Bike for my Dad

[colorisnt]

Dad has been re-bitten by the cycling bug.

He has a cheap bike right now and is listening to me about going to an LBS to be fitted. Mom is the one with the nice giant, but she needs to be fitted, too, so it may be a two-fer.

Haha.

Anyhow, Dad is sure he doesn't want anything with drop bars, but he also wants gears (he doesn't believe me that the more the better, but he wants around 7 or so,), and wants an aluminum frame or at least something very light. Price range: $650.00 or less.

I am no help with anything that isn't a road bike, so I can't name a bike for him. However, I can take him to a good shop, get him fitted, and help tire-kick as well as get a good price.

If you all could recommend some bikes, that would be great!

[BikeDutchess]

My dad likes his Specialized Sirrus

[Zen]

More gears are better for you.
My newest bike is an eight speed and is perfect for what I use it for.
SS riders would disagree with that assertion also.

Back to the subject at hand- why doesn't Dad go to the bike shop and talk to them?

[colorisnt]

Zen,

He is going to tomorrow, but we live in a wasteland without many shops. It's a good hour to the closest ones to buy from. The other one which is a bit closer is very, very pricey and if he goes there, he already knows from what my uncle and I have told him that he will overpay easily by a couple hundred. Also, their fitter is awful. He put me on a bike a good 2'' too big. I didn't even have clearance over the top bar.

ETA: We are definitely looking at that Sirrus now, thanks. Dad really likes the sport. He is willing to pay up to $800 for a bike he says now. I think he is most concerned with fit (as he should be) but nervous to ask questions. I'm kinda more moral support. It's been a LOOOONG time since he has had a nice bike - since well before I was born.

[KnottedYet]

Kona makes some nice bikes that meet some of what he's looking for (like the various models of Dew, Smoke, etc.) They run about $500, leaving him $300 to buy goodies for his new bike!

[colorisnt]

Knotted,

The local store that sells Kona's is sort of strange. I was worried if we went there, he would never be able to get good service. They are very uppity and don't like to service a commuter. I just worry they also would not want to sell "just a commuter" as well. He liked the Smoke, though, but unfortunately the frame and geometry would have been too big. A 15'' frame.

We went to most of the local stores. Did not go to a couple I knew were completely overpriced and not worth it. Went to one and looked at a Raleigh. The shifters weren't as good as the Trek he was interested in and it had a suspension fork which Dad didn't want (was too heavy and too much extra work while moving. I told him we could switch that out if that was "the one", but we should look at more.

He agreed and we went to another store where we saw a Jamis Commuter. It was a nice bike,but they didn't have his size, so would have to order it. It was also far overpriced for what it was and this is another shop where if it is not a competition bike, you get very little attention.

I saved my favorite shop for last and he was shown a WIDE range of specialize and trek bikes, but he liked the 7000 best. It was at the low end of price, but he liked it the best. It was also very light. I wasn't sure about the shifters and neither was he, but he tried them and liked them. He liked the more gears, actually, so that was good.

We switched out the seat and fitted it and he was happy, so it was a successful day.