The Tulsa Forum by TulsaNow

Looking for recommendations on an adult bicycle.
I havent ridden in years, but my needs should be simple... 2 wheels, less than 80 gears, something like a hybrid that I could use to get around the area but also take on a trail occasionally.

Im confused by sizes, which seem like a sort of hit-and-miss affair.  Im around 160 (pounds) if that helps.

I'd say just a regular 10 speed road bike should do fine, most stores only seem to sell "mountain bikes" these days, so you may need to visit a bike store. I have an old  10 speed bike that I bought in the 1980's at Sears gathering dust in my garage. I'm not much of a cyclist. I never could get into that sport, I am a runner however and do a lot of running on the RiverSide Jogging trails. Many of the bikes I see on the trails seem to be expensive bikes.

Squirrel!  I see a squirrel!

Visit a bike shop on a weekday afternoon, not late Friday or on Saturday when most of their repairs are going out. Visit several shops to get a feel for the places. This is important because they'll be doing service after the sale. Most shops will do minor adjustments at no charge after you purchase a bike. Cables stretch and spokes loosen, so the bike will need some service as it breaks in. A road bike has dropped handlebars and a tucked position. It offers speed and efficiency but may not be comfortable for a novice. (My touring bike, though it looks like a racer, is as comfortable as an old couch and about as heavy.) Mountain bikes have an upright position, knobby tires, and are geared low.  A hybrid is the red-headed step child, with an upright position, wide ratio gearing suitable for both road and good trails, and multi-surface tires.

Fit is a critical issue. If the bike is too big or too small it will cause you pain. You wouldn't buy a pair of shoes that didn't fit right, so it's the same with bicycles. Fit has two major components: stand-over height or the vertical distance from the ground to the top tube or top of the seat tube, and "reach" or the distance from the seat to the handlebar. Since so many bikes come with sloping top tubes now, reach may be more important that stand over. Some shops use a computerized fit calculator while others rely on the old-school method - a critical, experienced eyeball.

Even if the bike fits properly, you're going to take about a month to adapt to the increased work load. It's normal to have a tender butt, some shoulder or neck soreness, or even numb hands. Sometimes minor adjustments make a world of difference in comfort, so it comes back to that relationship with the bike shop.

Above all, do not buy a bike from a garage sale, Craigslist, or a seedy character selling them from the back of a van.

Or Sears

My husband and I got Giant Escape hybrids  a couple of years ago from Tom's. Great all-purpose bikes. We love 'em.

Weight alone doesn’t do a thing on bike size.  It’s inseam and reach-over (torso length) which matter most when it comes to getting a good fit.  Even still, when it comes to leg length, there are many other parts of the anatomy which dictate what you need.

If memory serves me correctly, I believe you live near Mid-Town Bicycles at 27th & Harvard.  I’ve purchased bikes from them and MC and I have had the entire fleet worked on there.  See Ronnie or Chad, explain what you are looking for and it’s intended purpose, they won’t steer you wrong.  I had a great experience there in 2008 when I first got back into cycling and told them my intents and budget, and I did not feel I was over-sold.

I forgot about them.  I may have to drop in for a fitting.
What ive read indicates bicycle specialty shops will charge a premium, but down the road would be better than dealing with walmart.
Thanks all.

Most local shops also will give you a 10% discount on parts once you have bought a bike there.  It’s worth spending a little extra up front to get great service after the sale.  Not to say shops won’t work on a mail-order bike or something you bought elsewhere, but starting there and getting the right fit assures you will be riding something which will be comfortable from the beginning.

Listen to the C-Man. He knows what he's talking about. I was warned about the bike I bought on Craigslist. It was very uncomfortable for me to ride. And so it had to go. When you are a kid. You can hop on and ride anything. Now I have to go for a fitting on just about everything.  ;D

It's also worth spending a few extra buck to get a speedometer for your bike, I always had one on my bike back when I rode it. They also track your mileage.

While we are talking bicycle improvements, I recommend one of them motor things that make the bike move without pedaling.

They are nice.

Look no further than our very own Gary Busey's son Jake.

http://www.thejakebike.com/

Then you could add 2 more wheels, 1 beside each of the present 2 for stability.  Add some extra seats and a roof.  Some side panels and maybe some windows would be nice too.  A window in front would be nice, keep the bugs out of your teeth. Then add...
 
;D

I am a big fan of power steering.

The biggest problem with bikes is they are very prone to flat tires, even in this modern age flat tires are still a issue for cyclists. The Trinity jogging trail in Fort Worth, Texas is used by a lot of cyclists - however they have a lot of thorny weeds alongside the trail, and the thorns blow across the pavement get into bike tires and cause a pinhole leak. Bikes don't use gas but they will never be reliable transportation being prone to flats. It's no fun to cycle to work and get a flat on your way to the office, or leave work and find your bike has a flat tire, or it's raining.

Kevlar belted tires and slime tubes= no flats in 2+ years.

+1 for Kevlar.  Changed my riding life.   I heard some negatives on slime tubes, so stayed away.  May try them now.

Only negative I can tell you is the presta valve can get gummy, requiring pliers to open the valve to pump additional air in, but it’s a minor annoyance.  The team I ride with is sponsored by Geax/Vittoria, and we get a great deal on tires and tubes, but start of 2011, I had something like eight flats in 11 training rides and switched to Conti Gator Skins and slime tubes.  My wife has used that set up since 2008 with no flats.  Knock on wood.

As far as the off-road bikes, we ride tubeless with Stan’s.  Great combination and amazingly reliable.  I’ve thought about it on the road bike but haven’t wanted to buy tubeless rims to make that happen.

Run-flats for bicycles could be good.

Going on two years with the tires and tubes that came on the bike.

Do you ride it much?
 
 ;D

Quite a bit actually. Mostly on the trails.

" Run-flats for bicycles could be good."

Semi-pneumatics have been available from time to time. You trade off possible flats and ride quality for durability and expensive wheel problems. They're best in industrial applications.

Ed W

I would expect a harsher ride.  Are/would they be that much harder than the really high psi tires I've heard about?  I think I've heard on the order of 100 psi.  My brother always seems to be tuning his wheels.

Maybe your tires are a bit thicker than the road tires.

My current road bike tires are 120 psi, and you can buy higher.  But I use(d) those mostly for crit racing.  For longer rides, I have a set that are 100 PSI.  I honestly can't tell the difference in "harshness" due to the extra PSI, as most of that feel is built-in to the bike.  Mine is a very stiff, and a bit rough, race bike.  But there are very good (and also very fast) bikes that are built for a much softer ride.

My road set up is 120 in the rear and 100 in the front- same tires that’s just how I run them.  I run a softer front for shock absorption due to wrist and shoulder issues.  My race tubulars are 135-140 psi.

These pressures are all a bunch higher than the 35 psi for American style bicycles and 50 psi for "English" style bikes when I was a bit younger.

Tire pressures must be up in general.  I run 43 psi front / 41 psi rear on my cars.  It helps reduce the understeer a tiny bit with street tires. Racing tires behave differently.
Max tire pressure for cars was 32 psi for eons. Anyone else remember non-belted bias ply tires?  Low profile "Wide Oval" 70 series? Probably only us old guys.
 
 :D

Ride quality on a bicycle has two main determinants: frame design - wheelbase and frame angles, and tire choice. A steep angled frame offers quick handling with a harsh ride while a lower frame angle (think Raleigh Tourist 3 speed) rides like.a Cadillac and turns like a truck


Ed W

It's a hybrid. So, yeah.

Hey Patric,  this thread kind of drifted off to tire pressure and so I went back to your original post.  Based on your criteria, I think you want to look at a low-end mountain bike.  You can't take a road bike on trails, and I'd steer clear of hybrids and any older mountain bikes without  front shocks.  I had a very cool older Giant hybrid from the '90s that I rode for years and loved, but between the lack of front shocks and the hybrid rims, it just wasn't suited for any kind of off-road trail.  The front shocks don't cost you much in terms of energy transfer on pavement and really make a difference on trails, and of course the larger wheels/tires on a mountain bike are basically required for trail riding.  

If you go this route, you might consider having two wheel sets.  One with a smooth tread for road/path riding, and one with a more aggressive tread for trail riding.  Stay low-end, and you can add the extra wheel set for a reasonable price.  I did this for my son's bike and it was a good compromise set up before we got two separate bikes for him.  (We are now an eight-bike family...)

Underachiever  ;)

Sears sold some solid hard rubber no flat tires in the 1980's- the drawback- the bike became much harder to pedal, I guess rolling resistance really increased or something. You used the standard bike tire, but instead of the tube you put in a gray colored solid rubber tube, it's harder to install than a regular tube.

Tom's rents bikes so it's possible to try one before deciding on a purchase.

Ed W

The best answer is, "LBS."  Local Bike Shop.
The key to enjoying the sport is a good fit.  Ergonomics are key.
 Many of the brands we recognize from our childhood such as Schwinn, that are sold at big box stores are actually from China made under a licensing agreement for the famous name.
Any local bike shop will pay off in spades in terms of your enjoyment, reliability, and staying involved. 
If you buy a poor-fitting, ill suited bike, because the price was low, you may give up after the first day because its so miserable.
Not condoning any LBS over the other.  IMHO most LBS's are not in business to make a killing, but rather because they enjoy the sport and are disciples for such.
A LBS may be a bit intimidating at first, but relax and dont buy the first one you see. 

I went looking for a Canadian blog called the Bike of Doom. A guy bought a Canadian Tire bicycle and documented all the problems and repairs he had with it. Short version: It cost more in repairs than the original cost of the bicycle over the first year. Sadly, Bike of Doom is no more.

But some local guy called CycleDog has a longish thread at: http://cycledog.blogspot.com/2009/03/walmart-and-bicycle-shaped-objects.html

Here's another reason to avoid big box store bikes. Patrick McManus once said that his bike had been assembled by the local village fiend. Perhaps the guy works here.

(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3564/3397198388_154d205bff.jpg)