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I'm looking at buying a bike on bikesdirect.com. Specifically the Motobecane Super Mirage. It's affordable and looks nice. However, I am a total bike noob and have never had a nice bike before, so I have no idea if it's worth it or not. Thoughts?
I was considering that, but after finding a good deal at a local bike shop I wouldn't recommend it. The local shop fit the bike to me, demonstrated routine maintenance and stand by their product. El Gato recommended bikesdirect so you can talk to him about that. The local bike shop has free maintenance for 60 days. Also, the bike shop said any time i need something fixed they will teach me how to do it if I want. I'm so happy I didn't choose bikesdirect because I would not have known the quality of my bike. Now i trust what I'm riding. I had to drive an hour to find a leftover bike from last year that was on sale for $550 from $700. It is a trek 1.1. I recommend looking around some more, but I don't know first hand about bikesdirect.
GANDALFI'm looking at buying a bike on bikesdirect.com. Specifically the Motobecane Super Mirage. It's affordable and looks nice. However, I am a total bike noob and have never had a nice bike before, so I have no idea if it's worth it or not. Thoughts?
I think spending less than $600 on a road bike is a waste of money imo. You get so much more quality wise with things like shifters, derailleurs, and wheels (things that matter) when you go up a few hundred $$. Shitty shifting blows and it's going to make you hate your bike. Sure you can adjust it to be perfect, but 10 miles later it's going to go out of alignment and it'll suck again.
I'd try and stick with shimano 105 equivalent, AL frame and whatever for the fork. Also try and stay with 2x9 or 2x10. Three rings upfront is dumb.
The motobecane gran premio is an awesome bike for the price.
As far as bikesdirect.com and its been said in other bike threads, you get what you pay for in some respects. You need to know how to size yourself and assemble a bike properly when you order from there. Some pre-assembled parts are not installed correctly and it is up for you to determine that and reinstall it correctly. On one hand it's great if you can teach yourself and have a bit of mechanical common sense. On the other, it can be a disaster if you don't know what your doing and just say fuck it.
I_liketobutterI think spending less than $600 on a road bike is a waste of money imo. You get so much more quality wise with things like shifters, derailleurs, and wheels (things that matter) when you go up a few hundred $$. Shitty shifting blows and it's going to make you hate your bike. Sure you can adjust it to be perfect, but 10 miles later it's going to go out of alignment and it'll suck again.
I'd try and stick with shimano 105 equivalent, AL frame and whatever for the fork. Also try and stay with 2x9 or 2x10. Three rings upfront is dumb.
The motobecane gran premio is an awesome bike for the price.
As far as bikesdirect.com and its been said in other bike threads, you get what you pay for in some respects. You need to know how to size yourself and assemble a bike properly when you order from there. Some pre-assembled parts are not installed correctly and it is up for you to determine that and reinstall it correctly. On one hand it's great if you can teach yourself and have a bit of mechanical common sense. On the other, it can be a disaster if you don't know what your doing and just say fuck it.
From my understanding, the bikes on bikesdirect are marked down due to small cosmetic things that are damaged and can't be sold in a shop. Is that accurate at all? The motobecane that I'm looking at is originally an $800 bike.
What their original price is, isn't relevant. It's like retail on skis or a car, but worse. Talking bike shop prices, under $800 is a waste. If you're worried about price, try and go used from craigslist. There's some ridiculous deals on there all the time. You just need to know your size.
The cosmetics on bikesdirect bikes is not perfect, you're correct. The real reason they are cheaper is b/c of assembly you yourself have to do. The wheels will not be true and may need to be tensioned properly. The hubs, headset, and BB could be to tight or loose. The front derailleur may need to be moved up or down. The rear might be slightly misaligned. etc etc. All of these things are easy to fix, you just have to know how. When you buy a bike from a shop, at least a decent one, all of this will already have been done and checked. They'll help you with fit and tune-ups for free as well
Others will say the frames are as good of quality in terms of welds and alignment. I'd say it's not enough to matter unless you're doing some serious riding and are looking to spend 1500+ where things like that start to matter a bit more.
Team bike, so not up to me, we are using Dura Ace 7900 for the early season/spring while we are waiting for our Sram Red groups to come in. Those are firecrest 303s.
Anyone here riding CX bikes? I'd like to build a CX bike that's a solid broken surface performer, enough so to tackle some singletrack. We have a really rad inner city 6K singletrack that I ride several nights a week and there have been a few people on CX bikes out there killing it and I'd like to take on that challenge to. I think it would make for a fun rig to toss around, on top of that it would be a drastic improvment over my Trek Cobia for riding around town.
I_liketobutterIf you're worried about price, try and go used from craigslist. There's some ridiculous deals on there all the time. You just need to know your size.
Craigslist bike deals are pretty killer ever now and then. The thing is, when fitting a bike, you really need to know your reach - I honestly think this is the most important in fitting a frame. If you know that, you can know what your size range is.
Not every bike sized by seat tube will fit the same as others, or will be used in the same way. I'm supposed to be on a 56 or so, but I ride on a 54. It works well because I'm more flexible in the saddle and like a more nimble bike anyway for riding around the city and shorter jaunts rather than extended long trips.
NinetyFourAnyone here riding CX bikes? I'd like to build a CX bike that's a solid broken surface performer, enough so to tackle some singletrack. We have a really rad inner city 6K singletrack that I ride several nights a week and there have been a few people on CX bikes out there killing it and I'd like to take on that challenge to. I think it would make for a fun rig to toss around, on top of that it would be a drastic improvment over my Trek Cobia for riding around town.
I really want to build a CX bike that doubles as the bad weather bike, but I just can't justify another bike space and $$ wise. I may take an old cheap gary fisher MTB of mine and try to throw some road wheels, CX tires, and a solid fork and see how it goes
I have a Tarmac SL4 Sport. I fucking love riding. I used to ride DH/FR a ton but I slowly got out of it. I missed bikes so I bought a roadie to train/commute on.
I have flat pedals on her right now because I didn't feel like walking around in bike shoes after riding to class, but I'm looking for a solid shoe/pedal combo. Any advice? My dad has some old Shimano XT pedals that were on his XC bike that he'll let me use. Should I buy shoes for those or would something else work better?
What app do you guys use to track your rides? I just started using mapmyride. It works pretty good. Any other apps out there that track more stats? The stats are always fun to look at.. Maybe we can start posting our maps if the rides are sick and/or we want to share riding spots.
MACAQUEI have flat pedals on her right now because I didn't feel like walking around in bike shoes after riding to class, but I'm looking for a solid shoe/pedal combo. Any advice? My dad has some old Shimano XT pedals that were on his XC bike that he'll let me use. Should I buy shoes for those or would something else work better?
MACAQUEI have flat pedals on her right now because I didn't feel like walking around in bike shoes after riding to class, but I'm looking for a solid shoe/pedal combo. Any advice? My dad has some old Shimano XT pedals that were on his XC bike that he'll let me use. Should I buy shoes for those or would something else work better?
NinetyFourAnyone here riding CX bikes? I'd like to build a CX bike that's a solid broken surface performer, enough so to tackle some singletrack. We have a really rad inner city 6K singletrack that I ride several nights a week and there have been a few people on CX bikes out there killing it and I'd like to take on that challenge to. I think it would make for a fun rig to toss around, on top of that it would be a drastic improvment over my Trek Cobia for riding around town.
I use Strava to track my rides, pretty cool app that compares your segments to other peoples which is awesome and frustrating.
I have been using my dads Raleigh from 1980 but looking at treating myself to a Mekk Poggio. Full carbon frame with Shimano 105 groupset for around 1300 dollars-
Strava is the shit in terms of cycling apps. I like how you can set up mini races to compete against other cyclists etc.
I used to be bang into my cycling but have been a lazy bastard recently. I signed up to a 60 mile ride and have donee next to zero training... Should be interesting.
Also, anyone have any recommendations for quality brands to look at for a new kit? Plenty familiar with the big names like castelli and hincapie to name a few, but haven't found something quite right yet.
There area few different ways you could go about this. Firstly you could use the Shimano XT's with a specific cycling shoe for more serious rides, then use a street shoe with build in SPD cleats for daily use. Something like these guys:
Or you could keep your regular street shoes, then buy a specific cycling shoe along with a dual purpose pedal.
I don't think you could just get away with a street shoe that has the SPD cleats if you're looking at doing some longer, more dedicated trips. If you're just bashing around the city they would likely be fine though.
BaltoHad a nice day in the saddle today, anyone else?
Also, anyone have any recommendations for quality brands to look at for a new kit? Plenty familiar with the big names like castelli and hincapie to name a few, but haven't found something quite right yet.
Have a look at Rapha, they are high quality but fairly expensive however very popular in the UK
BaltoHad a nice day in the saddle today, anyone else?
Also, anyone have any recommendations for quality brands to look at for a new kit? Plenty familiar with the big names like castelli and hincapie to name a few, but haven't found something quite right yet.
I buy Chinese fake replica jerseys and shorts! Love em. I can get 3 sets for the same price as one brand name set
theater.thugTeam bike, so not up to me, we are using Dura Ace 7900 for the early season/spring while we are waiting for our Sram Red groups to come in. Those are firecrest 303s.
Do you ride for school, in particular as part of ECCC?
One option is to purchase a cross bike and just put road tires on it for the summer. Then you can use it for cross in fall which will put you into amazing shape for skiing.
