Noob to cycling, need advice, Annandale to Tysons Corner

[jrenaut]

I took a similar route – I started off commuting via CaBi and then bought a Giant Defy (the Defy 3, which was more like $800, but similar to the 2 and 1 except aluminum vs carbon). It was a great bike but not at all what I needed. You’re not going to easily put a pump/panniers/rack/fenders on a Defy.

If I were in your spot, and completely open on what I’m looking for, I would probably start off used. If it turns out the bike is totally not what you really need, you can sell it for more or less what you paid. If you buy new and it’s wrong, you’re selling a used bike you bought new and you’re going to lose money. In general, having a new bike and a relationship with a LBS is a good thing, but when you really don’t know what you need, it’s going to be hard for even a great bike shop to put you on the right bike.

There’s a category of bike that’s being really mis-marketed right now – the steel “cross” bike with fender/rack mounts. They’re marketed as cyclocross racing bikes but what they really are is commuters. I have a Bianchi Volpe that’s a perfect example. It comes with big knobby tires that I never use. It has great wheel clearance, which I suppose is for riding in the mud, but no serious racer would ride something with this many mounting spots for fenders and racks. But it’s a fast bike that can easily take fenders and panniers and wide tires and pretty much anything you could throw at it.

Anyway, welcome to the forum. Keep asking questions, we love helping with this kind of “problem”.

[americancyclo]

I’d start by trying to figure out if you’re only interested in commuting at this point, then looking at routes and your preference for road, trail, and mixed surface routes to get there. Race style bikes like cervelos tend to be like sports cars. Fast and fun but not good at everything. Since you mentioned a rack and panniers I’d look to a more utilitarian bike. There are plenty if bikes out there that make great commuters without sacrificing too much sportiness, but panniers and carbon frames don’t mix too well. Bikenetic in Falls Church is a great local bike shop that is always ready to help folks out. The Kona Rove might be worth a look at their shop or you could look at a specialized tricross at freshbikes in mosaic district.

[KLizotte]

You can get a great aluminum or steel bike for commuting purposes. One difficulty is finding one that offers enough eyelets to attach a rack, and possibly fenders, but they are out there. The hardest part is finding a frame that fits you, esp if you are not used to riding road bikes. I know, since my first road bike was a size too big and I had to sell it a month later (I’m only 5’2″ so nothing ever fits me right). If you are willing to spend approx $100, you can get a professional fitting that will give you a good idea of what a properly fitting bike feels like. I know CycleLife in Georgetown has an “erector set” type bike that they will build up according to your needs/size then give you a printout of your ideal frame geometry so you can use that as your template to find the best fitting bike. Clovis at FreshBikes in Clarendon comes highly recommended as does the Bikenetic folks.

Take lots of bikes out for test rides and keep a spreadsheet of what felt good and what doesn’t so you can narrow things down. If at all possible, do the test ride on varied terrain and up/down hills. Test the same bikes out on different days. Make sure you wear the clothes you expect to wear on the bike most of the time (presumably bike shorts with chamois). Yes, it is all sort of a pain in the arse but consider it growing pains. The more you ride, the easier all of this becomes if you should ever decide to buy another bike. Plus you will learn a lot talking to the salespeople.

Some brands you may wish to look at: Surly, Cannondale, Kona, Bianchi, Giant, Salsa, Trek, Jamis, Volage, Novara, Raleigh, Specialized, Scott, etc.

I recommend getting a new bike so repairs and adjustments are largely free for the first year and being a newbie you don’t really know what to look for in a used bike (e.g., worn cassette).

All-carbon bikes make poor commuters and most people own a commuter bike and a weekend bike. I only have “one do it all” bike (Cannondale Synapse 105) and that has worked out well most of the time.

Also, how secure is your work bike parking? If you are going to be locking it up on the street you will want something cheapish. If you have indoor secure parking, you can certainly spend more without worrying too much about theft. Theft is a real issue around here unfortunately.

You will probably want a bike that takes a wide range of tires so you can do road, gravel, and winter roads. Something to consider when looking at frames and forks. That is the one thing I’m missing on my current bike.

Also, if you go with clipless, you will probably want shoes with a recessed cleat since those shoes are much easier to walk around in than true racing shoes. I wear mountain biking SPD shoes for that purpose.

I think you will find a road bike to ride much faster and is more fun than a CaBi. There are lots of good rides around here (urban, suburban, and country).

Lastly, Pete (known on the forum as Dirt) works at Bikenetic (I believe part-time) and knows everything there is to know about bikes. He was born on a bicycle. If you can make an appointment with him, you will be in good hands.

[Terpfan]

Ditto what the others said.

Try out hybrids, commuters, road, and a couple of them. The thing to think about is utility, purpose, and the ultimate goals. If you’re trying to save money then you may want to look at the hybrid/commuter/cyclocross category because you can find some nice stuff there in the $500-1,000 range new, let alone used. The costs on bikes aside from the new price is usually on the maintenance side save for buying wheels, which are ridiculously expensive imo. With that said, I find that if I average out everything I have spent on my bike (locks, lights, clothing, tuneups, maintenance, tires, wheels, etc) that it’s still less than $2 a day in costs and I ride pretty frequently through the winter. So the good news for you is that if it’s similar (and I suspect you would be better) then it’s up to $1,500-2,000 a year in savings alone.

Back to the buying side, I would lean commuter, especially for that distance solely because of the crap in the road and paths you deal with. I swear I go airborne every day on the Mount Vernon Trail just before the one-person tunnel at Memorial Bridge.

And you’re wise to seek guidance here. People have taught me so many things here. Even little things like barmitts in the winter that solved my freezing hands issue. This is a great resource that the local jurisdictions and Arlington put on.

[jabberwocky]

Hit up shops. You should be able to make a decent start in an afternoon; make a list of 3-4 local shops and visit each one. Tell them what your intentions are (commuting, rough distance, etc) and a price range and see what they recommend. Take a notebook (or use your phone) and make a note of bikes you really liked (brand, model, size).

I’m not a fan of used for a first bike, unless you’re really willing to put the legwork in. Its possible to get a great deal, but also possible to get a clunker, and your choices are much more random in sizing and type (pretty much everyone I’ve ever known who tried to buy used for a first bike ended up with a bike that wasn’t quite the right size for them). And you’ll get zero after sales support. I think it makes more sense to visit a few shops, do as much test riding as possible, and then get something new from a shop you like.

Pretty much all the major companies are making utilitarian commuting bikes now. It shouldn’t be hard to find something road oriented with mounts for fenders and racks and such.

Start with the bike and something to carry your work clothes in (to start, this can just be a backpack if you want). There are multiple ways to carry stuff on a bike, from backpacks to messenger bags to racks and panniers. Get a bike with rack mounts if possible (it should be possible). That way you have the option, even if you end up preferring a pack or bag of some sort.

[Emm]

Some of the trek hybrids are pretty good. Their FX series is well within your price range, can have racks/panniers attached easily, and is more of a “road hybrid” than many of the other hybrids. I’d check out multiple brands and types of bikes though–I’ve had good luck with Trek, but many of the other recommended are great brands too.

I also found switching to SPD pedals made a big improvement on my commute. I would recommend first getting your bike, getting used to it, and then switching out the pedals for clipless. The bike shop gave me that recommendation when I switched to a road bike–I ended up putting the shimano Click-r pedals on my hybrid, getting used to them for a few weeks, and then moving to the road bike which already had SPD pedals. Having to learn breaking, gearing, posture, AND clipping in and out of pedals at the same time can lead to falling over, which is a really bad idea in traffic….

[lordofthemark]

FYI there is an LBS right in Annandale, called Annandale Bike Shop, naturally. They only sell used though, so it may not be what you are looking for.

Others can tell you more about routes, I have never biked to Tysons. My favorite route from Annandale to almost Tysons is Lafayette Village to Trammel to Aston to sidewalk on Gallows to Woodburn to Wellness (IE throught the hospital complex) to Willow Oaks Corp Dr to Williams up through Mosaic District to Merrilee to Dunn Loring across I66 on the sidewalk to the Gallows Road bike lanes (or the multi use path depending on conditions and my mood)

I’ve only done that on my hybrid (which I bought at Bikenetics), a road bike would help on the hills I guess.

Alternate route is up Hummer instead of Lafayette Village, and that seems to be favored by the folks on road bikes

[consularrider]

Since you’re in Annandale, I’ll second the recommendation to hit Bikenetic and talk with Jan and Pete (dirt) about your thoughts, budget, and experience. I’ve used several of the local bike shops in the Arlington area and have generally had good service from each, but I’ve settled on Bikenetic because of its location (access from W&OD and distance from my home) and the attention they give to me (I’m a crappy mechanic, so I prefer to have someone who knows what they are doing do reall work on my bikes). While it’s a small shop, Bikenetic has a good selection of hybrids and cross bikes that can take racks and panniers. One thing I think you should avoid is getting a bike with suspension. If you are going to ride on the road and paved trails, all the suspension does is add weight with little to no benefit (my two cents and remember you only get what you paid for it).

I have three bikes I rotate on my commute depending on the weather and my mood, a steel frame road bike, an aluminium hybrid, and an old steel rigid mountain bike. After seven years of doing a daily all season commute in this area, if I was going to have only one bike, I’d lean toward the Kona Rove, Raleigh Roper, or Raleigh Tamland. These are steel framed (yeah, I’m a Luddite) with disc brakes, and can take wider tires, racks, and fenders.

[dplasters]

I just recently started commuting to work almost 2 months ago based on the advice I got on this forum. Things that I learned from that process:

This forum is super helfupul. I received a half dozen different route options and ideas on where to start looking for bikes and what to ride etc. I clearly ignored most of them.. but what can I say?

What the bike looked like mattered to me (I’m a young male and I’m clearly shallow.. I needed to want to ride it otherwise I knew I wouldn’t. Just because it isn’t a carbon road bike doesn’t mean it can’t look good. There are lots of very good options to be had. I choose a bit of an oddball path but it makes me love riding. The bike still had to be wife approved though.

The road is full of crap and is not nearly as smooth as I perceived it to be. I’m very happy I got a steel frame bike and not anything made of carbon. This is particularly useful when you need to use the sidewalks for a bit (escape bumper to bumper traffic or in a pinch at certain intersections etc. And when i show how little experience I have locking it up when I go shopping and drop and bang my bike against the post/pole all the time.

The route is really important to your selection. Get an idea of how you are going to get there. Drive it early on a weekend (if you have nothing to ride) and do it slowly.. pay attention to the little details (google maps street view can be helpful as well). How narrow is it, are there sidewalks etc. If you are using any of the paths in the area go walk the paths. Tree roots, bridges, lack of maintenance will dictate what you’d really want to be riding on them.

Budget was super important to me. I kept it cheap by: Using a backpack, riding on platforms, using my golf shorts to ride in, using my gore-tex from golf as a rain buddy. My ride is shorter than yours (about 6.5 miles each way but I experience no discomfort at all with this setup). You can get a good headlight for $50-75 and a good taillight for less than $20. Strap some sub $10 LEDs to your pack/backpack as well. Bike Nashbar and Amazon.com are your friend and sheldonbrown.com is your reference manual.

I love riding to work. It has been great mentally and physically. Goodluck!

[Rockford10]

Others have given good bike advice, I can advise on the route actually to Tysons. Westpark is no joke. I rode to lunch at McCormick & Schmicks (which is about where you are going?) a while ago and thought I was going to die.

My route that day was from my office at Aline and Rt 7, down Old Courthouse, which becomes Gosnell, which becomes Westpark, all south of Tysons. I would not recommend it. There is a bike lane off of Gallows which swings north around Tysons Mall, and crosses 123. You could then go around Tysons Blvd and get to Westpark, or go all the way around Westpark to get to your building. You avoid the really bad traffic, but it will add some miles and won’t be pretty. I used to work on Tysons Blvd. and didn’t think International was that bad. It is a 300 lane road, but if you think of it that way, you get your own lane. (You get a lane! You get a lane! Everybody gets a lane!)

Other Tysons commuters (Phatboing) and I sometimes go through the residential areas in Vienna north of the W&OD, and West of Gallows. It adds some miles, but it is much more pleasant. The Ashgrove trail is another possibility, but it puts you much further west on Rt. 7. I’ve not tried it.

[laughter95]

@KLizotte 91203 wrote:

Clovis at FreshBikes in Clarendon comes highly recommended as does the Bikenetic folks.
I only have “one do it all” bike (Cannondale Synapse 105) and that has worked out well most of the time.

Also, how secure is your work bike parking? If you are going to be locking it up on the street you will want something cheapish. If you have indoor secure parking, you can certainly spend more without worrying too much about theft. Theft is a real issue around here unfortunately.

Lastly, Pete (known on the forum as Dirt) works at Bikenetic (I believe part-time) and knows everything there is to know about bikes. He was born on a bicycle. If you can make an appointment with him, you will be in good hands.

Thanks for your post. I’ll meet with Pete and Clovis. I’ll look for the Cannondale Synapse 105… certainly all the praise for the carbon version of this must be an indication that the alloy version could be nice as well. A commuter that could also be used for fun/freedom in the area would be greatly appreciated. Any thoughts on the Ultegra ($2,170) vs the 105 ($1,570)? I’ll have to test drive both of them. Just curious of your insight on them. Pretty big price jump between components…

[laughter95]

@consularrider 91226 wrote:

Since you’re in Annandale, I’ll second the recommendation to hit Bikenetic and talk with Jan and Pete (dirt) about your thoughts, budget, and experience. I’ve used several of the local bike shops in the Arlington area and have generally had good service from each, but I’ve settled on Bikenetic because of its location (access from W&OD and distance from my home) and the attention they give to me (I’m a crappy mechanic, so I prefer to have someone who knows what they are doing do reall work on my bikes). While it’s a small shop, Bikenetic has a good selection of hybrids and cross bikes that can take racks and panniers. One thing I think you should avoid is getting a bike with suspension. If you are going to ride on the road and paved trails, all the suspension does is add weight with little to no benefit (my two cents and remember you only get what you paid for it).

I have three bikes I rotate on my commute depending on the weather and my mood, a steel frame road bike, an aluminium hybrid, and an old steel rigid mountain bike. After seven years of doing a daily all season commute in this area, if I was going to have only one bike, I’d lean toward the Kona Rove, Raleigh Roper, or Raleigh Tamland. These are steel framed (yeah, I’m a Luddite) with disc brakes, and can take wider tires, racks, and fenders.

Thanks a lot! I will hit up Bikenetic and look into those bike models.

[FFX_Hinterlands]

I would try a bike-store-blessed used bike or last season, etc. Your preferences and riding style will change over the next year, so why put in big money right now? Take a class to learn bicycle maintenance or at least changing a tire.

I would go for slightly fatter tires (35mm or 32mm) –but it will reduce your bike choices. Disk brakes (or roller brakes) are nice and less fussy to maintain when riding in all weather compared to rim brakes. If you’re the type of person to wipe down your wheels after every ride then by all means get the simpler cheaper rim brakes. I know there’s lots of shoe-types out there but I would just get a set of plastic BMX pedals and forget the whole shoe thing, especially when just starting out. That will help with the budget as you tune your preferences over the next four seasons or so.
Fenders and a rack — I like my SKS Longboard fenders. They keep crud off your chain and your bike. Get a rack and use a pannier instead of the all-trendy backpack. Much better for summer commuting.

[hozn]

@laughter95 91242 wrote:

Thanks for your post. I’ll meet with Pete and Clovis. I’ll look for the Cannondale Synapse 105… certainly all the praise for the carbon version of this must be an indication that the alloy version could be nice as well. A commuter that could also be used for fun/freedom in the area would be greatly appreciated. Any thoughts on the Ultegra ($2,170) vs the 105 ($1,570)? I’ll have to test drive both of them. Just curious of your insight on them. Pretty big price jump between components…

The Synapse sounds like a solid all-round choice. The 73/73 angles look really balanced for a general purpose road bike. Heck, you could race it if you wanted too. Looks like the key difference is between the models is 10-speed (105) vs 11-speed (Ultegra). 11-speed is becoming standard, but 10-speed parts are still around for awhile. The wheels are the same — and are the typical budget wheels you’d expect to get on a complete bike. Assuming you’re looking at the disc version (I definitely would), the brake calipers are also different; I have not heard of those Cannondale brakes, maybe they’re fine; worst case you’ll spend a little money to replace them later if they suck.

The CAAD10 is also coming out in disc-brake version for 2015 (so later this year, presumably), but that is a more race-oriented geometry.

If you think you’re gonna likely start doing leisure rides on this bike too, I would recommend just sticking with the backpack and not burdening it down with a rack etc. I guess I’m a proponent of keeping the bike fun to ride, as opposed to making it super convenient for commuting. While a rack and paniers is nice for hot days, I find it detracts from the ride (I don’t like all the weight behind the rear wheel) and makes it so I can’t as easily switch my commuter up for trail riding. My banjo bros backpack is simple and functional and weighs a lot less than paniers + rack. Clip-on fenders let me switch out wheels easily — and I typically just leave them off unless it looks like it’s actually gonna rain. And during the summer I typically just bring in my clothes and lunches on Mondays so I can skip the backpack altogether. (We have showers & lockers at work.) Of course, if you only plan to use this for the commute, then by all means make it as commute-friendly as possible: full fenders, rack, etc.

Finally, don’t be shy of carbon; it’s not fragile. People use carbon frames for agressive off-road riding; riding on rough roads is not likely to hurt a carbon frame. It’s true that some people tape downtubes on mountain bikes to keep sharp rocks from damaging the frame, but I have ridden lots of rough and gravelly road on my carbon frame and have had no issues. Of course, aluminum is going to cost less and seems like a generally better idea for a first road bike — you may decide you want something with different geometry after riding this first bike for a year (or less).

[Emm]

@laughter95 91242 wrote:

Thanks for your post. I’ll meet with Pete and Clovis. I’ll look for the Cannondale Synapse 105… certainly all the praise for the carbon version of this must be an indication that the alloy version could be nice as well. A commuter that could also be used for fun/freedom in the area would be greatly appreciated. Any thoughts on the Ultegra ($2,170) vs the 105 ($1,570)? I’ll have to test drive both of them. Just curious of your insight on them. Pretty big price jump between components…

http://www.chainreactionhub.com/road/980-our-guide-to-shimanos-road-groupsets-from-tiagra-to-dura-ace

The above link was what a friend sent me when I was trying to figure out components for my road bike. The bike you listed looks a bit like my road bike–aluminum with a carbon fork. I found 105 to be perfect for a bike of this make–ultegra just seemed like too much money and not enough value for my personal needs (aka it was nicer than what I needed on my road bike which is being used for long weekend rides and commuting on nice days).

The previous owner of my road bike also switched out most of the tiagra components to 105s since he felt tiagra was a ripoff for a bike that cost above $1,000. Don’t ask me why though because I honestly don’t know…

[Author]

Posts