THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 15, 1995 TAG: 9507150075
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: FITNESS QUEST
SOURCE: BY EARL SWIFT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 161 lines
WE PRACTICED preteen cool astride Stingrays in metal-flake paint. We marked our ascension to junior high on cola-colored Varsitys. High school brought the apogee of nonmotorized transport: the Continental.
Owning a bike 25 years ago meant owning a solid-steel steed by Schwinn or Huffy. Buying one - even the lofty Schwinn Continental, with its 10 speeds and sophisticated center-pull brakes - meant never having to spend more than $110.
Alas. Stroll into a bike shop today and you'll find no sign of those simple times. Racks hold knobby-tired beasts with featherweight frames and two dozen gears and components fashioned from fighter-jet metals. Banana seats have given way to painful-looking, aerodynamic knobs. The price tags dangling from the handlebars threaten to knock you down and rifle your wallet.
Fear not. As daunting as the new machines may seem, buying one need not require lavish wealth or an engineering degree. With a little thought and a modest wad of cash, you can roll off on a sparkling new two-wheeler that will perform well for years.
First, some basics. You could go to a department store and pick up a bike for a couple of hundred bucks. Know this, however: They rarely cost much less than those sold in bike shops, and they're often of lower quality. Moreover, the folks who sell and assemble them often lack expertise.
The bottom line: If you're an adult and buying a bike for yourself, do it at a bike shop.
General Rule No. 2: Don't buy a ``girl's bike.'' Generations of American women have been raised to believe that a bike lacking a top tube is safer, particularly during hard braking. The truth is that a traditional diamond-shaped frame, or ``men's bike,'' is stronger and more efficient - it flexes less with your pedal strokes. And if your bike is the proper size, the crossbar won't pose a threat.
Now that that's out of the way, do some soul-searching. Will you use your bike to commute to work? Spend an hour a week tooling through the neighborhood? Blaze down fire roads and Jeep trails?
Your answers will determine not only how much you should expect to spend - a subject we'll cover in detail in a minute - but what type of bike is best-suited to your needs.
Bikes come in four basic varieties:
Road bikes are the light, skinny-tired machines long favored by racers. They feature drop handlebars, usually have 10 to 16 speeds and are a fine choice if you plan to stick to smooth pavement.
Mountain bikes are beefier off-road vehicles, boasting tough frames, fat tires, flat handlebars and 18 to 24 speeds. Most are ``geared lower'' than road bikes, meaning that they can climb outrageously steep terrain but can't achieve road bikes' top speeds. Many riders find their relatively upright riding position comfortable, and their versatility has made them the most popular bike sold in America.
Hybrids are what the name suggests - a compromise between road and mountain bikes. An update of yesteryear's city bike and English racer, they're equipped with flat handlebars and medium-width, all-purpose tires. They can't take the pounding a mountain bike can, but they're usually a bit less frail than a road racer.
Cruisers are the single-speed heaps they rent down on the boardwalk. Also known as paperboy's bikes, they're heavy, unresponsive and slow. A headwind is torturous astride one of these monsters, and you can forget about hills. But they are simple. Some people like that.
What type is right for you? Unless you're a masochist or plan to ride very infrequently, you won't be happy with a cruiser. Their wide, spring-supported seats may seem comfortable at first, but after five miles, you'll rue your decision to buy on the cheap.
Many experienced bikers don't have much good to say about hybrids either. They're no lighter than mountain bikes, just more brittle, and there is nothing you can do on a hybrid that you can't do on a mountain bike fitted with slick tires.
That leaves road and mountain bikes to consider seriously. Both involve sacrifices. Buy a road bike and you're relegated to the blacktop. You also have to be a bit ginger: It won't take kindly to curb-jumping, potholes or loose gravel on the shoulder. It is fast, however.
Buy a mountain bike and you travel a touch less quickly. For urban riding - a challenging blend of curb-hopping, median-crossing and evasive maneuvering - this may be a worthwhile trade-off.
Time to shop. Prepare for surprises: A decent bike, road or mountain, is going to set you back $300 or better, and that's rock-bottom decent - you'll get basic transportation with limitations apparent after a few miles of pedaling.
If you're going to ride only occasionally, you can go with this level of quality. But if you plan to use your bike several hours a week, it's probably worth spending a little more - say, $300 to $500. You'll get a lighter bike with smoother-shifting gears and more reliable components. Your riding experience will be more pleasant, and that'll get you on the bike more often.
At the next level - $500 to $1,000 - you encounter even lighter weight, sophisticated gearing and exotic metals, perhaps even shock-absorbers to smooth out off-road bumps. Bikes costing between $1,000 and $2,000 are lighter still, with components that qualify as works of art. The best run upward of $2,500 and are one-of-a-kind machines with tolerances worthy of NASA.
Is there that great a difference between bikes costing $300 and $1,500? Absolutely. Test ride both at the bike shop and in seconds the strengths of the pricier bike will be obvious.
Is a $1,500 bike five times better than a $300 bike? That's a bit tougher to answer. It will be pounds lighter and more responsive. It will be far more reliable and require less maintenance. It almost certainly will be faster. Its brakes will stop you quickly.
But five times better? It depends on how you use the bike, and how often. If you commute to work, and the extra outlay knocks 5 minutes off your time each way, it may well seem so.
You've selected the bike of your dreams, and it costs way more than you can afford. Not to worry: Bikes that differ wildly in price often share frames and other key components, and this can work in your favor.
Say you covet an F1000 made by Cannondale, a Pennsylvania company renowned for its aluminum frames. This cutting-edge bike has a shock absorber built into its head tube and a frame weighing less than 3 pounds. It retails locally for something in the neighborhood of $2,000.
That's a load of money. But Cannondale also makes bikes with the same frame and shock system that cost several hundred dollars less, thanks to components that aren't quite as ``trick'' as those on the F1000.
Buy the cheaper bike and upgrade some components over time, and you just might wind up with something better-suited to your needs than the F1000 would have been.
The key is to do some homework. Don't plan to buy on your first visit to a bike shop; ask for company catalogs instead, pore over them at home and examine the differences between various makes of similarly priced bikes. Remember that brand-name snob appeal can translate into less bike for the buck.
At that point, you're set to buy.
When you do, make sure that your bike fits. Don't trust yourself with this task: Ask the bike shop people to give you a hand, because along with frame size, there are other variables to consider.
After that, there's only one thing left to do.
Get out and ride. MEMO: BUYING A BIKE HELMET: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW. Page E5
A helmet is a must
COMMON SENSE became law in Virginia Beach this month: Kids under 14
in the resort city must now wear a helmet when riding bikes.
No such law compels older riders to do so, and nothing on the books
forces anyone to strap on a lid in other Hampton Roads cities. But it
shouldn't take a law to keep you from taking stupid risks, and the fact
is that riding on concrete or asphalt without a helmet is doing just
that.
Head injuries are the greatest danger you face while pedaling. Curbs,
mailboxes and telephone poles become lethal hazards if you're tossed
against them unprotected at even low speeds.
That can happen no matter how careful a rider you try to be. Remember
that you'll be sharing the road with drivers who won't notice you, don't
know to yield to you or refuse to yield even if they know better.
Protection isn't expensive - a good-quality, industry-approved model
costs as little as $35. Nor are they the uncomfortable, hot,
goofy-looking mixing bowls of the past. Today's helmets are lightweight,
airy and stylishly aerodynamic.
The bottom line: Don't buy a bike without buying a helmet. Don't ride
without wearing one.
That fancy new bike isn't much good if it outlasts you.
ILLUSTRATION: Text and research by EARL SWIFT; graphic by ROBERT D.
VOROS/Staff
[For complete text of the graphic, see microfilm for this date.]
by CNB