The new bike
As announced in ‘Murphy and me‘, I bought a new bike.
I discovered that choosing a new bike is a lot harder than buying a new computer. Instead of only taking into account price, performance, reliability, silence and looks, you also have to think about weight, targeted use, and much more.
Most components are also very difficult to compare and a quick look on the internet usually only complicates matters.
I always thought that there were two kind of bikes: race bikes and ‘normal’ ones.
It appears I was wrong.
Today one has to choose between folding-, race-, trekking-, city-, fitness-bikes or hybrid combinations of any of these.
After some research, I came up with the following requirements:
- Comfortable enough for everyday usage.
- Light enough to accommodate longer trips.
- Suitable to be fully packed on a short bike holiday.
- Able to be stripped of some unnecessary components for ’sporty’ rides.
- No front, rear or saddle suspension.
- Not too ugly (expensive stuff should be well-designed).
- Equipped with lights and luggage carrier.
- Available in a bike shop not too far away (not having a car to transport it there).
The above requirements, together with a limited budget, narrowed my search to the lighter ‘trekking’ models. In the end I chose the Trek X500. After riding it for three weeks, these are my experiences:
- Riding a decent bike is a true pleasure.
- The X500 comes with a lot of extras as one should expect in this price range: kick stand, pump, wheel lock with extension cable, luggage carrier with binder and even a lowrider in front.
- The riding position is fairly upwards; this is very comfortable and can be tweaked a bit by adjusting the handlebar.
- A chain guard is not a necessity for me. I’m curious how long it’ll last.
- I wouldn’t mind a hub dynamo instead of the battery-powered LED lights, but anything is better than a flaky wheel dynamo.
October 13th, 2008 at 22:01
I can highly recommend a hub dynamo! While I was spending a lot of money on my Brompton, I decided to spend the extra on a hub dynamo too. I’ll never go back to any other kind of bike lighting.
Unlike wheel dynamos, the hub is not flaky and unlike battery-powered LED thingies, you can’t forget the (attached) lights that come with a dynamo-system.
When the lights are off, there is practically no drag from the hub. Being a geek, of course I test these things fairly thoroughly – risking life and limb to science. Coasting down a steep downhill and turning the light on was interesting proof that physics really works.
The results of that experiment together with the graphs from the manufacturer about “drag while off” are sufficiently reassuring.
October 14th, 2008 at 17:11
I have intimate experience with hub dynamos, as a future blog post will hopefully show. And indeed, they are lovely.
I’d love to charge my iPod while commuting…
I see that the optional Bromptons hub dynamo is the Rolls Royce of hub dynamos: the SON. Indeed, impressive test metrics!
October 15th, 2008 at 9:50
Just for info: the LED lighting on this bike is not of the cheapo detachable/stealable/forgettable kind, but really bolted on.
May 21st, 2009 at 20:13
I’m curious as to why you do not want any suspension? What would be the disadvantage in having it?
May 23rd, 2009 at 11:54
Fewer parts means less risk of breaking things, and less maintenance… And it’s a disadvantage in sporty rides on good roads as well, I’m told.