On Fri, Oct 21, 2011 at 01:25:52PM -0400, Ken Waller wrote: > Along similar lines, I was experiencing neck issues with the riding > position of my 1988 Cannondale MTB. Talked to a local Trek dealer > and wound up with their 7300 hybrid. > Cured the neck issue and put some more fun back into riding. > > The Cannondale was no slouch in its time but its enlightening to see > the progress in bike technology since 1988. > Both bikes have aluminum frames and are equipped with reasonably > components - not the top of the line but far from junk. Thge > shifters on the Trek are about as good as can be while the Cannodale > has a less positive shift mechanism. The Trek has front suspension, > a cushioning seat post several built in adjustable points while the > Cannondale had none of that. The Trek cost $250 less than the > Cannondale.
Bicycles are, if anything, worse than cameras when it comes to pricing. When I wanted to get in a bit of exercise I decided to explore the cheap options first. For around $300 you can pick up a perfectly decent model (in my case a 21-gear hybrid with front suspension forks, sprung seat, upright riding position, etc.) That's served me well for a few years now - I don't feel a compelling need to go out and spend 5 (or 50) times as much. Sure, it's a bit heavy. But it's helped me remove about 40 lbs of unwanted weight (which puts worrying over a few pounds of bike frame into perspective). About the only change I made was to replace the tyres that came with it (supposedly "all-terrain" tyres). I found that the minute you took them off-road (even on just hard backwoods dirt trails) those tyres just weren't tough enough; I had three punctures is as many trips. A set of higher-pressure tyres were a lot more puncture-resistant, with the added benefit of being a lot easier to pedal on the roads and bike trails where I do 90% or more of my riding. I've been a bit slack this year - the bike has spent far too much time in the garage. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
