I have a bike question!

[runaways]

Not really for me, DH thinks he wants to buy one. He wants to go for long rides and he'd like to be able to do trails. I know nothing about this.

Can anyone make a recommendation about what type of bike he should look at? Brands to look at? He's planning to go get fitted sometime soon. katinthehat, what was that bike shop you recommended?

Thanks!!

[sadlebred]

Define trails--paved trails? Mountain biking? Long road rides and mountain bikes don't go well together, and you can't take a road bike on mountain bike trails without breaking ALL.THE.PARTS. It almost sounds like he will need 2 biles.

[katinthehat]

Blue Line and West End are my local places. West End has a ton of bikes in stock but they're mostly just one brand. Blue Line has a lot fewer bikes, but more choices (you just might have to order his size)

[trigal]

Also, define "long rides." That means very different things to different people!

[oswin]

If he's looking to do trails as in off-pavements trails but not downhill trails, then he'll probably want a cyclo-cross bike. Looks like a road bike with drop handlebars, but with a wider fork and back triangle to accommodate big tires with knobby treads. Such a bike can also be ridden on pavement for arbitrary distances, though using knobby tires on pavement will wear them out more quickly than smooth tires. The easiest thing to do there is to get a second set of wheels. Then you have one set of wheels with road tires and one set of wheels with knobby off-road tires. You can of course make do with one set of wheels, but if you're planning to switch types of riding regularly, it's a huge pain to keep switching out the tires.

[sadlebred]

Oct 5, 2015 13:40:39 GMT -5 oswin said:

If he's looking to do trails as in off-pavements trails but not downhill trails, then he'll probably want a cyclo-cross bike. Looks like a road bike with drop handlebars, but with a wider fork and back triangle to accommodate big tires with knobby treads. Such a bike can also be ridden on pavement for arbitrary distances, though using knobby tires on pavement will wear them out more quickly than smooth tires. The easiest thing to do there is to get a second set of wheels. Then you have one set of wheels with road tires and one set of wheels with knobby off-road tires. You can of course make do with one set of wheels, but if you're planning to switch types of riding regularly, it's a huge pain to keep switching out the tires.

Yes, but....if he really wants to do mountain biking, he'll need two bikes. You will get the H*ll beat out of you riding real mountain bike trails on a CX bike. CX bikes are good for semi flat non-technical trails (I have 3 cx bikes and have been racing CX for 15+ years.) A CX bike is a good alternative to a road bike, but as you said it would require a second set of wheels. He might be undergeared for group rides, though.