Buying a commuter bike

[pjtn]

My partner and I are looking at getting into cycling. We would love to replace the car and commute to work which is a 15km round trip which mostly flat but with some steep hills. On the weekends we would like to go for longer rides for fun.

We are looking at getting the Bombtrack Audax bicycles and took them for a test ride yesterday. They are a good looking bike and seem well specced but we both found that we felt stretched when reaching the hoods. This made it a little hard to properly pull the brake levers. I could pull them but it didn't feel like I could with much force.

I am 176cm tall and my partner is 159cm tall. They had a S 51cm and a M 53cm model on the floor which they were keen to sell us. The seat seemed very close to the frame on the S for my partner with very little post visible. Do stores usually do any measurements before selling a bike or is that not necessary?

We found a review here where the author states the top tube is very long. The store people said we could put a shorter stem on the bike and spend some time getting the fit right. We are worried though that the bike is just too long to be comfortable.

Does anyone have experience with Bombtrack bikes and their quality?

[RonK]

I have no personal experience with Bombtrack, but they seem well-received, and the spec is quite good as you say. Certainly I would agree that the effective top tube is quite long.

It is not unknown for bike shop to push customers to buy their floor stock, but top tube length aside, these sizes look about right. It may be possible to acheive a comfortable fit by changing stems - this is the normal practice.

I suspect the saddle height you mentioned looks low because it is - likely the shop have adjusted it to allow your partner to put both feet on the floor when seated. It's not unusually to see people riding like this but not possible when the saddle height is correctly adjusted. It's also very bad for the knees.

If you have not ridden drop bar bike before it will take some time to adjust, however I would expect (demand) the bike shop to make sure you are correctly fitted.

With such a long top tube you may be better off with a size smaller, or perhaps looking at other bikes. I think I would have to choose a size smaller than normal to achieve the right fit.

My suggestion would be to pass on the Audax which is after all designed for racing and look instead at the Beyond for the type of riding you want to do. The riding position will be more upright and less stretched so achieving a comfortable fit more certain.

[pjtn]

Thanks for the reply RonK.

I'm feeling like it might be best to look elsewhere. The Jamis Coda series looks like it might do what we want and our local shop (we live in a rural area) sells Jamis. The spec is not all that high on these though. We could spend some extra upgrading parts on the bike but I'm not sure how good the frame is.

The Jamis Coda Elite is a nice looking bike but that might be too race oriented.

[pjtn]

If we got the Jamis Coda Sport and do it up with a better groupset, wheels, etc, we could aim to make something sporty but functional like this at a lower price:

[pjtn]

Would the Jamis Coda Comp frame be good enough to justify fitting it out with the likes of a SRAM Apex groupset and Mavic Aksium wheels?

[ianganderton]

My 2c's worth

Initially ignore specs and models. Go to as many bike shops as you can and ride as many bikes as you can. The recipe for what feels right for individuals is very difficult to write on a specs sheet. Each individual has a very different body geometry and what is right for one person no way means it is right for another

If you ride lots of different bikes you will quite quickly find what you do and don't like. This could be a longer or shorter top tube or a stand over height you prefer. This process is particularly important for women as there are not as many bikes available in the right sizing and it seems they vary more in what they find fits.

Armed with the geometry spec sheets of the bikes you find do fit well you will be much better placed to make a good decision on a bike that's right.

As well as trying LOTS of bikes my other top tips are

For now ignore the specs of the bits hanging off the bikes. Fit counts for everything as the bits can easily be changed where the fit is much more difficult

Changing the stem does change the fit of a bike but also changes other things too like steering speed. I watched a Tom Ritchey video the other day and one of the things he said was quite apt. People keep buying the wrong fit bike which is why we have such a good business selling stems

Buy a bike you want to ride, one that inspires you to ride it. It's the easiest way to motivate your self to ride

Lastly if you haven't been doing much cycling for a while it's worth accepting that any bike you buy now is unlikely to be the one you want on 6 months to a year. Your fitness will change and you will learn a lot. If you commute to work 15km each way for a year the Nike you buy next will be a good one for you for a long time I will wager

[RonK]

Would the Jamis Coda Comp frame be good enough to justify fitting it out with the likes of a SRAM Apex groupset and Mavic Aksium wheels?

I think you would find that a very expensive way to get what you want.

[pjtn]

We're going to try the Bombtrack Audax again on Saturday. They are going to fit shorter stems to see how it goes. The medium has a 120mm stem and they will shorten it down to 80mm so that's a fair difference. There aren't many relaxed geometry steel bikes like these around it seems.