I need a drop-bar commuter for $500. Can it be done?

[Sarah Dots]

And not to turn down cheap labor, but does anyone have experience with BikesDirect? I’ve looked at them and Nashbar, but I hear that mail-order bikes can be sketchy? Is that a lie spread by the big bike companies? Am I a sucker? EBubar suggestd BikesDirect, too. What do you veterans think? @vvill 91677 wrote:

It can definitely be done. You’ll get better value used, probably but even new there’s models like this
http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/windsor/wellington4-xv.htm
You could probably buy Dismal a 6-pack to tune it up for you

[TwoWheelsDC]

@Sarah Dots 91730 wrote:

Didn’t mean cantis, but no, those aren’t my preference, either.

I hate cantis with a passion, so I’m with you. However, the problem you run into, given your stated tire width preference of 28-32, is that most drop-bar bikes that are made to take that width of tire are going to come with cantis. Single or dual pivot brakes (standard road bike brakes) oftentimes can’t open wide enough to fit a size 28 tire, or the wider tire may not fit in the fork. Your other option is discs, but that’s going to limit your options given your budget. Personally, I find 25s (which will fit with road brakes) to be just fine for city riding.

[Sarah Dots]

@TwoWheelsDC 91737 wrote:

I hate cantis with a passion, so I’m with you. However, the problem you run into, given your stated tire width preference of 28-32, is that most drop-bar bikes that can take that width of tire are going to come with cantis. Single or dual pivot brakes (standard road bike brakes) generally can’t open wide enough to fit a size 28 tire. Your other option is discs, but that’s going to limit your options given your budget. Personally, I find 25s (which will fit with road brakes) to be just fine for city riding.

Ah, right, good point. See, I wouldn’t mind 28s or 32s because I have 25s on my road bike and sometimes I’d like to not have to concentrate on whether the pavement is smooth or cracked or worse/there’s a metal plate with an edge that’s going to push me into traffic/etc. I like my 25s, but DC roads are such a nightmare. Sometimes a bit more carefree tire width wouldn’t go amiss. Besides, I can spend more time yelling at cars if I don’t have to watch the pavement. Hee hee. (OK, I yell when I need to even on 25s.) Disc would be ideal so I can slow or stop more easily in heavy rain/snow/slush, but we’ll see.

[DismalScientist]

If interrupter levers are installed in addition to regular brake levers, the regular levers should work fine, although the reach (distance from the handlebars) might be too big for smaller hands. If this is the case, the problem is with the regular levers themselves, not the interrupters. The interrupter levers can be removed if you don’t like them. All you need to do is unwrap the bar tape and replace the two piece of housing with a single longer one (rethreading the brake cable) and rewrap the bar tape.

I’ve bought three bikes from BikesDirect and Nashbar and have been pleased with the quality of both. The bike from Nashbar required a bit more work (wheel trueing and adding grease to the hub) than from BikesDirect, but that was straightforward. Given the small sample size, I wouldn’t hesitate purchasing from either company. I don’t see how they can be described as sketchy. Bike components are standard from third party component makers and full specs are available. The frames come from the same frame factories in China as major brands. They don’t appear to be assembled by untrained Walmart employees.

All the bikes come mostly assembled. The only thing you have to do is attach the handlebars and front brake cable. Then you should adjust the gears and brakes if necessary. I also would check the trueness of the wheels and whether there is sufficient grease if the hubs are not sealed. If you can change a cable, you can probably do the final assembly easily.

As for bar end shifters, they we developed so you wouldn’t have to move your hands far off the bars to shift. I generally ride in traffic and have no problems with bar ends or even downtube shifters. With lever shifters, you can shift more than one cog at a time, which I prefer. I have a bike with brifters and have problems with the shift cable fouling the brifter levers, so I generally prefer using bar ends.

I have no experience with disc brakes, although I would assume the mechanics between mechanical disc brakes and rim brakes to be similar, the only thing changing is the braking surface (and pads) that the calipers are clamping onto.

[cyclingfool]

I personally am a big fan of bar end shifters and comfortably ride with them in traffic. No they’re not right there like shifting with STI would be, but the most important thing in traffic is being able to stop quickly if needed, which has nothing to do with shifters. Once you get used to bar end shifters, reaching down to shift only takes a split second and becomes second nature. I do not find they take away from easy access to the brakes for what I would consider an unsafe amount of time.

If you do use bar end shifters, you open up your brake choices to include v-brakes, which work well with wider tires and for which drop bar style brakes levers are available. V-brakes use the same posts as cantis for mounting.

That’s my setup anyway, and I gotta say I love it FWIW.

[Sarah Dots]

Me too! @ebubar 91725 wrote:

I’ve pondered this for a cheap all-weather commuter: http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/gravity/liberty_cxd.htm

[TwoWheelsDC]

I know it’s probably something you aren’t interested in, but there’s always single speed/fixed gear too! Extremely low maintenance, cheap to buy/upgrade, and dead simple to work on. And surprisingly, it’s really not “harder” to ride with only one speed as long as you get the right gearing.

[ronwalf]

@cyclingfool 91744 wrote:

I personally am a big fan of bar end shifters and comfortably ride with them in traffic.

After some ten thousand miles on downtube shifter bikes, I just started riding one with bar ends (still getting it set up for commuting and kids). Now I keep reaching down to slap the bare tube.

I’ll probably get used to them, but I miss two things: With downtube shifters, I can shift both rings with one hand, and the kid in the handlebar seat can’t make his own gearing selection.

[DismalScientist]

Just wait until you get older–you’ll appreciate the bar ends over the downtube shifters more and more.:rolleyes:

[vvill]

@ebubar 91725 wrote:

I’ve pondered this for a cheap all-weather commuter: http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/gravity/liberty_cxd.htm

Looks like a very decent option for the money. I would prefer newer shifters (that’s the older style of Shimano brifters on there), and better disc brakes (I had a little experience on Lyras as they were stock on my Kona Jake when I test rode but I swapped them out for Avid BB7s upon purchase) but the frame + tire clearance looks good. It does have interrupter levers on it, but you can just ignore them if you don’t want to use them.

I haven’t ever bought a bike from bikesdirect, Nashbar, etc. but I have bought most of my bikes online in some way or another. I’ve bought two from Performance (picked up in store), and another two online from independent vendors. I’m sure a proper LBS tuneup would be good on a purchase from bikesdirect/Nashbar after a few hundred miles, but that is true of most bikes, at least for cable and maybe spoke adjustments.

And as TwoWheelsDC mentioned, if you’re at all open to riding with one gear, you can save both in the initial purchase and maintenance.

[Sarah Dots]

@vvill 91751 wrote:

Looks like a very decent option for the money. I would prefer newer shifters (that’s the older style of Shimano brifters on there), and better disc brakes (I had a little experience on Lyras as they were stock on my Kona Jake when I test rode but I swapped them out for Avid BB7s upon purchase) but the frame + tire clearance looks good. It does have interrupter levers on it, but you can just ignore them if you don’t want to use them.

I haven’t ever bought a bike from bikesdirect, Nashbar, etc. but I have bought most of my bikes online in some way or another. I’ve bought two from Performance (picked up in store), and another two online from independent vendors. I’m sure a proper LBS tuneup would be good on a purchase from bikesdirect/Nashbar after a few hundred miles, but that is true of most bikes, at least for cable and maybe spoke adjustments.

And as TwoWheelsDC mentioned, if you’re at all open to riding with one gear, you can save both in the initial purchase and maintenance.

How does it compare to this one? http://www.nashbar.com/bikes/Product_10053_10052_547466_-1___204872

[n18]

@Sarah Dots 91734 wrote:

And not to turn down cheap labor, but does anyone have experience with BikesDirect? I’ve looked at them and Nashbar, but I hear that mail-order bikes can be sketchy? Is that a lie spread by the big bike companies? Am I a sucker? EBubar suggestd BikesDirect, too. What do you veterans think?

If you order a bike or a wheel online, choose FedEx over UPS if possible. I have read several reviews at Amazon how bikes arrived with the wheels damaged, and in case of heavy fitness equipments that some metal parts were deformed and required a mullet or sludge hammer to put them back into shape. I have heard from eBay sellers(non-bike related) that they stopped using UPS because they generally break things compared to FedEx. So it may be worth the extra few bucks to use FedEx instead.

[DismalScientist]

The full specs on the Nashbar bike are unavailable, so a comparison cannot be complete.
The Bikesdirect bike has disc brakes rather than cantis.
Nashbar bike has 9 cogs implying that it has Sora shifters rather than the 2300s.
The Bikesdirect bike has a plastic fork rather than steel.
I think you pay both tax and shipping with Nashbar.
I can’t compare wheelsets.

[ebubar]

You could contact nashbar and see if they’ll give you more exact specs. I don’t like the cantis for an all weather bike based on what I’ve read.

The lack of integrated brifters on the bikesdirect is a big turnoff for me. I like shifting in the drops and the thumb buttons are not conducive to such activity. That’s why I never pulled the trigger on that one.

Never bought a bike online but I’m not opposed to it. I think if you’re willing to watch some YouTube videos and know what size frame will fit you’ll be just fine.

I HATE when people make this kind of suggestion but for 620 you can get a new Giant Defy 5. It has Claris shifters and I believe the frame is suitable for a rack and wheels up to 28’s.

[ebubar]

http://www.performancebike.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/mProduct4_10551_10052_1152634_-1_catNav

An LBS option? I’d check the rack suitability and the tire clearance.

[Author]

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