Equipment / Bikes
Well, if you're going to ride a bike, you'll need a bike.
I'll start with how I chose my bike. For starters, I had $1,000 budget, so I started looking at bikes costing twice that. Why? So I could understand the kinds of trade offs I'd be making for one half that price. $2,000 buys a nice road bike, but with careful shopping, $1,000 can land you a bike with only a few major compromises.
The first subject I'll throw out is weight. I think a lot of people obsess over bike weight. If a few grams of weight can be very important to a competative cyclist - for the rest of us, just leave a few tablespoons of water out of your water bottle.
Frame materials are another great subject. Aluminum is harsh and inexpensive but heavy. Titanium is lightweight and flexible. Carbon is light but frail. Steel is heavy, lasts, is supple, repairable and rides well. Aluminum is the choice for less expensive, quality bikes. Stay away from cheap steel bikes, but for long distance touring, they are revered. Good steel bikes start around $2,000. Titanium is generally either loved or hated. Carbon is the current material of choice for the highest quality bikes.
I ride a Giant OCR-1. After looking at a lot of bikes, it was the best I could find for my budget. My thoughts on the bike:
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I'm upgrading some components on my bike over time. I started by swapping out my wheels for Mavic Kysrium Equip's. That made a big difference. At some point I'll probably just get a nice carbon frame bike.
