Choosing a tour/commuter bike!

[vlion]

Hi,

I'm looking at getting a decent long-range bike. The companies that make the bikes are...

• Raleigh
  
• Kona
  
• Giant
  
• Specialized
  
• Trek
  
• Gary Fisher
  

In no order of preference. I'm looking for a bike that won't break down randomly, is comfortable, and goes decently fast, and isn't going to cost an arm and a leg. Does anyone have experience with these companies?

Comments

[vlion]

Interesting.

Geometry & frame stuff is stuff I want to focus on with the bike shop, since it's so individual. What I'm primarily concerned about is getting a weaker bike than otherwise. IE, the toe-overlap mentioned above seems like a design problem.

[zingerella]

My LBS guy said that the Specialized frame was quite strong enough for most road surfaces and some light off-roading, even if I'm packing panniers.

Apparently toe-overlap is more frequently a problem when bike makers shrink the frame, but keep the 700 cc wheels. This happens most with frames marketed to women (and some smaller men); it's worth checking for if you ride a bigger frame, but tends to happen less.

Some of us, though, need to ride smaller frames, on account of being, well, smaller.

It's worth making sure your LBS has someone on staff who has proper training in bicycle fitting, and can work with you to make sure you get the frame and geometry that are right for you. I think Trek puts their dealers through pretty extensive training, and I know Specialized has a bike fit program for their dealers, so dealers who deal in those bikes are likely to have had some training in addition to working at a bike shop.

My Giant Sedona DX is built like a tank. It is also ridiculously heavy and slow. But it has withstood several years of commuting, Toronto weather, off-road adventures, and being packed and shipped to Ottawa. So I would say that Giant's frames do not lack in robustness, but, as I said above, I have not tried their lighter models.

[vlion]

The times I've talked to the LBS about my comfort issues (always wind up with pain when riding a mountain bike style), they've said, "look man, we'll fit you", so I think they have training. I'll have to make sure.

[sara]

Well, some of it's a design problem and some of it's that I've got fenders on the bike. The overlap would be a lot less of an issue sans fenders (but mud in my pants would be a lot more of an issue, and I will take the toe-over as opposed to the muddy pants every time!)