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#21
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"Bill H." wrote in message ups.com... .. Comfort should be addressed by fit and frame material. If you specify that you want to avoid aluminum frames, you should be able to find something comfy. Some road riders are happy with an aluminum frame but add a carbon fork for dampening the bumps, so that might be an option, too. Bill--- Lots and lots of people have logged millions of miles on Cannondale touring bikes, and they have big ol' aluminum tubes and aluminum forks. The material is not the issue, I think. It's a matter of geometry and fit. :-) |
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#22
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No..the cheaper the better! thanks for the recommendation and will
look into it. I do feel bad about going to a LBS just to get a proper size bike if I plan on finding the cheapest place to buy it. ( does that even make any sense?) It often doesn't work that way; fit isn't always something that gets nailed in one session. A good LBS might be worth a lot more than whatever savings might be had elsewhere, because they're going to go out of their way to make sure your bike doesn't live its life in the garage. Fit is often dynamic; what seems OK on a trainer or brief test ride might prove otherwise as you add on the miles. It's not about frame size per se; the trick is how to set up a given bike for the particular rider. Seat setback & height; handlebar reach, width & tilt; seat-to-handlebar drop and saddle choice all come into play when fitting somebody to a bike. I'm sure I left something out, but it was a pretty long day today at the shop, with the stunning weather bringing in a lot of people for bikes. But my point was that all those adjustments I spoke of go far beyond frame "size" and often require fine tuning down the road. That can make the difference between a garage decoration and something that you can stand to walk past without wanting to get out and ride. --Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles www.ChainReactionBicycles.com |
#23
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I am in the market for a new bike. My current bike is almost 20 years old . I am interested in carbon or ti. and there seems to be a lot of info on carbon bikes. But I am having a difficult time finding recommendations of Ti bikes. Itc ould be because of my price range, I dont know. I want to spend 1500 to 2300 or so. the less the better. I dont need the best out there, I only ride for pleasure, about 100-200 miles a week, and I do a century or two each year. Ron After riding a GT steel bike for 7 years I just bought a Litespeed Siena--compact frame/ carbon seatstays. I do lots of centuries, double metrics and double doubles--all real hilly, and I was getting envious of the 16.5 lb bikes while I was on something pushing 22 lbs. I tricked out the Litespeed, replacing most of the parts (for example RealDesign fork is supposedly harsh, so I upgraded to a Reynolds Ouzo Pro), and bought from a LBS--but I've seen a stock Litespeed Siena at REI with year old wheels for @$2700 Was the new bike it worth it, and is ti a magical material? The Siena is not the lightest ti out there as it has oversized tubes, and I didn't want something whippy. It came in slightly over 18 lbs, so I still lost 3-3 1/2 lbs from my old bike. On long climbs it feels better, but hard to tell. On short sprints/ climbs that I can power over rollers the acceleration is better than on my old bike. On the flats acceleration also seems a little better, but I would be hard pressed to prove that I am going any faster. I haven't taken the Litespeed out for 100 mile syet so don't know if more comfortable than my GT 853 steel bike--but so far I haven't noticed any great "legendary ti feel;" in fact the steel bike may be a bit more comfortable. (but I'm still moving the seat around on each ride--now pushed way back on the tight frame.) The biggest bang for the buck I've gotten has been on the downhills--the Litespeed tracks sooooo much better than the GT, I'm not scrubbing speed/ riding the brakes like I did on the GT. I feel like I am in total control. However this goes back to fit/ size/ geometry--not the bike's material itself. Of course ti doesn't rust or scratch--but I negated the latter by having the bike painted orange--logically dysfunctional but asthetically necessary for me. Best of luck... |
#24
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A Cannondale T-2000. It is by far the most comfortable bike I own.
When this bike is loaded down it is _sooooo_ comfy For Ti, I enjoy my Manhatten Project... "Gooserider" wrote in message m... "Bill H." wrote in message ups.com... . Comfort should be addressed by fit and frame material. If you specify that you want to avoid aluminum frames, you should be able to find something comfy. Some road riders are happy with an aluminum frame but add a carbon fork for dampening the bumps, so that might be an option, too. Bill--- Lots and lots of people have logged millions of miles on Cannondale touring bikes, and they have big ol' aluminum tubes and aluminum forks. The material is not the issue, I think. It's a matter of geometry and fit. :-) |
#25
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Gooserider wrote: Lots and lots of people have logged millions of miles on Cannondale touring bikes, and they have big ol' aluminum tubes and aluminum forks. The material is not the issue, I think. It's a matter of geometry and fit. :-) I agree, but point out that most, if not all, Cannondale touring bikes (I have one) use steel forks. I don't tour, but do "ultra-cycling" rides on my Cannondale. If the bike "beat me up" I certainly wouldn't. |
#26
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Bartow W. Riggs wrote: A Cannondale T-2000. It is by far the most comfortable bike I own. When this bike is loaded down it is _sooooo_ comfy Does it have to be loaded to be comfy? That doesn't make any sense. |
#27
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If Ti crown jewel XS. The nicest bnike I have ever ridden. And I've
ridden a lot of them. |
#28
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If Ti crown jewel XS. The nicest bnike I have ever ridden. And I've
ridden a lot of them. |
#29
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Well. I guess I didnt give enough detail. My current bike is a trek 1000 aluminum. It is a 56cm. I am 6'2" and 205 lbs. I guess at the time I got it, I liked it. I dont know if I grew I am in the market for a new bike. My current bike is almost 20 years old . Hi there, I didn't realized that Trek made an aluminium 1000 20 years ago?!? Wow!! As others had noted, fit and geometry is very important to comfort and you don't need special materials to make a bike ride more comfortable. I went the same route as you did, buying a ultra-cheap Norco touring bike which was made with 7005 aluminium material. Since I was after the price, I didn't realize later that the finesse of fitting was more important. The ride, at first, was horrible and very uncomfortable to say the least. One day, upon a suggestion made from a randonneur, I went to see a professional bike fitter. After 6 sessions with him (I had to come back again 5 times to fine tune my fit), my Norco bike now rides like a dream. Very comfortable and very smooth. The only saving grace for going cheap was that, I lucked out choosing the right frame size -- at least I read a bit about inseam. Recently, I went shopping for a new road bike. This time, however, I went to a shop that offers fitting as part of the bike purchase. It's pricier, but I learned my lesson on the Norco not to skimp on this very important measurement. I tested out the Trek 5000, Giant OCR 3 Carbon, Cannondale R700 and the Devinci Silverstone 105. With the same fitting, saddle and pedals (my preference), they all feel the same in the 4 mile test ride I've conducted. The carbon bikes did dampen road vibration better than the Optimo CAAD7 or Optimum 61 AL frames, but then it's a personal preference. The newer AL frames have a very nice ride to it, very comfy too. Don't discount the AL frames too fast. I did that first because I read so much of the bull on the net. But the test rides proved me wrong. David. |
#30
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"Peter Cole" wrote in message ups.com... Gooserider wrote: Lots and lots of people have logged millions of miles on Cannondale touring bikes, and they have big ol' aluminum tubes and aluminum forks. The material is not the issue, I think. It's a matter of geometry and fit. :-) I agree, but point out that most, if not all, Cannondale touring bikes (I have one) use steel forks. I don't tour, but do "ultra-cycling" rides on my Cannondale. If the bike "beat me up" I certainly wouldn't. Thanks for the correction, Peter. |
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