Can anyone please help me choose between these four bikes

Peter1899
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2018 9:45 pm

Can anyone please help me choose between these four bikes

Postby Peter1899 » Wed Aug 01, 2018 9:51 pm

Hi and thank you for any help you can give me on this one.
Can you please tell me, for casual riding for my daughter to and from school etc, which would be the best bet out of the below.
I have found them all for $150-200 second hand.
Thank you!
Peter

Giant Transend
Merida Crossway
Specialized Crossroads Elite
Giant Boulder

User avatar
10speedsemiracer
Posts: 4904
Joined: Sat Feb 11, 2017 7:38 pm
Location: Back on the Tools .. when I'm not in the office

Re: Can anyone please help me choose between these four bikes

Postby 10speedsemiracer » Wed Aug 01, 2018 10:46 pm

Peter1899 wrote:Hi and thank you for any help you can give me on this one.
Can you please tell me, for casual riding for my daughter to and from school etc, which would be the best bet out of the below.
I have found them all for $150-200 second hand.
Thank you!
Peter

Giant Transend
Merida Crossway
Specialized Crossroads Elite
Giant Boulder
These 4 bikes are aimed at different uses. If it's just a ride-to-school sort of thing, I would doubt that your daughter would need a suspension fork (just adds weight and needless complexity), so on that basis, the Specialized makes the most sense with a 3x9 driveline, decent V-Brakes and decent shifters. It does have decent sized tyres for a bit of comfort plus a suspension seatpost. Just to make sure, we're talking about this bike :

Image
Campagnolo for show, SunTour for go

Peter1899
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2018 9:45 pm

Re: Can anyone please help me choose between these four bikes

Postby Peter1899 » Wed Aug 01, 2018 10:58 pm

Thank you so much for replying to my request. The specialized (which was my favourite too!) is this one - the ladies model.
Image


User avatar
10speedsemiracer
Posts: 4904
Joined: Sat Feb 11, 2017 7:38 pm
Location: Back on the Tools .. when I'm not in the office

Re: Can anyone please help me choose between these four bikes

Postby 10speedsemiracer » Wed Aug 01, 2018 11:24 pm

OK, that has a suspension fork, although is just a light-duty fork aimed at comfort (of debatable benefit). Do any of the bikes you've looked at not have a suspension fork ? The Giant Transend is also fairly decent, and I think in Women's form (called a DX ?) doesn't have a suspension fork...
Campagnolo for show, SunTour for go

Peter1899
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2018 9:45 pm

Re: Can anyone please help me choose between these four bikes

Postby Peter1899 » Wed Aug 01, 2018 11:32 pm

Thank you again - and 'no' - the Giant Transend (like this one https://www.giant-bicycles.com/au/transend-1w-2012) does not have a sprung fork...

User avatar
10speedsemiracer
Posts: 4904
Joined: Sat Feb 11, 2017 7:38 pm
Location: Back on the Tools .. when I'm not in the office

Re: Can anyone please help me choose between these four bikes

Postby 10speedsemiracer » Wed Aug 01, 2018 11:41 pm

Peter1899 wrote:Thank you again - and 'no' - the Giant Transend (like this one https://www.giant-bicycles.com/au/transend-1w-2012) does not have a sprung fork...
I was tossing up between the Specialized and the Giant in the first place, but thought the Transend had front suspension. This one (the bike you've linked) is a good option with nice basic, durable spec (8sp, V-brake, decent shifters and good tyre size). Plus it has mudguards and a rack. Won't be light, but the triple crankset and the 11-34t rear cogs will help it get along.

As long as the one you're looking at is in decent shape, and it fits, grab it.
Last edited by 10speedsemiracer on Thu Aug 02, 2018 12:21 am, edited 1 time in total.
Campagnolo for show, SunTour for go

Peter1899
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2018 9:45 pm

Re: Can anyone please help me choose between these four bikes

Postby Peter1899 » Wed Aug 01, 2018 11:54 pm

Thanks so much. We'll go and check it out tomorrow.

User avatar
Duck!
Expert
Posts: 9858
Joined: Tue May 21, 2013 8:21 pm
Location: On The Tools

Re: Can anyone please help me choose between these four bikes

Postby Duck! » Sat Aug 04, 2018 7:44 pm

10speedsemiracer wrote: I would doubt that your daughter would need a suspension fork (just adds weight and needless complexity)....
Nothing complex about suspension forks at the base level. Heavy, inefficient and questionably effective yes, complex, no.
I had a thought, but it got run over as it crossed my mind.

User avatar
10speedsemiracer
Posts: 4904
Joined: Sat Feb 11, 2017 7:38 pm
Location: Back on the Tools .. when I'm not in the office

Re: Can anyone please help me choose between these four bikes

Postby 10speedsemiracer » Sat Aug 04, 2018 8:33 pm

Duck! wrote:
10speedsemiracer wrote: I would doubt that your daughter would need a suspension fork (just adds weight and needless complexity)....
Nothing complex about suspension forks at the base level. Heavy, inefficient and questionably effective yes, complex, no.
Was meant in terms of just another thing that can break whilst providing little to no benefit, or even being counter-productive. Like stop/start on modern cars..

In hindsight, perhaps complexity was the wrong term.
Campagnolo for show, SunTour for go

User avatar
Duck!
Expert
Posts: 9858
Joined: Tue May 21, 2013 8:21 pm
Location: On The Tools

Re: Can anyone please help me choose between these four bikes

Postby Duck! » Sat Aug 04, 2018 9:55 pm

The irony of cheap sprung forks is that they improve when they corrode to the point of not "functioning" as designed..... :mrgreen:
I had a thought, but it got run over as it crossed my mind.

User avatar
10speedsemiracer
Posts: 4904
Joined: Sat Feb 11, 2017 7:38 pm
Location: Back on the Tools .. when I'm not in the office

Re: Can anyone please help me choose between these four bikes

Postby 10speedsemiracer » Sat Aug 04, 2018 10:38 pm

Duck! wrote:The irony of cheap sprung forks is that they improve when they corrode to the point of not "functioning" as designed..... :mrgreen:
Ah yes, the no-maintenance lockout feature.
Campagnolo for show, SunTour for go

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google Adsense [Bot]