The Bicycling Thread

Anyone else into biking? What do you ride?

I have a Specialized Cross Trail. It's a hybrid bike. I've had it for three years and I really love it. I couldn't decide if I wanted a mountain bike or a road bike, and since I couldn't get both, I went with the hybrid. I really really want to get a nice road bike, but I think it'll be a year or two before I can get what I want.

 

I ride a Motobecane road bike, use it for bike races/triathlons.

 

I want to get a hybrid bike soon for commuting and recreational riding. Any recommendations? I get a small discount on Cannondales through my job but I haven't seen any newer models pop up yet. The older ones have limited quantities so it's difficult to see them in person beforehand.

 

I like my Specialized Crosstrail! Not super familiar with Cannondale but I know a few people who have them and love them.

 

I've had a Trek Hybrid for about 2 1/2 years and love it. Ride it all the time. Really wanted something that would've good for long commuting but also wouldn't be totally destroyed if I had to ride through some rock every now and then. Can't remember what model it is but I'm going for a ride later tonight so I'll post it then!

 

Okay it's this one:
7.0 FX | Trek Bikes

@muttley I know you're not super close to me but I picked it up at Domenic's at Broadway and Rural in Tempe for like 400. I've gone back to the shop a few times since for other things and they're always very helpful.

 

@trevorshmevor @ChiliTacos
Those both look great and so do their prices. Decisions decisions.

 

I started cycling a couple of months back. I have a Giant Escape 3. Grand bike for the price

 

I may drop a sizable chunk of money on a new bike today.

Cannondale CAAD12 105 review

Is the one i'm looking at. I have a Cannondale now which is truly too small and is a hybrid bike. Granted I love the thing and have put hundreds of miles on it, but it was the bike I bought several years ago to get started in the "good bike" territory. A $750 bike I got for $380 or so.

This new one I linked to The Cannondale CAAD12 105 is truly a race bike, and I don't really race. I don't think I plan on it either. I can get it on a good deal for $1299 at my local shop. It's last years modal. I just like hitting the road or the (paved)trails and just "going". Now, however, I do want to go fast and with more ease. That's why I'm looking at this one. Its a big upgrade but I think it may be worth it. I'm about to go to another bike shop to look at some Treks to see what they have.

 

I do like my race/road bike a whole lot, however, there are times I'm riding and go down a paved path in a park or something, but then it goes to dirt - bummer not being able to go all the way through and having to turn around.

Save Up To 60% Off Titanium Road Bikes and Bicycles from bikesdirect.com

 

First ride was good. Need to adjust my seat down maybe 1/2 inch. Stretching a hair too much for my liking. It's definitely a different experience going from a hybrid to a legit road bike. I'm sure I'll grow into it nicely.

 

Nice car

 

Thank ya kindly.

Building on what I said on my seat height earlier; I hope getting the 56cm frame was the right call instead of a 54. I see most pics of my bike and other bikes online and their seat heights are higher than where my sits. From me reading some forum posts on the web most 5'9" guys do 54cm frame while some still do 56cm. Hoping I can make some adjustments to make the fit right and be 100% satisfied. I'm going to hold off riding again until I get a better fitment. I hope I don't need to swap it. I mean I do plan on keeping it for many years so it better be right. Only did 8 miles so no biggie.

 

I use a second hand Trek bike that i think i found through craiglist that the person bought and then never used. it was basically a new bike so i got a steal on it. its an expensive hobby to pick up...and at the time i had no idea what my commitment level to biking was so it was a good way to start without spending a lot. i haven't biked a good while though cause my ex has my bike and i haven't gotten it back. i only have this half pic of it for whatever reason

i also have a beach cruiser bike which i definitely do recommend doing any fitness with but a fun bike to have nonetheless. plus its pretty cute.

 

It might just get some getting used to - my road bike definitely feels different than mountain. What's the longest you've rode? I do a 65 mile "race" every year. I put it in quotes because while it's an organized event, it's not about time or who finished first or anything.

 

I have a Diamondback Edgewood and I love it. There's an excellent bike path a short drive away that goes down the state of Connecticut through the woods, past farms/lakes/ponds etc and I love it. I'm usually there once a week once it gets warm out for a 20 mile ride.

 

one more because just looking it it makes me happy

 

Hell yeah, that path looks amazing. Although once you have a road bike, the sight of those leaves is unsettling!

 

Haha I bet. It's only like that in certain spots on the path in October / November. The rest of the year is smooth sailing.

 

I thought I had a picture of it, but I don't. I almost quit biking because of it, but I was riding a trail, was going relatively fast (okay, I was going fast), was taking a turn, hit a patch of dirt/leaves and took the nastiest spill of my life. Tire blew out, I went flipping, bike fell on top of me, cuts, scrapes, the whole nine yards, bleeding everywhere, I thought it was a concussion, because when I came back to my senses, I was dizzy, only seeing things in greyscale, ringing in my ears, etc. Worst part was I had a good distance to walk back to my house carrying my bike while bleeding and disoriented.

 

Longest I think was 25 miles. It's usually smaller rides that I do just to get out of the house, be active, ect.... I'm totally up for longer distances for sure and will do longer rides here soon.

Went back to the bike shop today to get a shorter stem put on. We also adjusted the seat down about 1cm and pulled it back a hair since the stem we put on was shorter. Now I don't feel like I'm stretched as much and it seems more comfortable overall. I wont' be able to ride it again until maybe Sunday, so we'll see how these adjustments play out.

I am totally jealous of that scenery. Don't get me wrong, the Chief Ladiga trail I ride on is great, smooth, and really pretty in the fall especially; but I've never been up there in that area of the US and it makes me want to get out there.

It's a 25-36 min drive for me to get to the trail depending on which main point I chose to start at. Otherwise I ride from my house on some back roads that equal to about 8 miles round trip.

 

Found a hybrid on Craigslist for a decent price, looking forward to picking that up. Going to do a 184 mile weekend trip on my bike on April 1st. There's a lot of dirt paths, etc. so no way I was bringing my $1k road bike.

 

I had a specialized rockhopper that got stolen. The fork could have been better, but I was pretty satisfied with it. I'll probably get another one when the spring sales start. They seem to consistently offer the best bang for the buck when it comes to mountain bikes in the $600-$700 range.

 

I talked about it last month, but it's finally getting close. Next weekend I'm going on my 184 bike ride from Western Maryland to DC.

 

I did 40 miles last week and it was my longest ride. Not very impressive to seasoned bikers, but I'm glad i got out there and did it. I went on the side of the trail that I've never been on before and it was a pleasant surprise of how scenic the route was. Once my new biking shorts come in that I ordered, I'll be going more. I was getting fairly uncomfortable on the back half of the ride with my several year old Dick's sporting goods special deal shorts.....