Newbie needs a bike.

[Dromen]

Buddy of mine wants to start cycling. Live in Chicago proper. Wants something he can use to run errands, battle the dog walkers and roller bladers on the lake front and handle the crappy city streets. Also wants something that can take him to the next level which would be organized road rides, not racing.

My first reaction was to suggest a cross bike with some straight(flat bars) allowing the option of going to drops if he wanted to graduate to more of a roadie. Been on road bikes so long, cant think back to square one.

Being that my first suggestions are batting about .250 these days, thought i better check with you.

THanks for the time and attention.

[AngryScientist]

my suggestion:

if you've got an REI anywhere near you, go with him to take a look. i was impressed with the selection of novara branded steel frames, along with Surley bikes they carry. get him on something that fits some nice fat tires, they have some cool touring/rando bikes that come with fatties mounted and decent racks right out of the box. perfect for errand duty around the city.

pull the racks, and pop on some skinny tires and those bikes are all anyone needs to hang with a group ride.

they all seem to come with good "civilian" level components too, stoutly built wheels, etc. - and a warranty on it all to envy.

[VA-Scooter]

I think you have the right idea. Although i would not bother with the flat bars-Just a cross bike at whatever $$ he is comfortable with. Swapping tires will make it an excellent road bike if he wants to move that way. CX tires will be great to start.

[MattTuck]

yeah, I'm with Nick. Did you specify budget?

Surly crosscheck seems like a good option at first blush.

Other alternative is a single speed. If it is mostly along the lake shore, I assume it is pretty flat. Not sure of the surrounding areas, but he might be able to get into a single speed for short money and put him in a position to upgrade next year with some extra dollars in hand.

[fiamme red]

Find a nice used bike on Craigslist.

[rugbysecondrow]

Buddy of mine wants to start cycling. Live in Chicago proper. Wants something he can use to run errands, battle the dog walkers and roller bladers on the lake front and handle the crappy city streets. Also wants something that can take him to the next level which would be organized road rides, not racing.

My first reaction was to suggest a cross bike with some straight(flat bars) allowing the option of going to drops if he wanted to graduate to more of a roadie. Been on road bikes so long, cant think back to square one.

Being that my first suggestions are batting about .250 these days, thought i better check with you.

THanks for the time and attention.

If he wants to be a roadie, but also wants an urban type of bike, it seems the two might not reconcile that well. I love what Surly has to offer, but it would end up being servicable at best, frustrating at worst, at accomplishing much of what you described.

Your friend really needs to be real about how he is going to ride the bike, then select something appropriate. If he is going to run errands, tool around the city, hit up the MUP around the lake shore etc, that is one thing. If he is going to want to be a roadie, join a group and push himself that way, then that seems to be a different sort of ride.

Newbies don't want SS, Surly, anything burly and industrial...think sexy, cool, fun etc.

To think like a newbie, you have to point him towards something like this: http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/road/sport/1_series/1_1_h2_compact/#

Cheap enough, fender/rack mounts, can be raced on and, maybe important to him, is a Trek...a sexier brand for many newbies.

Look on CL and buy a used Road and a used Urban bike...then he might be happier. :)

[oliver1850]

I'm not crazy about the flat bar idea if he's going to move on to organized road rides. He might want to do a century at some point and will want the extra hand positions, as well as the ability to get a bit lower for the inevitable head winds.

CX frames would certainly work, but the higher BB isn't needed, and they generally have short head tubes, which may be a drawback.

I like AS's rando suggestion, except the Novara I looked at weighs 28 lbs. Not a big deal for the city part of the equation, but a bit of a drawback when trying to keep up with more experienced riders on longer rides, who will likely be on bikes that are 10 lbs. lighter.

I'd think one of the current crop of relaxed geo road bikes would be a good compromise. Generally, they have longer head tubes and slacker angles than more performance oriented road bikes. Find one that will take big tires and it would make a good all-rounder, especially if it has rack mounts. CAAD9s will fit 28s, so I'd think the Synapse would fit at least that big, although it comes with 25s. Unfortunately no rack mounts on the Synapse. There's surely something similar out there that has them.

Marin Argenta has rack mounts, not sure of max tire size.

[Dromen]

thanks everyone. I sent into the local bike shop for a fitting and the bike. I'll let you know what he comes up with.

[charliedid]

I'm happy to help if he wants another shop to try out bikes.

It's in Evanston so PM me he would be interested.

[godfrey1112000]

Find a nice used bike on Craigslist.

There are on CL especially in Chicago,

Many have great hopes and one day the wind and hills tell them to cut their losses, and Monday morning the fire sale begins on CL