CHoosing a Bike

Off-topic
1

I bent the rear axle on my bike today. I’m tired of breaking my equipment (bicycle or other). It’s not cool that my bikes only last me about 2 months at a time before they need replacement or have something break. I’m only riding in the damn streets, for crissakes. Yeah, I do my share of curb hopping (not with those stupid rear wheel fudges–real hops) and dropping, but I’m not doing 2’ drops.

So, what bike should I be riding? Equipment I’ve damaged includes: 2 taco’d front wheels (one 27", the other 700c), 2 bent rear axles (thread on cassette type), one rear wheel (dented), one rear hub (bearings), one seat, 3 pedal clips, 2 pedals, 2 cranks, and countless innertubes.

I’m currently riding a VERY cheap Fuji Panic dirtjumper bike with a generic fron suspension, aluminum frame, sun zuzu pedals (from my unicyle…), crappy cranks/front cogset, Alex DM-24 rims, 2.3" tires, and now broken rear axle. Sadly I still haven’t gotten around to hitting it with a layer of black primer and a key (my method of urban camoflauge)

What would you guys reccomend, and if you say a coker or unicycle I will gnout you. I like going fast, but the roads in this city aren’t maintained enough to use a road bike, the potholes will chew it up and spit it out in a week. I can’t afford and don’t want an expensive MTB (if it is expensive, it gets stolen, which is no use to me).

I ride as a commuter, but I ride aggressively… if there are cars in my way, I hop a curb, go around them, etc. I jump speedbumps, of which there are many, and occasionally offroad, but nothing very technical. The streets here are unforgiving, and often full of potholes. 2.3" tires are great, although I’m thinking hookworms would also be good. Front suspension seems to be a must.

If you are planning on reccomending a unicyle, spare me. I’ve been down that road, and the ride was slow, inefficient, and boring. Yeah, this is a unicycle forum, but I know there’s plenty of people here who know their bikes.

2

Give me a price range and I can give you some suggestions…

3

Preferrably less than $500, although I’m also fine with spending $200 on compnents for my current bike. I don’t want to spend more both because this is just for getting around and also because expensive bikes get stolen.

4

Get a coker!!! Sorry, couldn’t help it.

5

Get a GIANT Iguana. They run in the 500-600 range and are just what you’re lookin’ for. I’ve ridden them around and theyre really cushy and would probably live a long time with the stuff you’re doing.

6

That Giant that Catboy linked to looks good for the price. You can certainly get a pretty useable hardtail for that sort of money - my mountain bike was about that price (£300) and although the components aren’t very trendy it’s lasted me quite a few years of abuse on the moors. Don’t even look at a full-suspension bike in that price range, it will be utter poo.

If you say you’re using a threaded freewheel type hub on your current mountain bike I’m not surprised you’re breaking axles - I’m still using one on my road bike and I get through about an axle a year even on the road (quite a few cattle grids round here though). The left-hand bearing on these hubs is almost in the middle of the axle. Newer (although they’ve been around well over ten years now) cassette hubs (also known as freehubs) have the bearings right at the edge on both ends of the axle, so far less likely to break an axle (I’ve never broken one even on a fully-loaded tandem). That Giant will certainly come with a cassette-type hub (so will pretty much anything else you can buy these days, apart from the utter rubbish).

If you’re thinking about longevity, steel frames last longer than aluminium (ally frames tend to crack), but aluminium frames are very common around that price range, and will usually be lighter than an equivalent priced steel frame (it takes more skill to build a light and strong steel frame).

It’s worth looking at bike shop sales because you can pick up bikes that are “last year’s colour” or whatever for good prices (that’s how I got mine, a nice metallic black rather than the “new” horrible red).

Be a bit wary of disc brakes with QR front hubs though - some nasty accidents have been caused by axles pulling out of the dropouts because of the direction and strength of the forces a disc brake puts on the hub.

Rob

7

just go into any bike shop and tell them what you want. they should be able to hook you up for $500. ask about used bikes. go for better frame and decent fork. that giant seems about right.

8

The giant is kinda burly for commuting, but slap some skinny tires on there and you’ll be fine.

9

Not a mountain bike, but not a road bike… have you considered a second-hand cyclocross bike like this one or something of the sort? Similar to a road bike but with bigger tyres, a burlier frame and generally much more robust all round.

Phil

10

I suggest you find an old used mountain bike if you really must urban assault during your commuting rides. If you bought something new, it would be too much of a thief magnet. I used to have a Giant Iguana, and it’s a decent bike for the price. However, as hard as you are on your gear, I wouldn’t be surprised if you taco’d the rims.

Personally, I’d go with a single speed cyclocrossish bike if I were commuting in SF, but I don’t jump all over the place when I ride in the city.

I think the problem is that you’re really looking for two different bikes–one for commuting and one for urban assault. :wink:

11

Personally I would say if you’re going to be riding kerbs frequently you’d be better off with a mountain bike, perhaps with some slicks rather than off-road tyres, than a strong road touring bike or even a cyclocross bike, mainly because you’ll have the clearance for fatter tyres. Cyclocross tyres aren’t very big, and you would run a high risk of pranging the rim on a kerb.

IMO, jumping up kerbs to avoid traffic lights etc is not good practice anyway and just adds to the general bad feeling towards cyclists. But it’s not my business to tell you how to ride :stuck_out_tongue: . If that’s how you’re going to ride, get a mountain bike and put slicks on it.

12

Yeah, mountain bike with slicks is the way to go, I’ve got some great skinnies on my good ol’ Raleigh Max II and it flys. Never saw the point in sus forks personally, even with the curbs and potholes round here aslong as you ride them properly they’re fine. Bu then i never worked out how to get air on a bike…

13

Thank you guys. I’ll be chcking out that Giant Iguana. I wasn’t thinking full suspension because it sucks so much pedal power out.

I’m still deciding between a new bike and replacing my rear wheel with something decent. I’ll probably start with the rear wheel and see how that works out.

I looked into cyclocross bikes, but I couldn’t find anything for less than about $700.

As for my riding style, yeah, I understand sentiments about cutting off pedestrians, weaving, etc. I give pedestrians right of way, and obey the rules of the road. However, I do light urban assault around school and sometimes take MTB trails home from school (there’s an awesome canyon right below school, and it’s entirely downhill on the way home, with sweet singletrack). I don’t need to leave the streets to break equipment, though. 12" deep potholes aren’t unheard of. One street I ride down on a daily basis is more technical than some fireroads. Even then though, the roughest things I ever ride are just flights of stairs (never on a roadbike, of course).

14

don’t buy your bike from a place like walmart or dicks sporting goods, they don’t put the bikes together that great. Look at actual bike shops, there is a huge difference.

15

I should sell you my bike, but I think the frame is a little too tall.

It’s a 1989 Miyata Triple-Cross, a hybrid. Lousy road bike and lousy mountain bike, perfect commuting bike. Miyata makes good wheels; mine have held up well. Front wheel is not original. The original one was killed by an unskilled rider on the Manzanita trail who followed us on unicycles once.