Mountain/Road Bikes

[+LestISmiteThee]

Hey, cachers --

 

My husband and I are looking to replace our $80 Target hybrid bikes with better quality road bikes, and maybe mountain bikes later.

 

The main reason I want a road bike is to be able to ride long distances easier. For example, I can't get enough momentum on my current bike to go up steep hills; it feels like one rotation of the pedal is one rotation of the wheel. But road bikes are designed to rotate the wheels more while pedaling, right?

 

If you have any recommendations on brands, or just what to look for in a good bike, please let us know.

 

We currently live in South Korea so we're not sure what brands might be available here. So far we've seen Specialized and Argon(?).

 

We've done some research online, and we know some better bikes can be $2K or more, but we're not looking for anything crazy awesome, just something that can handle bumpy Korean roads well enough not to fall apart. Hopefully we can find something good in the $400 range since we'll need to through down money on two.

 

Thanks for your help!

-- Gally

Edited November 9, 2011 by LestISmiteThee

[+mpilchfamily]

You shouldn't have to spend more then $400 for a good bike. Some of those more expensive models have some nice features but you really don't need them. Sure it would be nice to have the disk drakes but why spend an extra $100 for them.

 

I own a Giant brand Sedona hybrid bike. Spent about $350 for it back in 2005. Haven't done any trail riding with it but it handles good going down the street and having to hit the grass or gravel from time to time.

http://archive.giant-bicycles.com/cn/030.000.000/030.000.000.asp?year=2005&model=10184

 

It would be nice if the bike had rear suspension but once again that adds to the overall cost. But the comfort shock built into the seat allows for a comfortable ride.

[+badger10]

I would recommend a Specialized bike. I have four of them (for the family). I have a full suspension mountain bike but my kids have the Hard Tail ones. They have the front suspension which makes it nice for rough roads. Specialized has a very nice hybrid which is around 350-400. I don't know how much thoses bikes go for in Korea but you can't go wrong with a specialized or even a good trek. There is so much difference between a store brand and the biggger bike makers. Try whatever brands they sell and you can tell pretty quickly the good ones from the bad.

[+FloridaFour]

I have a hybrid (road/trail) from Target. Schwinn Trailways I think it's called. I really like it. It's more comfortable than a mountain bike, and I use it mostly for the road, but it's good for light to moderate trail riding, too. And it was only about $200.

[ritepath]

I spend almost all my time riding the road these days....all because of the children (7 & 9) when I do ride by myself I still try and use my mountain bike as a road bike...max speed I can get without going downhill is 27MPH...I really really want a nice road bike but there's too many other big ticket items in the way. (Oh and the fact I have to buy the kids new bikes every year.) I find myself riding my wife's cannondale comfort bike pretty often. LOL

[+TheLoneGrangers]

Little late on posting, but i am still fairly new to riding. I started with a mtb a 400.00 diamondback I ordered online. Well it takes me 40 minutes to ride on any trails around here so i started riding the mtb on the road. It was rough! and I didn't understand why it was so hard, 10 miles was really hard, I could go 10 miles on the trails, why is 10 miles on the road so hard??? So I went and bought a Giant for 800 bucks at my local bike shop. I literally doubled my distance with same time in a matter of 2 days. Crazy big differance! and i love it! Im really happy with my road bike