I'm not really in the market for a tricycle, but I am thinking about getting a bicycle. Any experts here?

I doubt I'll get into riding very hardcore at all, so I just want to spend enough to get me something that won't let me down during my leisurely rides on paved trails only. What should I be looking for, or what models would you recommend specifically? I can get something worthwhile for under $300, right?

I would be looking at a performance hybrid bike myself, Charles. They are great for both urban style riding and your paved trail riding...many can handle moderately maintained unpaved trails too. I've used my Jamis Coda Elite for years in town and on unpaved, somewhat bumpy trails with no issues. Performance Hybrid bikes are kind of a combo of city bike(gearing, 700c tires) with a mountain bike style frame(upright riding position, straight bar). $300 would be around entry level on one of the non-dep't store bikes, I believe.

Thanks, Adrian! I can go up a couple of hundred dollars, but there's no way I want to approach $1000 is all. Chris has me looking at this one:

Giant Roam 3

What do you think?

Giant is the largest maker of bikes in the world, if I recall. I test road a few of their bikes a few years ago, including one very similar to the Roam 3 you're looking at, and liked it/them. Take one for a test ride at your dealer and see how it rides. Generally, the price goes up with the quality of parts as you'll find out. A lock-out on front shocks can be a nice feature to have if you're riding on smooth surfaces...it will negate any "bobbing" effect you 'could' have with hard pedaling. Actually, if you're sticking to good cycling paths, you probably don't need shocks. Avoid those "rotary" handle style gear changers and look for a finger/thumb triggered rapid shifter, they work better. Make sure you get the bike set up properly for you at the outfitter, it's kind of like buying clothing, it has to fit you comfortably. Not only does the seat height and handlebars need to be right but so do the handlebar stem length and brake locations. The dealer will set this up for you.

Check that bike out, I'm sure you'll like it. Have fun and ride a few bikes before you make you're decision.

Oh!! make sure the seat is comfortable!!

You can actually get your "ass bones" measured on a device to choose the correct seat for you at some dealers. You basically sit on a type of pad that measures your seat bones in your butt.

There's also ergo handles that protect the ulnar nerve...that's the numb feeling you can get in your hands if the handles sucketh. Most bikes these days come with pretty good grips though.

And I find a new SIG line!

Charles, I would highly suggest getting a used bike, as there's plenty of great bikes to be had on Craigslist etc. I got my amazing Kona AA used. If you are only considering something new, I would choose the Giant Revel 1 over the Roam (if you want suspension).

Honestly, a bike with suspension is overkill if you're going to be riding on paved trails. Unless you lock out (as you should) the suspension (which you're paying extra for), it's actually a more difficult ride. I know a bike with suspension looks more "cool", but it's really not practical at all for the terrain you'll be riding.

I would take a serious look at a rigid frame new or used bike.

Charles, for your riding on paved roads and paths a suspension isn't needed. Consider something like this .

Thanks, guys. This is all very helpful, as I have zero knowledge of my own. I think I'll want to have the suspension as an option. I say paved trails only right now, but I imagine that scenarios will pop up where I'll want to take it slightly off-road. Does the Revel 1's suspension have the ability to lock? It doesn't seem like it does, but I'm not sure I know how to read the details. I'll ask at the local dealer, too, and ride a few models.

Yeah, you'll notice under "Features", a "Lockout" suspension fork. Of course, going "slightly off-road" doesn't mean that a suspension is absolutely necessary, if you suck it up and keep on riding.

Back when I was a kid -- you know, in the 80s -- nobody had suspensions on their bikes, yet most of us are still alive. I had a hybrid mountain bike in the 90s. It was great for street and moderately rocky terrain riding. Again, no suspension. Suspension is great for when you're going fast over bumpy terrain. That's also a great way to get hurt.

My Giant Iguana has suspension on the front fork. I used to do some pretty serious trial riding, and it is nice there. But on the street, it's annoying. I'd try to pop the front wheel up over curbs, and usually just end up compressing the fork. So a lockout would be a good feature.

The unfortunate thing about hybrids is the tires they come with almost always have a continuous bead of tread that runs all the way around the circumference of the tire. That makes them useless for any sort of off road riding where you may end up trying to pedal over a wet log, or something slippery. The tire will just spin with no traction at all. But it does make them last longer, and run smooth and quiet on the road. (My brother also has a completely off-road intended bike, and uses it with a bicycle trainer. He has to crank the music on headphones to be able to hear it over the tires.) But if you run soft, knobby tires on the road, you'll have slicks before too long.

CV, if you do get your ass bones measured, please let us know how that goes.



And I hope a female technician helps you.



Do NOT eat chili the night before.

Measuring your azz.

I like that technique. It uses renewable materials.

Daniel had ONE job, and he almost missed the cardboard.


Some assistant he is. . .

Charles, did you ever find out how big your azz is?

Ha ha. Not yet. I'll check out a couple of the bicycle stores next weekend, but I may not get anything immediately. I found out my dad has a bicycle he hasn't really used since he first bought it, so I'm going to see what it is and if I can just use that for now. If I end up riding regularly, I imagine I will want to get one that I choose, just because.

You need to get bicycling shorts with "Outboard Motor" stenciled across your azz.

Missed another good thread. Lot's of good info above though that I can agree with. However, as I often tend to do, I'd like to point out that there can be a middle ground to some views.

For instance, I gave up mountain biking when I blew out my knee but I still enjoy a bit of suspension, even for pavement. Bare in mind though that here, pavement is rarely smooth and often covered in a frequent pebbles and small stones. Also, I'm betting that there are probably some really nice unpaved, but extremely well maintained, to the point of nearly flat, off-pavement trails around your area if you check around.

The disadvantage, as I can't see where anyone explained it yet for you, is that with suspension if you are pumping hard to go fast or maybe get up a hill, that some of the downward pressure you put into the peddle is lost in pushing down the suspension instead of going into torque. This is mostly minor though, depending how soft the suspension is. Admittedly, it can be nagging if working Really hard to climb a hill.

The front only suspension on my Opus hybrid is tune-able. You can make it hard and able to peddle more efficiently on pavement or you can soften it up if I go on some rougher stuff. Honestly, I mostly tend to just leave it at mediocre and run with it.

On another note, the disadvantage of the hybrid tire with thin solid band around the tire causing slippage in certain conditions can be overcome by deflating the tire down to a softer air pressure, allowing the knobs on the side to take more hold.

It's not perfect and depending how low you go, a less pressurized tire will be more tiresome to peddle on the pavement but doing this allows your hybrid to be exactly that, a hybrid. It's not meant to be great at going fast or insane trails but it does allow you the choice of a bit of both worlds.

For you, who has expressed that you will be paved surface only, I agree that you really don't need suspension. Might as well get as much out of your cadence as possible. Just don't test drive one with suspension or you may get addicted to the smoother ride.

On the other hand, test drive as many bikes as you can. Comfort is key or you won't want to ride it and it will gather dust. Used is a great way to go. Unlike a car, it's pretty easy to tell if a bike is in good working conditions. And remember, if you love a certain bike but the seat is killing you, you can easily replace the seat.

I may finally be purchasing a bicycle. The plan is to start seriously shopping after my next paycheck. Two of my best friends want to go riding with me, so there's more of a fire under my azz than before. Wish me luck! Also, if you thought of anything new I should consider, of course I'm open to your deep wisdom.

Test drive as many as you can. As per previous discussion, different designs feel and perform very differently.

Although it seems like a simple thing, let the shop fit it for you. A good fit is key for both efficiency and comfort.

A lot of good bike shops will offer a couple of years of free tune ups with a new bike purchase. Use that time to learn about bike repair and tuning and you will be easily able to take care of it yourself by then. It's actually pretty simple stuff.

Thanks again for the input, Murph!

I'm not the best at following advice. I went in to the local Giant dealer to check out the Roam 3, but he didn't have any out in the main area. He showed me the next model up, the Roam 2, so I test rode that one for a little bit outside the shop. The seat was slightly too high, but other than that, it felt a heck of a lot better than any bicycle I'd ridden before.

Maybe it was simply the commission talking, but the salesman was pretty excited to show off the Roam 2, and I decided to go ahead and go with it. It was a couple hundred more than the Roam 3, which was on sale, but I let him convince me the hydraulic brakes and different derailleur were enough to justify the price difference.

I went with the cheapest helmet ($40) they had since he didn't have any compelling reason to go with anything more expensive.

Maybe I'll regret not trying a lot of other bicycles, but on the other hand, not knowing any better might make me regret less. Ha ha. But I apologize for not doing my due diligence and making you all proud.

I didn't buy any other accessories there, but I ordered a mini tool and seat post bag off of Amazon.com. My dad had a spoke tool and tools for taking out the inner tubes. I think he has both a floor pump and an air compressor for inflating the tires. I may pick up one of the really tiny pumps for when I'm out on rides. And a spare tube in the seat post bag is the plan. What other accessories or tools should I have on-hand at some point? I'll have to accumulate over time, but it would be nice to be able to prioritize.

I'll probably get a rack for over the rear tire, too. I think I'll actually use the bicycle to do my grocery shopping. Oh, but since I like to do my shopping at night, I'll have to look at lights, too. While the streets I'll be riding on for that are well-lit, I think I'll do other night riding, too, so I should probably get something that will illuminate my path. I see DiNotte's name come up when looking for good bicycle lights, but their packages seem to be more than half of what I paid for the bike itself.

Anyway, I look forward to breaking it in a bit this coming weekend.

That's a nice bike Charles. Enjoy!

I don't know that model specifically but I can assure you that hydraulic disk brakes are indeed noticeably better and a good derailleur system is worth it's weight in gold. There is nothing more frustrating that a clunky gear system.

I'll mention one other thing because I used to think they were just for pros or posers. After finally giving in and trying a good pair of biking gloves with the built in gel pads in the pressure points, I now never leave home without them. A tiny thing but they actually reduce my general fatigue in a big way by keeping my hands comfortable on the bars.

As always, Murph, thank you! I'll have to scope out the glove situation at some point.

I'm enjoying the bicycle, though I haven't gone on any really lengthy rides yet. I got to try out my headlight, tail light, and carrier rack w/ insulated bag when it was late at night and my friend wanted me to bring her and her sons some of the Haagen-Dazs I bought too much of. I was pretty happy with each of the accessories. The headlight, while not competing with the effectiveness of car headlights, actually had decent, usable output. The tail light was plenty bright, too. And I like how the bag clicks into the rack.

The thing I haven't tried yet is parking the bike anywhere and trying to lock it up. I think I need to practice that.

I still need to learn proper maintenance, so I'll have to look up some online guides/YouTube videos.

Ride it for a few weeks then take it back to your bicycle dealer for gear and brake cable adjustments as they will have likely stretched a bit.