Second bike to ride on limestone

[Syndirelah]

Hey all,

Im looking for some suggestions for getting a second bike. I currently ride a Felt F4C road bike but would love to take advantage of the long, crushed limestone paths near my house. I would like a similar ride to the road bike (not completely upright/comfort ride, keeping the cadence and mph up) but components that can tolerate the limestone. Im looking to spend around $600 (or less!) and I would definitely be willing to buy a used bike too.

Thanks for any suggestions!!

Jen

[Thorn]

While the racers might shudder....cyclo cross bike. The tires are a little fatter, but it is still pretty much road bike is geometry with drop bars.

I toyed with the cross solution and ended up building up a Surly Pacer frame (road frame, not cross, but with room for fatter tires). With fenders I can run 28mm which gets me through winter slush, grit and most limestone trails. If I was going to ride the limestone trails more, I'd probably switch to 32 or 35 for the summer and take the fenders off.

Oh, and welcome to the boards!

[SadieKate]

Why would the racers shudder at the thought of a cross bike? I believe I've heard somewhere that people race on their cross bikes! Whoodathunk! :D

A cross bike is an excellent suggestion. :)

[Aggie_Ama]

Cyclocross bike is my suggestion as well. My husband just got a Kona Jake for commuting, I think it was only $850 new. A used one might be in your budget, but if you are short good luck finding a Cyclocross bike. :(

[DebW]

Any bike that takes a fat tire would be good. A touring bike for instance. Many bikes made by Surly or Rivendell.

[mimitabby]

is the limestone caustic? In other words are you concerned about more than tire slippage?

[SouthernBelle]

is the limestone caustic? In other words are you concerned about more than tire slippage?

Limestone should be just the opposite of caustic! I would think dust and grit would a be a big problem though.

[uforgot]

I got a Surly Cross Check to ride on the Katy Trail. (limestone). I have a wheel set with road tires (25mm) and a wheel set with tires just for the trail and gravel. (38mm). I can go from the road to the trail in about 5 minutes. The Cross Check is absolutely perfect on limestone. A mountain bike was definitely overkill. In the past, I rode my Trek 7.2fx on the trail. It is also good on it and is under $500. The limestone is really dusty, so your bike will get a lot dirtier than on the road.

[uforgot]

Here (http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showpost.php?p=242116&postcount=30) is the Trek7.2fx I used to ride on limestone. It is more like a road bike than a mountain bike. No suspension, but has the straight bars. You can put fenders on it which helps with the dust somewhat. I think it was $459. It was really comfortable on the trail. The tires were bombproof too. It's also available in wsd, baby blue.

[Flur]

+1 on the surly. My husband has a steamroller and loves it, and pretty much all their frames can take fat tires. And they're not terribly expensive new - the steamroller was $600 (but it's a fixie, I think the cross checks are a bit more but still under $1000). I would imagine you could get one used within your budget.

[Zen]

I'm riding my new (last years model) Trek 7.2 on dirt paths this year and loving every minute of it. Close-out sale price $350 :)
The road bike sits sulking in the front room :(
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb14/zencentury/DSCN1372copy-1.jpg