Any cyclists out there?

jwyles90

jwyles90

Well-known member
I'm not at the "don my lycra jumpsuit with pointy aerodynamic helmet" level, but I'm looking to upgrade my road bike at some point in the next year. Took it in for a tune up recently and realized it might be time to start thinking about just getting a new bike altogether, as I've had my current ride for over 15 years and it's starting to show it's age a bit more easily these days.

Kind of random and broad, I know, but I'm curious if anyone has insight on any of the 'newer' bikes that are out there these days (like last 3-5 years), what they like, what they look for, etc etc. Apparently gravel bikes are a thing now? Same with disc brakes? The last time I went bike shopping I remember thinking the gear shifters that were up on the handlebars were clunky since I was so used to those old school lever style shifters that attached the frame itself. Kinda feels like I'm in for a similar experience with how many new options and advancements there are out there since the last time I bought a bike.
 
My wife and I both got e-bikes last year and they're a GAME CHANGER for us. We've put over 1200 miles each on them in a year. The only thing that will stop us is rain, snow and heavy wind. We drive the car significantly less these days. There are PHENOMENAL bike paths here in Colorado Springs being the Olympic training city that we are so if you're in a town without the infrastructure I could see them not being near as much fun.
There's a few riders here.
 
Last new-new road bike I bought was a Cannondale T2000 for a cross country trip 25 years ago so I'm no help on the new stuff. I did just buy a 50 year old schwinn road bike I'm pretty excited about though. Been watching a bunch of "alt-cycling" youtube stuff the last few weeks. Whole movement of folks rejecting electronic shifting, carbon fiber, lycra and performance/ competitive bike culture in general. A lot of them are just hawking a different genre of niche cycling gear I guess, but they do make it look fun, and I like messing with old shit and having a justification to go a lot slower than I used to.

I have the same gut reaction to the idea of electronic shifting that I do to guitars with active electronics. Guitars and bikes are both near perfect machines in their simplest/ old-school form. I don't want either of them to stop working when a battery dies.

What kind of riding are you doing/ looking to do on a new bike?
 
I've always went with a mountain bike, even though a lot of time I'm on the road or paved trail. I love being able to just go off-road whenever. A few years back I went to replace my mid 90s Trek 800. That bike was $300 when I got it. So there was some initial sticker shock when I went bike shopping.

I went to my local bike shop in search of something < $1000. I ended up with Talon made by Giant Bicycles. That seemed to hit a sweet spot as far as price and functionality. I'm happy with it. I'm not deep into the specs, so I can't contribute much to that aspect of the conversation.
 
Erik S said:
Last new-new road bike I bought was a Cannondale T2000 for a cross country trip 25 years ago so I'm no help on the new stuff. I did just buy a 50 year old schwinn road bike I'm pretty excited about though. Been watching a bunch of "alt-cycling" youtube stuff the last few weeks. Whole movement of folks rejecting electronic shifting, carbon fiber, lycra and performance/ competitive bike culture in general. A lot of them are just hawking a different genre of niche cycling gear I guess, but they do make it look fun, and I like messing with old shit and having a justification to go a lot slower than I used to.
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Yea there's a part of me that is like "do I really need to upgrade to a brand new bike when buying an older bike used might still be worth it?", but then that gets into the whole conundrum of perceived value and all that. Like, if I'm buying an older bike second hand, how much different is that than just putting that same amount of money into the bike I currently have to really get it tip top. But that's a whole other philosophical thread 😅
Erik S said:
What kind of riding are you doing/ looking to do on a new bike?
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The majority of my riding is for recreation/exercise. I have a Raleigh road bike currently. When the weather is nice I get out a few times a week on a paved loop around town. Outside of that I use my bike to tool around as a general purpose commuter type thing. I like the concept of a gravel bike since that opens up the kind of terrain I can ride on, but worry that I'm so used to riding a road bike that the extra versatility won't really offset how it feels to ride a gravel bike on paved roads. If that makes sense.
 
It's been a long time, but I do remember how great a brand new bike feels. I'm not arguing against brand new bikes, just maybe turning my nose up a little at the bleeding edge of bike-tech. If you've got a local bike shop that will let you test stuff, definitely try some fatter-tire road bikes. If you're not trying to win races, you might be suprised how little it slows you down. The "gravel bike" marketing category is new I guess, but before that they were cyclocross bikes, and before that they were just touring bikes. I'm definitely at the place where I'm looking to sacrifice performance a little in the interest of comfort.
 
Erik S said:
It's been a long time, but I do remember how great a brand new bike feels. I'm not arguing against brand new bikes, just maybe turning my nose up a little at the bleeding edge of bike-tech. If you've got a local bike shop that will let you test stuff, definitely try some fatter-tire road bikes. If you're not trying to win races, you might be suprised how little it slows you down. The "gravel bike" marketing category is new I guess, but before that they were cyclocross bikes, and before that they were just touring bikes. I'm definitely at the place where I'm looking to sacrifice performance a little in the interest of comfort.
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Yea absolutely. I went into one particular bike shop recently and the starting price for most of their inventory was like, 5k. Definitely way above my pay grade and pretty unnecessary for the the type and frequency of riding I do. That being said, every bike I test rode was a much more enjoyable experience than what I'm currently on, so it'll be hard to get that feeling out of my head haha.

I think that's a good point about being surprised by the difference in feel. I can imagine it might take a smidge of adjusting to get used to, but yea realistically I don't see how the difference between what I'm on now and a newer "gravel bike" or fatter tired road bike will be substantial enough to not be worth it.
 
Erik S said:
Ooooh - belt drive!! I've always been curious about those. I bet it feels great.
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It does. I managed to break a belt last year because of low tension. I kicked of a series of tooth?? Each two year a set of tyres. Also because of a low tension. Need a new seat and fenders. So I am a little lazy with the maintenance. I love this bike. Lekker Amsterdam M2. Non electric. Discontinued so I cant buy an new one.
 
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Jumping in here just to read the responses. I used to road bike 25 years ago and a little trail riding (still have a steel frame full Campy Bianchi and a Gary Fisher Tassajara laying around). I haven't lived in a bike friendly place in a long time. I've been looking at the Zwift Kickr Core trainers or the whole frame/trainer package to at least ride at home.
 
Blooze said:
Jumping in here just to read the responses. I used to road bike 25 years ago and a little trail riding (still have a steel frame full Campy Bianchi and a Gary Fisher Tassajara laying around). I haven't lived in a bike friendly place in a long time. I've been looking at the Zwift Kickr Core trainers or the whole frame/trainer package to at least ride at home.
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I live in Portland, OR, so I'm fortunate to live in a pretty bike friendly city (both for road and trail riding). I generally do a 15 mile loop through the city that predominately stays on either bike specific streets, or bike only paved trails.

The more I think about it the more I'm liking the idea of a little cycle cross type bike that can handle both rougher terrain and paved roads. Currently have my eye on either this guy or this one. Although those price tags still freak me out
 
I've had a few konas for mountain bikes and love them, still own one in fact. I went with a canyon gravel lately but had a good look at those.
 
Two weeks ago I bought my first new bike. It’s last years model, so I paid $800~ CAN. Which was about 30% off. It’s a 2024 Norco Indie.
I put about 100kms a week last summer on a $150 POS. That only had rear breaks, and rear gears. Mostly country and subdivision roads. So I knew I wanted to ride.
I was torn between it and a Specialized Somethin-somethin. But the Norco is more comfortable.
I popped into 4 local brick and mortar stores for test rides. And was overwhelmed because I’ve never owned a bike worth any real money. That has been tuned up. With fully functioning everything. Most have been yard sale bikes. Sometimes I wouldn’t even bother to lock them up.
I once bought a bike for $10 off of a homeless man, late night after a pub crawl. It was cheaper than a one way taxi ride home that night. And I used it for months.
But Ya. Disc breaks are a step up. Happy hunting.
 

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kristopher said:
Two weeks ago I bought my first new bike. It’s last years model, so I paid $800~ CAN. Which was about 30% off. It’s a 2024 Norco Indie.
I put about 100kms a week last summer on a $150 POS. That only had rear breaks, and rear gears. Mostly country and subdivision roads. So I knew I wanted to ride.
I was torn between it and a Specialized Somethin-somethin. But the Norco is more comfortable.
I popped into 4 local brick and mortar stores for test rides. And was overwhelmed because I’ve never owned a bike worth any real money. That has been tuned up. With fully functioning everything. Most have been yard sale bikes. Sometimes I wouldn’t even bother to lock them up.
I once bought a bike for $10 off of a homeless man, late night after a pub crawl. It was cheaper than a one way taxi ride home that night. And I used it for months.
But Ya. Disc breaks are a step up. Happy hunting.
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Had an older one of these I bought used before the canyon, good bikes also.
 
jwyles90 said:
Currently have my eye on either this guy or this one. Although those price tags still freak me out
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Both cool lookin rigs! Seems like that set up with a single up front and a huge wide range cassette is a hot thing these days, but I haven’t looked into it to figure out why. Do you know the deal with those? Any preference on that vs a triple?
 
Long time road biker here. I like simple stuff that I can work on. I'm also a tall bastard, so that limits my choices a bit. That said, I have two steel bikes with SRAM 11 speed mechanical, one with rim brakes and one with disc. I also have a fixed gear.

I'm of the opinion that an old bike can feel new again with fresh parts and wheels. I also like the familiarity that comes from a frame that I've ridden for thousands of miles. But I'm the same way with guitars...

There are still some companies out there making simple, reliable, snappy steel bikes. I suggest hanging out at the Paceline forum to get some leads.
 

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