Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.
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Two months ago I decided to take up bicycling. Thanks for the advice everyone. After determining that as my learned friend @MollieTheMare indicated, the Pacific mountain bike I'd come into was kind of a piece of shit, I went hunting around for other bicycles I could borrow from people, and found myself with a menagerie of old bikes that had been sitting in garages for years or decades now sitting in my garage and being fixed up and ridden around my neighborhood. I've got a 90s Trek hybrid for girls, a 2012ish Trek hybrid for men, a remake Schwinn cruiser, and a Jamis road bike from the 2000s that I quite like but have to keep fiddling with to make work for me because it's actually the wrong size. Eventually I'm going to return all but maybe one of them to their original owners. I'm still kind of figuring out what exactly I like/want/need in a bike, and how to go about finding it.
So cycling mottizens, consider this the "What are you riding?" thread, or the "What bike would you advise someone to buy?" thread. I'm curious what the fine people of this place think is a good bike.
Do you want a road bike (or the bastard cousin, a tri bike, which you won't be able to use in many group rides if you want to join a club), a hybrid, a mountain bike, or a casual cruiser?
If you want a semi high-end road bike from a few years ago at a discounted price, CL/FB marketplace/etc. are the places to look. If you are still fairly new to the cycling world, you won't even believe the amount of money some cyclists pour into a bike every 2-4 years to have the newest, latest, greatest, most hyped bike. Some of them will then dump their older bikes for far less than new. Obviously many miles on some, but generally well-maintained.
Why not? That seems an odd rule.
I'm still figuring out what kind of bike I want, hence attempting to try out a variety of bikes. The old Jamis Quest road bike rides really nicely, but besides being the wrong size I don't entirely love the uncomfortable forward seating position, and it makes me nervous on actual roads because I feel like I can't keep track of what is going on around me the way I can on a more upright hybrid bike. I'm not super worked up about speed, but I imagine if I stick with it I will be, so one doesn't want to spend on something that will later be limiting. Probably not interested in a true mountain biking experience, in that I find the idea of seeking out mountain biking trails kind of annoying. Mostly I guess I'm looking at 3-10 mile fitness/relaxation rides on hilly suburban/rural roads around me, plus at some point I'd like to plan a longer distance ride.
Tri bikes aren't really made for riding around town; they're made for riding hard in races where you can't draft. They don't have traditional handlebars but "aero bars" where you lean so far forward your forearms sit on rests. The aggressive aerodynamic design means they aren't comfortable, don't climb well, and don't descend well since you don't have easy access to the brakes. They're made for getting an extra 5% speed advantage on closed race courses, not casual rides on roads with traffic where you're going to have to stop fairly regularly, not once at the end of the ride. In addition to the weight problem noted below, their disadvantages are numerous enough that some tri riders will use regular road bikes, especially if the course involves significant elevation change. On a group ride they would be annoying at best and dangerous at worst.
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Why not tri bikes (or sometimes no aero handlebars at all)?
Road riders are accustomed to riding in pace lines. The aero qualities of a triathlon bike, which is specifically designed for solo riding, are less suited to close quarters cooperative riding styles. Both the geometry/handling and the body position are quite different.
Typically tri or aero bikes are also much heavier than road bikes at least given the same materials. Although that’s more of an issue when climbing.
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