Bicyclism! ! !

[TheStig]

Hmm not a bad guess from my side eh??

I had a feeling you had SRAM 9.0 brakelevers but I couldn't see it clearly and because it's not a well known choice I did not name it.
I mounted them on a bike of a friend of mine but personally I didn't like them very much, they had to much flex because they are made out of plastic so you lost braking power, they are pretty light and not expensive and for their price not bad levers.

[GLoPJe]

Hmm not a bad guess from my side eh??

I had a feeling you had SRAM 9.0 brakelevers but I couldn't see it clearly and because it's not a well known choice I did not name it.
I mounted them on a bike of a friend of mine but personally I didn't like them very much, they had to much flex because they are made out of plastic so you lost braking power, they are pretty light and not expensive and for their price not bad levers.

they do have flex but i tend to adjust the brakes very tight so when i use the lever i can feel really good how hard i brake and if u adjust the v brakes tight to the wheel like me the flex doesn t matter
only when my brakes are really worn out then it doesn t brake that good (And i found out my woodman brakebooster doesn t help that much i can hardly feel it crap thing made of carbon that flexes when i brake... )

i prefer v brake over most discbrakes

anyway im planning to sell my bike I don't know exactly when but im going to mountainbike a few times then sell it for around 400 euro I hope
maby when im older I will drop back to mountainbiking(I prolly know for sure)

[TheStig]

A good set of V-brakes is better then a bad set of discbrakes that is one thing that is for sure, and they are much less work to maintain.

Carbon brakeboosters are pretty much useless, because the whole purpose of a brakebooster is to make sure the frame or fork does not flex wich makes you loose abit of braking power, but CF ones flex them selfs so they don't reduce the flexing of the frame at all.

[Pabl0z]

Oh man I got struck with bike-fever suddenly and I want a new bike so bad .
But I guess it's not so smart to buy a bike this late in the summer. I should wait till autumn and get a bike with a nice discount, no? (or wait till next spring even)

I have an ok mountain bike I'm riding atm, but I don't really ever go off-roading (except for a little trail every now and then), so I'd be better off with a hybrid or something similar.
I'd like a bike that is best for short trips (10-50km) on asphalt but is also ok on a bit longer trips (100-1000km) but needs to be able to handle unpaved roads too to a point.
Of course I could just put in narrower tires on my MTB, but it's a steel bike and I'd like something lighter.

I'm not really asking for any tips on what to buy, because I think I know what kind of a bike would be the best choice for me, but I'm asking should I go for it and buy a new bike now or try and cope with my fever and ride my fat-tired MTB for the rest of the summer (or till spring)?

[TheStig]

Like you said the best option is to wait just abit longer (not to long) and get a 2008 model with a nice discount.

Looking at what you discribed, a hybrid is the best option.
they have 28' wheels wich are ideal for road use, you can fit nice road tires (Race bike) on them.
But you can also fit 28' cyclecross tires on them. wich give better grip on gravel etc.
They are in general pretty comfortable (mountainbike handlebar and rideposition )
They are often also availebl with suspension so give abit more comfort then a road race bike.
But make sure if you get suspension on a bike to get a decent one, cause bad ones are basicly a steel spring with no damping at all, so they just bounce, very annoying.

Just post some of your options here, so we can see what you like.

[Pabl0z]

Yeah I've been paying attention to all of those things and I haven't even been looking at any bikes with suspension because I know the ones within my budget can't have great suspensions.
I'd say my absolute limit is at 700€ but I'd want to be able to get away with a bike with less than 600€.
German stores have a lot more bikes to choose from and they're usually cheaper too, but then I'd have to buy the bike without trying it out first..

Here are some bikes from german stores that have caught my eye:

http://www.fun-corner.de/index.php?cat= ... ct=A001712
http://www.raddiscount.de/P05232.html
http://www.raddiscount.de/P05373.html
http://www.fahrrad24.com/wbc.php?sid=55 ... hrrad.html

And here's a few bikes with Nexus gears (they'd be easier for a noob like me):

http://www.fun-corner.de/index.php?cat= ... ct=A001711
http://www.raddiscount.de/P05103.html
http://www.bike24.com/1.php?content=8;p ... 8eefdc9b03

Only those two Felts are available here in Finland (200-150€ more expensive here).

These are available in Finland for the same price (or about) as in Germany:

http://www.focusbikesuk.com/focuscitybi ... arriba.php (549€)
http://www.focusbikesuk.com/focuscitybi ... rrente.php (699€)
http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=22264 (480€)
http://www.konaworld.com/08_dew_w.htm (only 359€ so not much of an investment, but the parts do suck)


Out of these all my favs are probably:
http://www.cube-bikes.de/xist4c/web/SL- ... 21111_.htm (I love its looks )
http://www2.centurion.de/Bikes.Detail?bike_id=1100 (damn good bang for buck, no?)
http://www.focusbikesuk.com/focuscitybi ... rrente.php (really pushing my budget, but it's available in Finland and is really light, carbon fork)
http://snowball.centurion.de/Bikes.Detail?bike_id=1103 (if I decide to go for Nexus)

[TheStig]

The Cube and Focus are very nice bikes and great value.
A Carbon fork is a great option, they are more comfortable then alloy forks.

I personally wouldn't go for Nexus, it's a great system on a city bike (my commuter has Nexus 7) but on a bike build with abit of speed in mind, not a great option, just to heavy and not enough gear options.

[Pabl0z]

The Centurion with Nexus only weighs 10,6kg...
But yeah.. I was supposed to go check out the cheap Kona and Specialized today but got lazy and just stopped by at a couple of bikeshops that are closer to me.
They didn't really have anything I'd consider buying.
If the weather is fine tomorrow I might go for a longer trip and check out the Focus', Specialized and Kona.

What do you think about the Centurion Cross Speed 800?
It's only 499€ (+30€ shipping).

[TheStig]

Not a bad bike for the price, have to admit that.


The total weight of a bike is not the most important thing, the rotational weight of the wheels is more important.
Maybe the total weight is around the same, but if the wheels are heavier, the bike feels heavier when riding.

It's not a bad option, but imo the only advantage of Nexus is that you can use a fully covered chain (no clue what the name of those things is.) so the chain doesn't get as dirty and you have to clean it less.
But if it's a fully exposed chain and chainrings, I rather have a set of normal gears, cause they are easier to maintain.

[NoXcious KiD]

Because it's a thread about bikes i decided to brag about mine.......i have a DHS BMX..........not haro or any other famous brand........but it does it's job of sticking together pretty darn well.......at the moment i'm learning new tricks (pretty hard if you ask me).........

anyways if you do BMX and know some easy tricks 4 me I'll be pleased to hear'em

[Pabl0z]

Well I ordered a bike just now.
Went for a cheaper choice but it still has reasonably good parts.
If I don't like it I bet I can sell it for a pretty good price over here.

http://www.raddiscount.de/P04993.html

I just wonder if the bike is gonna be dark coloured like on the store's site or light coloured like on Merida's website .
But I didn't buy the bike for the looks obviously so I don't really care .

[TheStig]

I think it's a good choice, Merida makes good frames (they also make alot of frames for other brands, it's one of the biggest factories)

[Pabl0z]

Well the bike arrived today and it seems like a quality bike.
Only bad thing is that they sent me the wrong size.
Of course it wouldn't matter if it was one size smaller, but it's bigger (60-62cm, I wanted the 58cm).
It's just barely rideable for me.
I'll have to take it for a longer spin to see if my back starts hurting or something but first I need to adjust the derailleurs somehow.
It'll have to wait until tomorrow .

If it turns out that the bike is too big for me it's a good thing that a tall friend of mine has been thinking of buying the same bike, so I might be able to sell it to him without any losses .