Bicycles-recommendations?
Thinking of getting new bicycles. We are older now & certainly don't need a gagillion speeds. Any recommendations would be appreciated. THX
Forum Discussion
Until about 5 years ago, I had cheap bikes. The most recent one was a great looking red mountain bike from Sam's Club for less than $100. I hardly rode it because it hurt my rear end bones so much. But I thought that's just the way it was with bikes.
Then when vacationing at Peninsula SP in WI, I rented a bike at the little bike shop just outside the park entrance. It was a Trek Pure, a 3 speed comfort bike with crank-forward design (the pedals are a few inches out front of the seat stem rather than directly below it). Riding approximately 12 miles on a combination of pavement and dirt trails in the park, I marveled at how easily it pedaled and how it didn't hurt my butt! That thing just glided along so nicely. It blew me away to realize what a piece of cr*p I owned and what a massive improvement the Trek was.
When I got home from that camping trip, I shopped around and compared several brands at bike shops. I ended up with a Trek Pure Sport (something like 18 speeds, I forget right now) and have been happily riding it ever since. I ride around home some, and I take the bike on nearly every camping trip and ride it. The crank forward design helps to make pedaling easier because you're pushing forward a bit more and not so much straight down. The upright seating position takes the pressure off the insides of the hip bones and moves the weight back onto the part of the butt where there's more, um, natural cushioning. :D The better quality bike rolls with less friction in the wheel bearings and stuff, too, which helps ease the pedaling effort; I wouldn't have believed it until I tried it.
The only thing I wish for differently is an internal hub; with chain gears you have to let off pressure on the pedals when shifting down, but an internal hub doesn't need any letup when shifting. These are pricey but nice to have.
Then when vacationing at Peninsula SP in WI, I rented a bike at the little bike shop just outside the park entrance. It was a Trek Pure, a 3 speed comfort bike with crank-forward design (the pedals are a few inches out front of the seat stem rather than directly below it). Riding approximately 12 miles on a combination of pavement and dirt trails in the park, I marveled at how easily it pedaled and how it didn't hurt my butt! That thing just glided along so nicely. It blew me away to realize what a piece of cr*p I owned and what a massive improvement the Trek was.
When I got home from that camping trip, I shopped around and compared several brands at bike shops. I ended up with a Trek Pure Sport (something like 18 speeds, I forget right now) and have been happily riding it ever since. I ride around home some, and I take the bike on nearly every camping trip and ride it. The crank forward design helps to make pedaling easier because you're pushing forward a bit more and not so much straight down. The upright seating position takes the pressure off the insides of the hip bones and moves the weight back onto the part of the butt where there's more, um, natural cushioning. :D The better quality bike rolls with less friction in the wheel bearings and stuff, too, which helps ease the pedaling effort; I wouldn't have believed it until I tried it.
The only thing I wish for differently is an internal hub; with chain gears you have to let off pressure on the pedals when shifting down, but an internal hub doesn't need any letup when shifting. These are pricey but nice to have.
