anyone in Tigard???

I need help for a friend...a long distance bike fit is too hard!!! Anyone out there want to help me help a friend find a bike for Cycle Oregon?

Tigard, OR? Like suburbs of Portland? There are a ton of us in this area. We can try. :D

Here is her question to my hubby:

I need to buy a street bike so I can start training for Cycle Oregon. The Dr. I work with has done it a few times now and said he would train me, however my mountain bike won't due. I don't want anything fancy, since I'm not addicted to it yet like you are. Any ideas on where I should look, or what I should look for?

His answer:

Well to be honest a street bike is a little harder to buy than a mountain bike. Fit of a Road (street) bike is really important. I have to recommend you getting fit by someone before buying the bike so you will know which kind of bike to buy. All road bikes are different sizes to each brand just like womens clothing. Normally a bike fit will cost $100 from someone that knows what they are dong. I hesitate to use a bike shop because they will usually try and fit you to a bike they sell in your shop. However a bike shop will not charge you usually for the fit if you buy one of there bikes. They will apply the fit cost to the bike you buy from them.
Now here is the bad new. road bikes can be expensive. For a decent road bike they usually start at $1000 and up new. However there are some road bikes out there in the $700 price range that are soso in quality.

If you are not in a hurry to get a frame you could get fit somewhere with your needed bike measurements and then search craiglist and ebay for people that are selling there old bikes. That usually is the best way to get a good deal on a bike of good quality.

As for entry level bikes I can recommend these brands, Trek, Gunnar, Bianchi,
For the crankset you want a Double compact crank. Don't get a triple.

You don't want a touring bike. For the kind of training the Dr. is talking about is called a road bike.

Apparently we need to find her a place to get fit...or a really reliable bike shop that won't rip her off!!!

Is she a member here? (she should be, she's only about 20 miles from the TE office.:cool:) Point her to TE, have her PM a few of us and we can start a conversation about what she can afford, what type of bike,... a road bike isn't for everyone and there are plenty of people who ride more miles on a Kona Dew than many roadies. ;) We have a ton of bike shops out here and every brand you can name is sold in them. We also have a massive amount on craigs list. Just some thoughts.:)

Thanks X...I wanted to get a thread started and then steer her in the right direction!

:)

I'm not sure why he would advise her against a triple...especially with the terrain around here! But that said, I agree with X about getting her on TE. I'm new to the area, but I'm astounded at the cycling resources here (even though I knew this before we moved here).

When I was in NC, I took a friend to my LBS and had them measure her. Then she test rode some bikes in that shop to get a feel for how a road bike would ride. They also gave her the little sheet they filled out on her measurements. We then took that sheet and compared it to the geometry of many popular brands (online) to pick out sizes in her range so that she had options to try. Of course, she went with a mountain bike (against my recommendation) and now it's 'art' in her living room. :rolleyes: Anyway, I'm sure that your friend could do something similiar so that she had an idea of where to start in terms of frame size.

Coincidentally, my DH and I may have some bikes to sell very shortly as well. ;)

So how's your friend doing with the bike sizing and buying?