BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

The Nuvinci is a neat piece of kit, but, in my limited experience, it's astoundingly heavy, and seemed to suck power on even mild hill climbs. Sarah_q (who occasionally frequents this board) recently swapped hers out for a traditional rear wheel w/ cassette and derailler, and the improvement was really significant. If it were me, I'd forgo the Nuvinci/Gates drive, and instead allocate the savings towards having a local shop build you up a nice bike from scratch; maybe find a stock bike whose geometry suits you, then buy the bare frameset and have the bike shop source dynamo wheels, lights, etc. to suit your needs.

If you like the idea of internally geared hubs (which is valid), you might look at something with a Shimano 8 speed, probably a lot less weight and $$ than the Nuvinci. I can't think of a specific bike off the top of my head. You're going to need to identify one with the key features, then customize. Find a bike shop you like.

At the end of the day, derailleurs, free hubs, and cassettes work remarkably well.

Come to a few group rides, talk to people, and see how anyone else around here is outfitted. Bikes are subjective beasts. Identical equipment works very differently depending on personal needs and preferences. Many people have multiple bikes, since their needs and preferences vary from day to day. Myself, Bike #1 is a 27-speed Redline, and I use nearly every gear on it in my 10-mile-each-way commute. Bike #2 is a 30-year-old Huffy that I can't even shift into more than five of its 12 speeds on a good day, but it serves me well enough. Then again, I've climbed Federal Street on a 3-speed IGH. You can make any setup work, and even be happy with it. You just have to try a bunch of things.

I commute with a bike similar to what you have in mind. I have a Spot Ajax. It has a Gates belt drive mated to a Shimano Alfine 8 speed. I swapped the mechanical disk brakes for Deore XT hydraulics. I love this bike and have used it 3 days a week for the past 3 years unless the roads are icy. The upside is that it's completely weather proof. The downside, as has been said, is that the internally geared hubs are heavy and the bike is expensive. You obviously don't need a bike like this for commuting but there has been almost no maintenance needed in 3 years of commuting.

To look at the solution from the other end of the spectrum, rather than having a "dream" bike, my commuting bike, and in many ways my favorite bike of several, is a $50 rigid frame Trek 830 mountain bike "8" speed, grip shifters, with road tires, fenders, rack, and lights. It is impervious to Pgh roads, Pgh weather, and is always ready to go. Don't spend too much time looking, get going, adjust on the fly!

+1 for having multiple bikes. Kept me riding I don't even know how many days I wouldn't have otherwise. Including today, which would've been a shame to miss.

"I’d like a bike for the city and the trails to pedal about…. " Good point Bill. A lot of us ride all the time with simple bikes. There's still a world of difference between a decent rigid frame with swappable parts and the referenced Mongoose. Maybe check out Thick bicycles in the Southside and see if they have anything used that would fit the bill. If you get into that and really enjoy it, maybe then start looking at getting custom built wheels and stuff, but hey, maybe you'll get sick of it or won't be as into as you think, and then you'll have a $1000 paperweight if you start with that.

Thanks for all the info. I thought I had replied to a few posts on here, but I don't see them in the thread... I have been checking out the Spot Ajax, Marin SC6 DLX, and the Breezer... the Ajax and Marin I think would be at a little over $2k, and I'm not sure about the carbon fork. I think I'd rather have something metal. I don't really wanna spend 2k either... but everything appeasing to my eyes are about that any way once you slice and dice it(Racks, fenders, lights) All I know is that I need a bike like now. Everyday I've been missing out... running kills my knees, and walking isn't cutting it... Sundays are for dirt and the smell of 2stroke high test combusting... I need 2 wheels for monday through Saturday. ... once again. Thanks for all the info. It is greatly appreciated....

Whether you're burning a large or smaller hole in your pocket, Thick is well regarded around here: http://thickbikes.com/ I think they cater to a lot of commutery types too My hunch is that you can probably get better racks and fenders as aftermarket addons that will be of higher quality and offer better fender coverage

Not to steer people away from Thick, which is an excellent shop, but folks here like lots of different shops. There's info on shops etc. here: http://bikingpgh.com/index.php?title=Main_Page#Finding_a_Bike_to_Ride.

Thick is excellent, and I may make a trip over there myself if only to see that the city just put new pavement down on their street. However, I also regularly do business with: * Scholl's in West View * Iron City (both Oakland & Lawrenceville locations) * Love Bikes in L'ville * several others, depending on where I am when something breaks Methinks you're overthinking this. You would be almost as well off for the two grand you're thinking of spending, if you spent $200 for a decent used bike, and put another $100 into lock, lights and fenders, maybe a helmet mirror. Much of which would be transferable to a better bike when you decide to upgrade. Get a bike and beat the hell out of it, learning stuff. Then get a good bike and beat the hell out of it, learning more advanced stuff.

Or if you're a slow learner like me, just keep getting the el-cheapo bikes. If you're riding something, you win. At life. Seriously, played it the other day with my girls and there's a life tile for riding to work.

Seriously, I spent $5 at a church rummage sale for a crappy 10-speed eight years ago and got three solid years out of it. 2008-2010, it was the #2 bike, and I was regularly commuting 12 to 17 miles each way on it. It saw road use as recently as 2013. The main reason it started gathering dust was that I got a different bike, for free, and got three more years out of that one.

Stick w/ Stu. He's the guru. Hit up Thick Bikes and talk to Chris. He won't oversell you. He'll interview and get a good feel for how you plan to ride and give you a chance to test ride a lot of bikes based on the info you give him. I was passed by one a guy on an Ajax a few years back in Schenley Park. Sweet ninja ride. I couldn't hear him as he came by. The guy said he only wipes it down once in a while. There are always great bikes popping up on Craigslist.

^ Great bikes do occasionally pop up on CL, although it can also be a wretched hive of scum and villainy. You must be cautious. It helps if you have some bike knowledge.

I would at least consider buying a modern cyclocross bike with disc brakes and adding a rack, fenders, etc. as necessary. Those things can work well in multiple settings by changing tires and a few other components. You can install some street or semi-knobby tires, a rack and fenders for commuting. The same setup works well on the rail trails, and for touring. If you want to ride on moderate trails, add the biggest knobby tires that will fit. Want to let the MX bike sit on Sunday and do a 100-mile road ride? Install 23 or 25 mm road tires and have at it. If the bike is stiff and light enough, you could probably road race it without it holding you back too much, if you cared to. A bike made specifically for commuting, on the other hand, probably won't work well at anything but commuting. Bottom line: if you think you may use the bike for more than commuting, take a good look at a mid-range 'cross bike. Also, when looking at bikes between, say, $800 and $1300, my sense is that there are big differences in frame and component quality, with some frames being very light and solid; others feel like they are made from the same material as construction scaffolding. For example, a friend's $1,000 Fuji was very heavy, my $1,200 Cannondale CAAD9 was very light and capable. You can get a lot of bike for the money if you shop carefully.