littlestar

hello! long time no talk. so i recently just purchased a mountain bike and i had no idea where to begin when i started looking. once you start investigating, though, you'll find that stores carry the following brands : trek, gary fisher, specialized (what i have), marin. they tend to have high end and low end models, but what will really help you decide is 1) that you are a woman and 2) that you are petite like me.

that's because there are women-specific bikes which have a shorter cross bar, and are specific for our shorter arms and to prevent too much bending of the back. also, you want to make sure that you get a 13" (or at most, 15" frame), otherwise it might be uncomfortable for you to get on/off. one of the bikes i tried had a 14" frame, which was uncomfortable for me, but no 12", so that pretty much negated that entire line of bicycles.

what i would suggest is to go to palo alto bicycle, the off ramp, and mike's bike, and just tell them, i want a road bike for commuting, etc etc etc. you'll find that most of these places analogous models that are about the same price and offer the same features. i rode several kinds of similar bikes and found that the difference in preference is usually small. for example, novara (the rei bikes), were cheaper but their brakes were too far for my small hand. adjusting them made the tension weird. i like the treks, but they were a little more expensive than the specialized. i tried all the bikes i would have considered, found the ones i liked, and then went to craigslist to find the bike i wanted and got it for 150 less than its store price. the problem is, small, women-designed bikes go really fast, so you have to look consistently and have the time to go try the bike (i looked at bikes anywhere from sf down to oakland to san jose). in the end, i guess it's up to you how much your money is worth.

hope that helps. hit me up if you need more advice.

Welcome soon the the world of cycling! As rcp says, you wouldn't do badly to visit some local bike shops, tell them what use you want a bike for, and try some different types and models out.

mountain bike? road bike?

the last bike i owned was a three-speed bike that braked when i pedalled backwards... :P

i'm afraid that i don't even know where to begin. should i just look up some bike stores in the area or do you have any you would recommend?

haha. silly me. rcp gave me local stores names. :) oops.

how much is all this supposed to run, anyway? i was thinking a cheapo bike... :P

I'm going to be contrarian here and say what you want is neither a road nor mountain bike and you probably want to avoid shops that specialize in those. Those bikes are designed for sport, not errands, and you've actually described what you want quite well as being neither of those. Something like a California cruiser or other comfort-style should suit you well as long as you can mount some nice big baskets on it (best place is on either side of the back wheel), i.e. you want something like you might have seen all over Japan. One thing to also consider is that you probably don't want an expensive bike, as you want to be able to beat it up and not worry about theft. Having an expensive road bike where expensive parts can easily be removed without stealing the whole bike makes me paranoid, but luckily Trader Joes seems to have no problem with me rolling my bike through the aisles. So, unless you want to do some mountain or road biking, I think your life would be simpler avoiding those types of bikes.

I tend to go to the more road/mountain specialty stores. They might have what you want, but, to be honest, I've never shopped for a comfort bike before. The sales people will be your best bet in choosing something, though don't be fully trustful as they may try selling you more than you need. Here are some of the shops, from my road perspective:

* Chain Reaction: Consistently my favorite bike shop. For road cyclists, they do everything proper to make sure you select the right bike and that it is fitted correctly. They offer Trek 'suspension hybrids', which may be something you might enjoy ($299-$1000).

* Palo Alto Bicyles: This is probably too expensive for what you're looking for, and their bread-and-butter is expensive Trek road bikes. They'll do everything proper, but it won't be cheap. I also don't know if you can buy a comfort/cruiser bike there.

* Mike's Bikes: I just don't like them, I can't explain it, but it's worth stopping by to see what their comfort selection might be. They carry a Specialized Women's Crossroads ($329), which might work.

* Off Ramp: This is not where I would go to educate yourself about bikes, but it might be where I would go to buy a bike (this is where I bought mine). The sales people are not very helpful and just want to ring you up for whatever you point at, but they happen to be very cheap quite often.

* Bike Spring (new shop on Castro): waaaay to expensive, even for my tastes

There are quite a lot of shops I know of that specialize more in the comfort/cruiser category, but as I don't frequent them I can't honestly remember any of their names. One is near the Stanford campus on El Camino and one is in Sunnyvale near the downtown, and there are certainly more.

So, my final advice:

* bike: comfort/cruiser/hybrid (they have many names)

* selecting a bike: do lots of test rides at the shops. Find what is most comfortable to you.

* speed: where you want to take the bike is relatively flat, so you don't have to worry about too much gearing

* bike shop: honestly don't know, but I'd be happy to go to some shops with you

* price: You need to spend at least $150 to get out of the Walmart "breaks in a week" category, though, and personally I would spend ~$300 to make sure that what I got was solid wasn't going to break. My friend bought some $100 Walmart bikes and they tend to break within a week.

* accessories: baskets mounted to the sides of the rear tire, LED reflector light for the back and a light from the front handlebar, $30 helmet, U-lock. These accessories are going to add over $100 to the total, so be prepared.

so it looks like this little venture would run me at least ~$500? is that right? :P

maybe i can make up for it over time with saved gas costs. :) i shall have to ask parakkum about affordability.

kwc, i would like to take you up on your offer to go to bike shops together. i think it would be really helpful and you would probably come up with questions that i wouldn't even think to ask (or know about).

if i get these comfort cruiser type things, will i still be able to go on some casual bike rides with you guys as well? i don't really see myself as being all sporty about it though. :P

and why baskets on the side rather than in front or behind?

Realistically, yes, the startup costs for a bike would be about $500. It's possible to defer some of those costs (e.g. lights) but stuff like a helmet and lock need to be bought ASAP.

Within the comfort/cruiser/hybrid category, there is a lot of variability. A California cruiser is probably not something you take on rides with others. The Trek suspension hybrid would be good enough for casual rides around Napa/Sonoma. The main goal I think is a bike that is comfortable, cheap, and requires very little maintenance, which should all be possible and still allow for casual rides with the more sport-bike folk :).

A basket on front makes the steering wobbly and it is also harder to prop the bike up on a kickstand. Baskets on the side of the back wheel are lower to the ground and so are better for balance as well. You can also mount two and still have room to strap something on top of the backwheel, so more storage.

"The main goal I think is a bike that is comfortable, cheap, and requires very little maintenance, which should all be possible and still allow for casual rides with the more sport-bike folk :)."

YES! exactly. :)

hmmm... so should i do any homework before we go bike shopping? when do you think you'll have time?

Ooo! I want to go too! Now that I live nearish you (I think - I haven't seen your place...), I think a bike would be handy too (for going to get a burrito for dinner, for going to castro, etc.), and I think it'd be good if we put our research together. Besides, it'd be fun to go shopping together! Let me know.