I'm looking for advice on a good adults bicycle?

Question

I live in area where ther is no public transport and unable to drive.I know there is a difference between riding your average bike,average gears etc but i know very little about what to get if i want the bike to 'work for me'...better for long distance etc.I do not want an experts bike etc but a good esy to ride and understand easily the use of gears correctly etc????????

Answer 1

I just started riding again, and I learned that you must have a good seat. I rode for 30 min. and my tail bone felt bruised. I couldn't hardly walk for a week! So, get a good seat with gel. I'm 22 years old, and proudly sporting the granny seat. Love it!

Answer 2

Breezer makes some good quality bikes geared for transportation. They are a little pricey but very good. About half of their bikes have 'hub gears' which are very easy to understand.

Elektra, Novara and Specialized all of 'transport' oriented bikes, as does Trek. However, you need to determine what you need.

If you will be riding at night, then a light is important. A generator based one is nice because you don't have to worry about batteries. Some bikes come with hub dynamos that can be simply switched on.

If you will ride in the rain, then fenders are a must.

If you will be carrying anything a rack and panniers or a basket is critical.

If you have a lot of hills, you will probably want a standard derailer bike (i.e. 24 speed bike). The number of speeds is not real important (you probably wont use more than half of them.) However, the ratio is important. (you want a big difference between lowest and highest)

For comfort, front shocks and/or seat shocks smooth out the ride.

For riding in traffic, a flat bar (mountain bike style) or a cruiser style bar keeps your head up better than a dropped road bike 'dropped' handle bars.

For traveling long distances, the quality and style of a bike can make a big difference. A low end Huffy will take much more effort than than a mid-priced Trek. Also, fat mountain bike tires require much more energy than slick skinny tires.

As for using gears correctly, on a 'hub gear' bike, it is really simple as you just move to make it more difficult or easier to pedal. The actual gear is a rider preference on ease of pedaling vs. distance pedaled per revolution. (However for the knees its better to pedal faster in a lighter gear.) Derailer gears get trickier because you have 2 to work with. Some of the extreme gears are not generally used (and often closely duplicate other gears.) You can usually find a good comfortable gear in the center, and move one a gear or two up or down to gradually adjust the difficulty, while using the other one for larger adjustments.

Quality of the bike can also make a big difference.

Answer 3

i used to sell them. ok its a pain in the azz, but you should really test drive at least 3 at a bike shop,its sounds dumb but they do ride different, dept store bikes come in one size, shops have different sizes for your height. you can pick up a decent on for $250-$350, also (good) shops will generally tune them after 1yr of use, cables get stretched out, there are 4 cables that will get out of whack, dept stores don't do nothing for you. find one in your area that you get a good vibe from, if you live in Chicago there is a lot of competition so you can get great deal and get them to throw in free stuff, also ask for last years model if they have any. feel free to email me with any ?'s. good luck..

Answer 4

go to a proper bicycle shop, explain nicely what you need and get their confidence. they will then take a personal interest and help you to find the bike you need. Get a good secure lock.

Answer 5

any bike will do as long as your comfortable.