So many and way to much money. very confused.

by Manson K. Laney
(College Corner, Ohio)

In 1979 I bought a Schwinn 12 speed super le tour. And I still have it and it works, and in great shape. But I have always wondered what these other thousand dollar and up bikes have over mine. I've always considered getting something nicer because I love to ride, but which one? I can't afford one of these $1000.00 bike's and even if I could I would have no idea where to hide it from my wife!

http://www.bicycle-adventures.com/peng-shulin-the-miracle-man-from-china.html

I stopped into a bike shop every now and then and see some cool things...like the shifters in the brake handles and of course or 12 gears to choose from.

What the heck should I look for?!

Comments for
So many and way to much money. very confused.

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Jul 07, 2010

Have bike will travel
by: Naz

Yeap,
seen little old ladies in rusty bikes going to the market with makeshift baby seat at the back.. the seat was made with plastic chair with the legs sawn off!

Still work for them.. and I imagine those bikes are also passed by expiry date already.

Depends on what you want, where you want to go and if the bikes still work..

I would like top of the line too, but with me cycling 500 m to send my daughter to catch her school bus.. that would not be necessary.. unless I want to do round Penang island trip.

Jul 06, 2010

best bicycle
by: Peter

Hi

You come right to the core. Imho there's no "best" bicycle. There might be a "best" bicycle for you which not necessarily the best for me. Upgrading for the sake of upgrading is no point. That counts for house, car, software etc.

It depends what you do with a bicycle. If had used my old Rih race bicycle, I would have had a lot more troubles in cycling from Holland to Malaysia. Rims too small and too weak, gear especially in the Himalaya would have been not sufficient.

But that said, I have seen people on cheap bikes, high up in the mountains with trailers etc and still make it.

Heinz Stucke, a legend in itself has been cycling since 1961 and for many years been cycling with a 3 speed bike all over the world. You are right, you do not NEED an expensive bicycle. You CAN do it with something more simple. But as always, there's prices to pay.

So what ARE you looking for? I usually tell people here that if I needed a bicycle for riding in town, I could do that easily with a $25 bicycle (Malaysia has them THAT cheap). For a longer ride it would cause some problems but it would not be impossible.

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