kona Dew’s in (no more 2013’s available, the 2014s not yet in – they will be 499 with a 5% WABA member discount.) I test road a Kona Dewplus, which I was told was the same as the Dew but different brakes, and slightly better components ($649, IIRC) It was also very nice. I rode it down the W&OD to the Arlington line and back. The Kona’s do not come with fenders, etc. They are 18 speeds.

Both these bikes were fun to ride, and I went noticeably faster than on my old MTB.

edit – confusing note – I am pretty sure at the store they said the Marin was steel, but online specs say aluminum.

[Author]

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