So I've just started my B.S. program in Data Forensics and have decided to bike commute. The school is only about 8 miles from my house, and I only need to carry a few materials to class 3X per week. I have very little knowledge of bikes though, and was looking for some insight on type of bike, and maybe a few quality brands these days.
Also how do you all feel about those clip in shoes as opposed to just flat top pedals? And what kind of lighting do you recommend since I will be biking home at night?
Looking to Start Biking
Looking to Start Biking
knuffeltjes voor mijn knuffel
[img]http://i911.photobucket.com/albums/ac320/stuphsack/Sig.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i911.photobucket.com/albums/ac320/stuphsack/Sig.jpg[/img]
-
bad_brain
- Site Owner
- Posts: 11636
- Joined: 06 Apr 2005, 16:00
- 19
- Location: In your eye floaters.
- Contact:
Re: Looking to Start Biking
hm, I assume you maybe want to be able to have some fun with the bike on weekends/spare time too? the best (for fun AND commuting) would be imo either a 29 inch (or short "29er") mountainbike or a cyclocross bike with 28 inch or 650b (which is 27.5 inch) wheels. with both you can ride really fast for commuting purposes and also have fun, with the 29er MTB of course more on backcountry rides in the rough, while a cyclocross bike is more for street riding (but you can still ride it on forest- or gravel paths for example, it looks like a road race bike but is more stable and can take a beating).
platform- or SPD (the "click in" ones) pedals....that's like "PC or MAC?"...
if you prefer street riding (like with a cyclocross bike) SPD's might be better...well..."better" might be the wrong word: more efficient. simply because you can also pull up the pedal with one leg while pushing it down with the other one, instead of only pushing, and that saves energy. BUT those pedals need practice, because to get the shoe released you have to move it in a specific angle, and in case of emergency you usually don't have time for trying 2 times...so it's pretty normal you fall down sideways a couple of times at the beginning (you can minimize the risk a little by getting beginner pedals which have a wider angle spectrum to trigger the release).
personally I prefer platform pedals, but actually mostly because I like to ride in rough terrain too, and because the shoes made for SPD pedals don't offer as much protection.
what bike light to get depends if you ride in areas that ae well illuminated (city streets) where you see enough already and actually just need a light so others can see you, or if you really want to illuminate the path in front of you. a good light imo is the "Vision 1" from Hope for example: http://www.hopetech.com/page.aspx?itemID=SPG405" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
it has a great build quality (like everything from Hope), it's small, looks good, and it has enough power even for rides in the complete dark (of course not in a pro racing speed), and, which is good for a commuter bike, it can be removed and taken with you with 1 click.....the hi-output lights with more power usually come with an external battery back which is not really practical for unmounting/mounting all the time.
of course a good light costs a bit, this one about 90 bucks, but when it's about safety you shouldn't look on the price imo...same for a helmet (I can really recommend Giro helmets, or, if you prefer the cool skater style, have a look at the ones from Nutcase.
good brands are for example Specialized, Ritchey, or Salsa...all 3 are US brands. a little hard to recommend what bike model to look for without knowing your budget and what kind of bike (MTB or cyclocross) you would prefer.
platform- or SPD (the "click in" ones) pedals....that's like "PC or MAC?"...
if you prefer street riding (like with a cyclocross bike) SPD's might be better...well..."better" might be the wrong word: more efficient. simply because you can also pull up the pedal with one leg while pushing it down with the other one, instead of only pushing, and that saves energy. BUT those pedals need practice, because to get the shoe released you have to move it in a specific angle, and in case of emergency you usually don't have time for trying 2 times...so it's pretty normal you fall down sideways a couple of times at the beginning (you can minimize the risk a little by getting beginner pedals which have a wider angle spectrum to trigger the release).
personally I prefer platform pedals, but actually mostly because I like to ride in rough terrain too, and because the shoes made for SPD pedals don't offer as much protection.
what bike light to get depends if you ride in areas that ae well illuminated (city streets) where you see enough already and actually just need a light so others can see you, or if you really want to illuminate the path in front of you. a good light imo is the "Vision 1" from Hope for example: http://www.hopetech.com/page.aspx?itemID=SPG405" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
it has a great build quality (like everything from Hope), it's small, looks good, and it has enough power even for rides in the complete dark (of course not in a pro racing speed), and, which is good for a commuter bike, it can be removed and taken with you with 1 click.....the hi-output lights with more power usually come with an external battery back which is not really practical for unmounting/mounting all the time.
of course a good light costs a bit, this one about 90 bucks, but when it's about safety you shouldn't look on the price imo...same for a helmet (I can really recommend Giro helmets, or, if you prefer the cool skater style, have a look at the ones from Nutcase.
good brands are for example Specialized, Ritchey, or Salsa...all 3 are US brands. a little hard to recommend what bike model to look for without knowing your budget and what kind of bike (MTB or cyclocross) you would prefer.
Re: Looking to Start Biking
A lot of info here, thanks. It'll make the search much easier. I'll get back to you afteer I look over the bike styles you recommend, I like the idea of the "bomb proof" Mountain bikes, but befor now I had never heard oc cyclocross.
knuffeltjes voor mijn knuffel
[img]http://i911.photobucket.com/albums/ac320/stuphsack/Sig.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i911.photobucket.com/albums/ac320/stuphsack/Sig.jpg[/img]
-
bad_brain
- Site Owner
- Posts: 11636
- Joined: 06 Apr 2005, 16:00
- 19
- Location: In your eye floaters.
- Contact:
Re: Looking to Start Biking
oh, don't confuse "mountainbike" with "bomb proof"....there are many different bike types that are all kinda categorized as mountainbikes, from very lighweight crosscountry race bikes to downhill bikes. the latter ones could be labeled as bomb proof, but there is a reason why you see downhill riders never ride uphill: those bike are HEAVY....and I am talking about 40-50 lbs heavy. the only other bike type that could be labeled as bomb proof might be dirtjump (DJ) bikes, but those are really bad for commuting or anything else than dirtjumping, because you have pretty much of a BMX style position on them.
I assume you are not planning to throw yourself down off rocks or jump over ramps to do tricks (if you plan that: hope you have a really good health insurance! ), so in your case a XC mountainbike (XC = cross country) would make the most sense...if it has to be a mountainbike. and those are not more or less stable than cyclocross bikes.
just to throw 2 examples in, this would be a good cyclocross bike for a nice price for example (notice the disc breaks):
http://www.performancebike.com/bikes/Pr ... 1___400319" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
and this would be a nice mountainbike in the same price category (you can get it for a bit under 1000 already):
http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bikes/ ... ppercomp29" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
don't confuse the more massive looking frame of the mountainbike with "more stable", it's simply an aluminum frame while the cyclocross one is a chromoly one.
I assume you are not planning to throw yourself down off rocks or jump over ramps to do tricks (if you plan that: hope you have a really good health insurance!
), so in your case a XC mountainbike (XC = cross country) would make the most sense...if it has to be a mountainbike. and those are not more or less stable than cyclocross bikes.just to throw 2 examples in, this would be a good cyclocross bike for a nice price for example (notice the disc breaks):
http://www.performancebike.com/bikes/Pr ... 1___400319" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
and this would be a nice mountainbike in the same price category (you can get it for a bit under 1000 already):
http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bikes/ ... ppercomp29" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
don't confuse the more massive looking frame of the mountainbike with "more stable", it's simply an aluminum frame while the cyclocross one is a chromoly one.