stuckincincy Posted June 10, 2009 Author Share Posted June 10, 2009 I bought a new bike 3 years ago, and seriously considered an Electra...at REI. Those folks known their bikes, and are just as helpful as any small local store. And REI has some sort of employee ownership thing so the employees actually care... they want repeat business I ended up buying a Specialized Hardrock at a local store. Now I kind of wish I had bought the cruiser, just so much more comfortable and I was probably optimistic about how much offroad I was going to do. A year later I bought my wife an REI "house" brand bike, and it is just as well made as my Specialized. My child bride is 4'11", so I've had to factor that into my search. I shy away from those highly arced bars - preferring a flatter profile. The crouch-bar bikes aren't right for us - old backs and spines - a more upright stance is best. Worse with motorcycles - seems the choices are the back-breaking "Ninja" style with stub bars and set-back foot position and controls, or the laid-back "cruisers. The first is so specialized towards racing behavior, and the latter (IMO) reduces control and awareness. The old "standard" seating position, with straight spine, a shallow bend at the elbows, feet below the hip joints, is hard to find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFan Trapped in Pats Land Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 the nice thing about the Electra is they are made for "flat footing" when you stop. You can basically stand without a crossbar killing your ability to procreate. Other manufacturers have picked up on this now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dean Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 Youre really off on your choices here. First off, Id stay away from the Electras. They are beach cruisers, as are most of the bikes youre looking at.. So unless your plan is to just have her mosey around at 5 MPH on a beach boardwalk..like the name implies, then you need to go in another direction. http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/bike_path/ Look under their "urban" or "bike path" categories. http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCBkS...n.jsp?ssid=09MS Their Vita and Sirrus lines look good. Again...head to a REAL bike shop and tell them EXACTLY where and when and how much you plan to ride. Throw out all your notions about fat seats, straight upright riding positions with huge handlebars, chainguards and coaster brakes. ALL of those things IMPEDE performance and comfort. NONE help. For the record, I tested the Trek version of the Electra Townie (as well as a few others) and it wasn't even close in comfort and maneuverability. And I bought my bike from a REAL bike shop. The Townie was right next to Specialized, Cannondale, etc. Here's a discussion of forward pedal choices from a few years ago. I'm sure a brief search would find something more recent. http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=225459 IMO, for an older person 50+, forward pedal design in a great option. What I looked for in a bike when I was younger, thinner and more athletic is far different from what I want/need in a bike today. If I didn't go for pedal-forward, I would have considered a couple of Specialized models (although a new one is out of my price range) or a Marin hybrid (I had a good connection to get a very good price). Some of the forward pedal bikes I test drove, and rejected were Trek and Giant (hated the Suede) as well as some "real" beach cruisers (like Jamis) that were simply to slow and clunky. While Electra Bikes are sometimes tossed in with the cruisers, they are really a hybrid design that some call "comfort", and for good reason. Here's another old thread from that same forum discussing the Townie. The participants include some bike snobs, the CEO of Electra, and other bike-folk: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=39627 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RkFast Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 For the record, I tested the Trek version of the Electra Townie (as well as a few others) and it wasn't even close in comfort and maneuverability. And I bought my bike from a REAL bike shop. The Townie was right next to Specialized, Cannondale, etc. Here's a discussion of forward pedal choices from a few years ago. I'm sure a brief search would find something more recent. http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=225459 IMO, for an older person 50+, forward pedal design in a great option. What I looked for in a bike when I was younger, thinner and more athletic is far different from what I want/need in a bike today. If I didn't go for pedal-forward, I would have considered a couple of Specialized models (although a new one is out of my price range) or a Marin hybrid (I had a good connection to get a very good price). Some of the forward pedal bikes I test drove, and rejected were Trek and Giant (hated the Suede) as well as some "real" beach cruisers (like Jamis) that were simply to slow and clunky. While Electra Bikes are sometimes tossed in with the cruisers, they are really a hybrid design that some call "comfort", and for good reason. Here's another old thread from that same forum discussing the Townie. The participants include some bike snobs, the CEO of Electra, and other bike-folk: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=39627 Im not disputing the worth of this new "comfort" postion....for novice riders tooling around on a Sunday afternoon. If youre doing anything close to serious riding its not going to work. This geometry goes against pretty much everything learned over the years vis a vis efficiency and comfort. Everything. These bikes are cruisers and great for that. But thats it. And Im sorry...a house brand REI bike put togehter by some pimple-face with a monkey wrench is not the same as a good bike put together by a pro mechanic at good bike shop. Period. End of story. You guys can argue all you want with me on this. I only ride 3-5 thousand miles a year...what do I know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckincincy Posted June 10, 2009 Author Share Posted June 10, 2009 For the record, I tested the Trek version of the Electra Townie (as well as a few others) and it wasn't even close in comfort and maneuverability. And I bought my bike from a REAL bike shop. The Townie was right next to Specialized, Cannondale, etc. I'll add some comments. Europeans have used bicycles as a prime mode of transportation for so many years. In any terrain and conditions we could discuss. They've covered all the possible bases years ago, refined bikes for this or that usage. I look at their manufacturer's offerings, see a tremendous variety. Not a niche missed. I tip my hat to them. There is nothing that we here, or the Orientals, can teach them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dean Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 Im not disputing the worth of this new "comfort" postion....for novice riders tooling around on a Sunday afternoon. If youre doing anything close to serious riding its not going to work. This geometry goes against pretty much everything learned over the years vis a vis efficiency and comfort. Everything. And Im sorry...a house brand REI bike put togehter by some pimple-face with a monkey wrench is not the same as a good bike put together by a pro mechanic at good bike shop. Period. End of story. You guys can argue all you want with me on this. I only ride 3-5 thousand miles a year...what do I know? I don't think anyone is disputing what you know about bikes. They are pointing out you are missing what this particular person might be looking for in a bike, and you assume your experience is "fact" for everyone. Cincy made it clear, I think, that this wasn't a bike to be used for serious mileage, or for going at top speed. It's kind of like having a discussion about $200 speakers with an audiophile who owns $5,000 speakers and has difficulty evaluating the differences between lower end stuff, and/or adjusting his/her viewpoint to the kind of room/music/electronics the customer may have. I rode hybrid touring/racing bikes for years. When I was going great distances, I loved them, and especially appreciated their speed. But, I can assure you that for going to the store, or tooling around on a 5 mile jaunt around town, my Townie is far more comfortable, at least for me. Even more comfortable than the mountain/urban hybrids cycles I have ridden. As for the REI vs. Bike Shop comment, I tend to agree and that's why I bought my cycle at a very good shop. But, just to play devil's advocate, you might get a future very good bike mechanic, who happens to work at REI today, and might be at the bike shop next year. And you might get a snobby bike mechanic having a bad day, who looks down on some of the cheaper models and doesn't take his time, or use all of his expertise. (I went to a few shops around here, and rejected some based on their attitude.) But I agree you are likely to get better quality and service from a legit bike shop. As a kid I was forced to ride a POS bike put together by the manager of the hardware store/lumber yard my dad partially owned. What a freaking disaster that was. I refuse to relive that nightmare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckincincy Posted June 10, 2009 Author Share Posted June 10, 2009 Im not disputing the worth of this new "comfort" postion....for novice riders tooling around on a Sunday afternoon. If youre doing anything close to serious riding its not going to work. This geometry goes against pretty much everything learned over the years vis a vis efficiency and comfort. Everything. These bikes are cruisers and great for that. But thats it. And Im sorry...a house brand REI bike put togehter by some pimple-face with a monkey wrench is not the same as a good bike put together by a pro mechanic at good bike shop. Period. End of story. You guys can argue all you want with me on this. I only ride 3-5 thousand miles a year...what do I know? Bikes are not automobiles. Not motorcycles. They are far, far simpler devices. The principles of the operation of their mechanical assemblies are easily understandable. Armed with decent assembly instructions, and this or that specialized tool, I am sure that I could assemble and set up any bike save one of those specialized 10K+ race jobs. I use torque wrenches, I use anti-seize, I use thrust washers where appropriate, I can safety-wire fasteners, chase threads, apply the appropriate grade of thread locking compound, bed in moving assemblies, and so on. Time is money to a seller. I can take a week, a month, to assemble a bicycle. When I went to bars for many years, I always came across many a "pro" transportation mechanic raising a ruckus or bragging about how they were the best that ever lived or watching their skulls drop down to kiss the bar rail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFan Trapped in Pats Land Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 Im not disputing the worth of this new "comfort" postion....for novice riders tooling around on a Sunday afternoon. If youre doing anything close to serious riding its not going to work. This geometry goes against pretty much everything learned over the years vis a vis efficiency and comfort. Everything. These bikes are cruisers and great for that. But thats it. And Im sorry...a house brand REI bike put togehter by some pimple-face with a monkey wrench is not the same as a good bike put together by a pro mechanic at good bike shop. Period. End of story. You guys can argue all you want with me on this. I only ride 3-5 thousand miles a year...what do I know? Man, you are a prick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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