Need Advice on a good ROAD BIKE

[HYPER]

I just got into biking about 2 weeks ago, been riding a cheap toys r us 21 speed bike so far. Has the usual off road type tires. I wanted to step it up ever since my friend let me borrow his road bike and noticed how well it performed. Cycling seemed alot more effortless. Less traction on the tires since they were so skinny.

Theres so many type of bikes out there and the prices vary. I need to know the difference between a "triathon" bike and a "time trial" bike and a "cuiser" and a... it goes on and on. ALso I wonder if the prices on some of these bikes can even be justified. I mean cmon, $4000 to 6000 for a bike just because its 4-5 lbs lighter than a $1000 bike.

ANy advice would be greatly appreciated.

Also, links to good bike forums would be great.

-Hyper

[jdev]

are you looking for road bikes, such as those used in the tour de france, or off-road bikes, such as in mountain biking?

title and post seem to contradict eachother in a way.

in the event you mean an off-road bike, you cant go wrong with a Gary Fisher Joshua.

I picked one of these up a few years back. full suspension, y frame, pretty light, very durable, all around excellent bike.

check into anything at www.fisherbikes.com or just check your local bike/cycling shop. they may be able to recommend something better for your needs.

[irbodden]

As far as road bikes go, steel is real At the lower price ranges you might be looking at aluminum frames though, Lemond Nevada City is a nice bike under a grand, my advice is to go test ride em'

[MicrOMag]

My friend absolutely loves his Trek road bike...and yes a few pounds means a lot when you get up into that class of bike. Most everyday people don't by those bikes unless they're gung ho and want to spend for the sake of spending; that class of bike is something that the pros would use.

Get the lightest bike you can, with the best reputation as far as parts quality and reliability, and just a bike that suites you overall and you couldn't possibly go wrong.

[Hamster Huey]

Probably the most important thing you can do right now is figure out just what kind of biking you're going to be doing. If you're going to be staying mainly on roads and doing serious miles, a road bike would be best. But if you want to be riding off-road over rocks, roots, and logs, you're going to want the fat knobby tires, suspension, and durable frame of a mountain bike. If you'll just be tooling around town or commuting, a hybrid might work. Bikes can be pretty specialized in their use, and a bike that performs well on the road can be downright dangerous on a trail, so your choice really depends on the intended purpose. Better to take a little time to think about it now than be unhappy with a $1000 purchase down the road.

[krafty]

For road bikes, I like Specialized and Trek. Stay away from carbon fiber (like most of us can afford it anyway), one wipeout and you'll probably ruin the frame. Aluminum is nice and light, but to make up for it, they have to increase the size of the tube. Chromoly is heavy, but the tubes are small.

There are some composite materials out there as well, some of which are really good choices. My Specialized mountain bike is a composite of aluminum and ceramic (I believe they call it M2, but I can't remember).

It's always worth a look in the used section of your local bike stores. Every once in a while you find a real gem.

[MicrOMag]

Originally posted by Hamster Huey
Probably the most important thing you can do right now is figure out just what kind of biking you're going to be doing. If you're going to be staying mainly on roads and doing serious miles, a road bike would be best. But if you want to be riding off-road over rocks, roots, and logs, you're going to want the fat knobby tires, suspension, and durable frame of a mountain bike. If you'll just be tooling around town or commuting, a hybrid might work. Bikes can be pretty specialized in their use, and a bike that performs well on the road can be downright dangerous on a trail, so your choice really depends on the intended purpose. Better to take a little time to think about it now than be unhappy with a $1000 purchase down the road.

He's speaking of a road bike, not a mountain bike.

...and like the other guy said about a used bike, check garage sales if you have a garage sale day locally or the classifieds. Bikes are one of those things that people tend to buy because they think they'll use them all the time but never do...like excercise equipment. My dad gave his Schwinn Roadbike to my wrestling team for a garage sale day and they let it go for like $15bucks.

[Torbo]

specialized

[Brak]

get a litespeed frame and build it up. jensonusa.com

[Daroy99]

I have a red nishiki, its quite nice. It has clips for my shoes, and its so much easier to ride then a mountain bike. Note:road bikes are NOT ment to be mountain bikes. I popped 4-5 intertubes a month until i bought $40(each) tires for my bike. Stay away from your friends bikes when your riding, i took a peg to my spoke and it cost $50 to fix and it went out of true. Also, keep your quick release axles tight, I went up a bump and my front wheel slid off and i ate it bigtime(feet in clips).

[Hamster Huey]

I only ask that you review your bike needs b/c of your brand new interest in biking and b/c you seem to be a little unsure about what you want. Up to now you've been riding a bike that can go just about anywhere and do most anything (although perhaps not very well). Getting a road bike would pretty much confine you to the road, so make sure that's what you want before you drop a lot of cash on it.

That being said, you do NOT need a Litespeed. Their frames are definitely drool-worthy, but for the price of just the frame you can get a very nice bike, components and all. Take a trip to your local bike shop to get a sense of what's out there for what price. That's a good place to start.

[HYPER]

Thx all for input,

I definitely want a road bike, it will ONLY be used on asphalt road, nothing off road or even remotely off road. I may even use it as a commuter to work. Funny thing is driving to work takes me 25-30 min (have to go through traffic lights, get on the freeway then off and a lil more lights), when my friends and I biked it, it only took 35-40 min along the bike path along Pearl Harbor. OMG A better bike and more conditioning and my biking time will meet and possibly undercut my driving time.

I know for a fact I wanna get more into biking. I have been an avid runner for many years and only caught the bug recently. Biking is such a great experience, it gives so much more a feeling of accomplishment over running when at the end of the day you can look back and same DAYAM I biked all that?!?

I went down to my local bike shop. They explained the difference between "Road" bikes and "time trial" "triatholon" bikes. Road bikes are built more for comfort and long distance biking. It puts you in a more relaxed posture. The time trial/triathalon bikes put you in a more aggressive posture giving you greater speeds with less wind resistance at the cost of comfort.

I really need more research into this so I can decide which bike I want. This is really gonna be an investment. I dont wanna have to buy a nice bike, then sell it not so far down the road for a better one. I want to get a good bike just for me in one shot.

Til then, Im off happily hunting.

-Hyper

P.S. Can anyone give me their experiences of time trial bikes on the road ways? I heard they are uncommon for just recreational biking since they do add a bit of discomfort and that they lack maneuverability. LMK.

[Star_Base_CGI]

6 Time TOur De France winner wrote a book entitled.

ITS NOT THE BIKE.

The difference is lots of gears + new bike + big Skinny tires = easier ride.

Some of those bikes you mentioned are, dual purpose bikes.

Road Bikes have big skinny tires.

Off road bikes have fat knobby tires and dual suspension but they wiegh more.

Some bikes are in between. Alot of the NEWER bikes are alot nicer and have more features but still cost the same as your toys r us bike.

[Hamster Huey]

Sounds like you've thought it through - road bike it is.

Your impression of time trial/triathlon bikes is correct. They're rather uncomfortable to ride unless you're really used to it, since they really lay you out long and flat. It puts a lot of strain on your neck and lower back muscles. They can also be a bit tricky to manuver. If you're trying to shave seconds off your bike stage times, they're great, but the rest of us mere mortals, they're too specialized.

Therefore I would recommend getting a garden-variety road bike. There's lots of good brands out there at a wide range of price points. In general, you really start getting into the "nice bikes" category at around $700-$800, and then the return on your dollar starts to drop off once you get past $1500 or so. In between seems to be the sweet spot. Doesn't mean you can't spend less (or more), but this range seems to be where the good values and good bikes lie.

Brand-wise, you're looking at names like Cannondale, Specialized, Trek, Lemond, Klein, GT, Bianchi, Fuji, Nishiki - you can't go wrong with any of these. Litespeed, Merlin, Independent Fabrication, Kestrel and such are out there too, but these names mean big bucks. Ride all the bikes in your price point and get a feel for each of them. They'll all have different geometries and maybe a few different materials (although most will be aluminum). The point is to figure out what you like.

And sort of as an aside, Lance Armstrong, the FOUR time Tour de France winner (working on number five as we speak), wrote _It's Not About the Bike_ to talk about his competitiveness and his drive, which were what propelled him to victory more than his attachment to the sport. It's not a book about equipment or an exposition on how you don't need a good bike to ride well, it's a life story. It's a nice quick read, too - worth flipping through.