I want to ride a bicycle... - by Yakoob
dvrabel on 31/12/2011 at 16:11
Quote Posted by Yakoob
... maybe slightly thicker tires to deal with the potholes.
I highly recommend a set of puncture proof tires. I've a set of Schwalbe Marathon Plus on the bike I use to get to work -- over a year and not a single puncture, instead of one a week before.
Sombras on 31/12/2011 at 18:02
Quote Posted by jay pettitt
Avoid.
Slightly more useful frame, wasted with an appalling drive train. Heading into the dreaded Bike Shaped Object realm - shame on you Giant. Still, it's good the shop are offering tune ups for life - because you'll be back there once a week if you try using it as a bicycle. Can we sell you a gel saddle sir - ooh suits you. Crappy materials mean whatever crisp set up you experience on a test ride won't last past the weekend. That thing's designed to be ridden twice and then sit in a shed for the rest of its life. Sorry.
If you can save a bit more and stretch to the Escape 1 you'll have a decent bike.
Yup, totally agree with this. I used to bike commute regularly and now am regulated to not-too-miserable-weather cycle training and the best thing I did was to buy a quality, but not ridiculously expensive Bianchi. I've upgraded saddle, rear derailleur (sp?), pedals, bars and brifters over the years. The initial investment was steep, but bearable, and like jay says my bike's reliability and quality have helped to keep me riding. If you're serious about this, go to a serious level of investment.
Yakoob on 31/12/2011 at 18:56
Every single time I talk about bikes everyone is like "well just invest the xtra x-hundred dollars and get a really good one!" But I already said in OP I *dont* want a really good one that will last me two decades. I have a budget I need to stick to. If the bike is derivable for a few hrs a week, with the occasional maintenance and lasts me a few years I'd be more than happy. I'm not in a place where I want to get a life-long bicycle yet.
Quote Posted by jay pettitt
Avoid.
I don't know, all the reviews I found were highly favorable and even two different bike stores I went to (including those that dont carry the escape 2) agreed it was a solid bike. The only complaint was that the pedals weren't the greatest but those can be upgraded. 400 bucks is already my budget limit and I dont think I would find a better deal than that without hitting up craigslist for used ones.
Nuth on 31/12/2011 at 21:31
Have you checked out bikesdirect.com? I don't know how their bikes on the lower end of the price range compare with what you're looking at, but the titanium frame bike I bought from them a few years ago was much more bike than anything else I could find for the money.
jay pettitt on 1/1/2012 at 01:42
I shall explain things as best I can.
You don't want that bike.
I can be a bike snob - I am a bike snob - but that isn't my motivation here.
Among other things (privately I am to bicycles as Imelda Marcos is to shoes, and I run two bike related community projects) I do stints as a bike mechanic for a charity that ships donated bikes to developing countries by the container load. I've come to know thousands of bikes. The bits on the Escape 2.0 suck. That's a summary of experience, not conjecture.
If it were for me, I'd pick the Escape RX 0. In fact that's not a million miles from my current run-around. But that's me. If it were for a family member who wasn't a bike snob and who I didn't dislike it would be the Escape 1.0 - it's a good, basic bike. The escape 2.0 is not.
I could recommended the Escape 2.0, but only to someone I really didn't like. And it would be to spite them.
In short, Shimano make two sets of components. Good components and components for $150 bikes from Walmart. The Escape 2.0 is the latter (on a semi-decent frame). The escape 1.0 is the former - only just - but the components are basically good and decedents of their high end gear of a few years back, rather than decedents of their bits for children's bikes - which is what you've been looking at.
It's an arse - because Walmart and Super Market bikes make people think that bikes are cheap as chips, but they're not. Bicycles that aren't craptastic start at $400 (the bike in your OP is unusually cunning in it's choice of frame and bits - but it is still cheap and cheerful).
You don't need a Bianchi, but you also don't want a craptastic kid's bike.
Yakoob on 2/1/2012 at 04:26
You make a compelling argument and I am taking it into consideration. But then, what would you suggest? Like I said, my budget limit is 400 bucks an I was hoping I could also include the helmet or ulock in it at least but it doesnt look like this will happen. Honestly, if I get a bike that works nicely and lasts me the next 2-4 years I'll be more than happy; at that point I'll either hate biking or I'll be into it serious enough that I would want a better bike anyway.
jay pettitt on 2/1/2012 at 11:03
Rob a bank. Pimp your body to the night. Sell some unwanted stuff on Craig's list. Ask someone nicely. Get a paper round.
The amount you'll be able to save this year, next and the one after by having a bicycle that you really enjoy riding rather than a dog that'll make you miserable and think that bicycles are stupid makes the immediate financial worries kinda trivial. The bike you want if you'd like to zip around town and beyond for 2 - 4 years is the Escape 1.0 (or something very much like it).
Or get a Bianchi on Craig's list. Or go to one of the LA Bike Kitchens and ask if they know of anyone selling something that doesn't suck.
Muzman on 2/1/2012 at 11:58
Bike info not all that big on the net apparently. This thread is like the fifth google return for "escape 1 bike".
I've often thought about getting a treadley again, but dammit I just can't get past the pain memory of sitting on a bike seat all those years. A design problem that seems insoluble.
Sombras on 2/1/2012 at 19:32
Quote Posted by Muzman
Bike info not all that big on the net apparently. This thread is like the fifth google return for "escape 1 bike".
I've often thought about getting a treadley again, but dammit I just can't get past the pain memory of sitting on a bike seat all those years. A design problem that seems insoluble.
I also thought I was cursed to always walk sideways after dismounting my trusty steed, but a superbikenerd friend pestered me into buying a type of saddle that he swore by (Brooks B-17) and, dammit, it worked. A most uncomfortable-looking seat ended up being probably my best cycling-related purchase, helmet and lighting notwithstanding.
Inline Image:
http://trekandrun.com/reviews/brooks/b17specialsaddle/brooks%20B17.jpgOh, and I should clarify--yup, one doesn't need a Bianchi (or any other "premium" bike, for that matter), but with bikes it really is a matter of getting what you buy. A shitty machine that constantly throws chains, won't properly stop, skips gears, and generally scares you will convince all but the most desperate to give up on riding. Take care of yourself to the best of your ability when considering a bike. And, too, one doesn't need to get the absolutely best model of a bike company's product line. "Serious" cycling snobs turn their noses up at my Volpe because it cost 50-70% less than their dipped-in-gold-dust machines, but you won't see them laughing at the end of a century ride!
Some of the most amazing--and budget--bikes I've seen came from local underground/garage builders who cobble together great components (LEGALLY!) from various sources to build excellent custom bikes. They don't always look as pretty as the tarts at the stores, but they're solid and reliable as hell and will do exactly what you need them to do, when you need them to do it. Ask around!
Muzman on 2/1/2012 at 21:34
Damn, the price on those things! Probably worth it though. The ones with the central flex groove that is, as they put it, "a sure preventive to all perineal pressure" is certainly whistling my tune.
The best I've personally encountered is big squishy, girly cruiser seats. I've tried to think through a few designs myself, like what would be basically a cruiser seat with no nose/prow (or 'person splitting chisel' as I like to think of it), maybe some sort of tilting seat, or even a padded T-bar would have been preferable to many I've had. There's certain mechanical and biomechanical problems to all of these though. Even with no actual prototyping that's fairly plain. It's a matter of how much 'rump assistance' you want in your pedaling (usually a lot). If its such a problem you might as well give up and get a recliner (I think you have to reach middle age and grow a beard before they'll let you have one. They're the only guys I ever see riding them anyway).
Maybe just a good seat made of the right stuff fixes all that.
