***General Cycling Thread***

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Gonzo

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You can get a lot of mileage (literally and figuratively) out of a used bike. I would start there.

I would get pedals that allow for both clipping in and regular shoes. It's not what a racer would use, but it allows you to work up the confidence to try them, or allow you to use the road bike for getting around town.

Great point. I got the dual pedals when I first got into it and haven't changed them since.
 

Clonehomer

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Anyone have recommendations on a children's buggy/trailer I can attach to my hopefully soon new bike? I have a 15mo old, would like to take her on rides with me. Thanks for the info!

I don't recall the brand we ended up with, but the biggest thing to look at is the connection to the bike. We had one that clamped to the bike frame and it was a complete failure. Would come unclamped whenever I took a turn too fast. Ended up modifying it to use the Burley system where you have a little bracket that attaches to the bikes rear axle and the trailer attaches with a pin joint.

So if you can afford the Burley, do it. If not, at least look out for how the thing attaches to the bike.

Also, they are nice to hold a cooler for party rides if you're in to that sort of thing (of course without the kid).
 

Gunnerclone

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Anyone have recommendations on a children's buggy/trailer I can attach to my hopefully soon new bike? I have a 15mo old, would like to take her on rides with me. Thanks for the info!

Burley single. Or if you’re planning to add another kid then get the two seater Burley. Might check craigslist or Facebook marketplace for a used deal.
 

madguy30

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I guess I get that but how many times do you see these bikes on the road in those conditions?

True. I really don’t understand it, at least not in good weather.

I suppose I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and presume they are merely on the road with fat tires en route to a wonderful off road adventure further away from their house.

I feel like any time I've seen fat tire bikes in dry/normal conditions was in the fall; I figured they were getting used to riding them before the snow flies.
 

madguy30

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Why wear flipflops when tennis shoes will work? Why eat a hamburger when you can have fish and chips? Why drink a coorslight when you can drink a blonde fatale? Fatbikes are just another way to enjoy time on a bike. They are not the most versatile, but they are a blast.

I ride my fatbike sometimes when i ride bikes with my wife...she is slower and enjoys the slower pace so fatbikes are great. If I am riding to a single track, I'll ride my FB. If I only have 60 minutes for a workout, I'll ride my fb instead of a road bike or other. I ride a fatbike during crappy weather too. I ride my FB around saylorville lake all year around or down along the river on sandbar. Lots of reasons to ride a fatbike. Some people may only have one bike and its a fatbike.

I'd think they'd work well to walk a dog more safely in low speed.
 

cyclonesurveyor

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My first venture into bikes and trying to ride more was a Trek Crossrip from Bike World in WDM. It was fun, had 35 mm semi slick tires and at 1 point, I was hauling a tag-along and kid trailer behind it. I was riding enough trail / road miles and thought I needed to get an acutal road bike. It was a nice Cannondale but that's when I realized I really liked those bigger tires to help eat up all the bumps on the road. I now ride a cyclocross as my "road" bike but also allows me to ride gravel / dirt too.

That said I've started to become a glutton for pain, I ride a rigid single speed mountain bike on our front range trails, which has helped my road riding too.

And as stated previously, the right number of bikes is always N+1.
 

RoseClone

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Thanks for all the help guys. I was always going to be going to one of the local shops just because of how much I don't know about bikes. Right now I'd say I'm leaning toward Trek and looking at the Checkpoint and Domane but I'm willing to be talked into the Emonda as a bike that I won't need to upgrade if I get real deep into riding. It seems like really good value. I haven't completely ruled out a hybrid to get started but if I do that, It'll almost certainly be something pretty cheap that I keep and then buy a road bike next year.

After years of riding my wife and I both got a Domane SL5 a couple years ago. It's more than you stated as your budget but it gave us the flexibility we were looking for as we started to get older and cared more about doing longer rides than faster rides. It has a carbon frame and both front and rear IsoSpeed which we feel helps smooth the rides out. It has 700x32 tires (smooth) on it so larger than a fast road bike. I can also put all-terrain tires on it if I would like for gravel but that doesn't really appeal to us. We put racks on them for panniers and have done a couple week long pack and ride trips (with a hotel night in the middle of the week to get the wife to agree) hauling everything but our food.

There's a bike for whatever you want to do.
 

Tre4ISU

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I think you guys almost have me sold on a checkpoint. Then, if I want, I could either upgrade, keep what I have if I like it, or keep what I have and buy a set of smaller wheels. If the shop tries to talk me into the Emonda I'd be open to it but it seems like a cheaper road bike isn't a great idea since A. it's still a road bike as far as temperment, and B. I'll want to upgrade immediately within a year if I love it. At least with the Checkpoint I have the versatility which is attractive and with the Emonda, I'd have a pretty awesome road bike for the money and I wouldn't need to upgrade unless I got real deep into the game. Maybe I'll luck out and there'll be something really good used but from what I've heard from a couple guys who were looking in the $1500-$2000 range locally, I don't have much hope for that.
 
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Tre4ISU

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After years of riding my wife and I both got a Domane SL5 a couple years ago. It's more than you stated as your budget but it gave us the flexibility we were looking for as we started to get older and cared more about doing longer rides than faster rides. It has a carbon frame and both front and rear IsoSpeed which we feel helps smooth the rides out. It has 700x32 tires (smooth) on it so larger than a fast road bike. I can also put all-terrain tires on it if I would like for gravel but that doesn't really appeal to us. We put racks on them for panniers and have done a couple week long pack and ride trips (with a hotel night in the middle of the week to get the wife to agree) hauling everything but our food.

There's a bike for whatever you want to do.

I'm glad you gave her a break. I'm sure a little camping expedition was a treat.
 

simply1

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I think you guys almost have me sold on a checkpoint. Then, if I want, I could either upgrade, keep what I have if I like it, or keep what I have and buy a set of smaller wheels. If the shop tries to talk me into the Emonda I'd be open to it but it seems like a cheaper road bike isn't a great idea since A. it's still a road bike as far as temperment, and B. I'll want to upgrade immediately within a year if I love it. At least with the Checkpoint I have the versatility which is attractive and with the Emonda, I'd have a pretty awesome road bike for the money and I wouldn't need to upgrade unless I got real deep into the game. Maybe I'll luck out and there'll be something really good used but from what I've heard from a couple guys who were looking in the $1500-$2000 range locally, I don't have much hope for that.
Which model are you looking at, they go up to $6k haha. Definitely not a bad decision.
I rode a hybrid with friends on road bikes for about a month before I bought a new bike, felt bad dragging them slowly along.
 

Nader_uggghhh

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What's everyone's opinion on riding on 2 lane highways? I live in a really hilly part of Iowa and have had way too many close calls cresting hills with my car. If another car was coming my direction any of those times I would have killed someone.

Feeling unsafe is the reason I won't bike like everyone else in my family. Sorry for the derail.
 

moores2

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What's everyone's opinion on riding on 2 lane highways? I live in a really hilly part of Iowa and have had way too many close calls cresting hills with my car. If another car was coming my direction any of those times I would have killed someone.

Feeling unsafe is the reason I won't bike like everyone else in my family. Sorry for the derail.
Extended shoulders is the only way I feel comfortable with it. We have 1 road heading out to a lake that has extended shoulders on each side which is about 5 miles long which we ride a lot. (also not a ton of traffic) Otherwise if we want a longer ride we try to find a location within an hour to find a nice off road bike trail.
 

Tre4ISU

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Which model are you looking at, they go up to $6k haha. Definitely not a bad decision.
I rode a hybrid with friends on road bikes for about a month before I bought a new bike, felt bad dragging them slowly along.

See, that's the other thing. My fiance, as I mentioned, rides a really nice hybrid, my one friend is using his FILs probably 8-10K custom bike and then another one just bought a $2000 bike. I don't care about actual dollar value but I also don't want to be the guy who is holding people up and then complaining about his equipment. While the Checkpoint 4 is heavy, I think it'd be passable and it'd give me some time to get my feet under me with something more stable. If someone told me it's not worth it to mess in the $1000-$1800 range I'd listen but from what I can tell, you kind of stick there or you really go for it and I'm not going to absolutely go for it yet.
 

Tre4ISU

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What's everyone's opinion on riding on 2 lane highways? I live in a really hilly part of Iowa and have had way too many close calls cresting hills with my car. If another car was coming my direction any of those times I would have killed someone.

Feeling unsafe is the reason I won't bike like everyone else in my family. Sorry for the derail.

I don't like it, especially in the fall or spring in Iowa. People can do what they want, but it isn't safe and sometimes there isn't going to be an option that doesn't result in a crash of some sort. I just think it'd be worth it to drive a little bit to a trail.
 
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simply1

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See, that's the other thing. My fiance, as I mentioned, rides a really nice hybrid, my one friend is using his FILs probably 8-10K custom bike and then another one just bought a $2000 bike. I don't care about actual dollar value but I also don't want to be the guy who is holding people up and then complaining about his equipment. While the Checkpoint 4 is heavy, I think it'd be passable and it'd give me some time to get my feet under me with something more stable. If someone told me it's not worth it to mess in the $1000-$1800 range I'd listen but from what I can tell, you kind of stick there or you really go for it and I'm not going to absolutely go for it yet.
Yeah I don’t think the weight of the bike will be much of an issue, although it’s crazy how lightweight the high end bikes are.
Also just think how fast you’ll be after having pedaled that heavier bike, your legs will be like whoa!
 

Nader_uggghhh

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Extended shoulders is the only way I feel comfortable with it. We have 1 road heading out to a lake that has extended shoulders on each side which is about 5 miles long which we ride a lot. (also not a ton of traffic) Otherwise if we want a longer ride we try to find a location within an hour to find a nice off road bike trail.

Thanks for the level responses. I've had this conversation with a lot of people close to me and they seem to feel comfortable putting their lives in the hands of drivers on the road. It seems like a lot of communities around me are starting bike trails so hopefully that becomes the norm.
 

Colorado

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Get the Checkpoint. It will offer you the best bang for the buck in terms of flexibility. You can use it for several different kinds of riding.
 
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Al_4_State

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What's everyone's opinion on riding on 2 lane highways? I live in a really hilly part of Iowa and have had way too many close calls cresting hills with my car. If another car was coming my direction any of those times I would have killed someone.

Feeling unsafe is the reason I won't bike like everyone else in my family. Sorry for the derail.

I live basically where Iowa turns from extremely flat to extremely hilly.

On the flat areas, I have little issue with 2 lane highways. It's not my favorite, but I've never felt uncomfortable.

In the hilly areas, I've done it, but not near as much. I've ridden the Madison Road west of Decorah a few times, and it's extremely hilly with some steep grades that make it hard to see cyclists. I've never had a close call as a cyclist, but I'm not always super comfortable as a driver, as it is a popular area cycling route.

Thankfully there are enough paved trails that I only road ride on occasion, and it's usually as part of a group.
 

cyclonetrent

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Yeah I don’t think the weight of the bike will be much of an issue, although it’s crazy how lightweight the high end bikes are.
Also just think how fast you’ll be after having pedaled that heavier bike, your legs will be like whoa!

Almost always it is cheaper/more effective to shed weight from yourself before you start worrying about the weight of your bike.