New to the forum, cycling, and choosing a bike.

[GraysonKelly]

Thanks CA!!! I kind of knew about the tires but didn't really know the terminology. Sorry I'm such a goober. I am going to put slicker tires on my current bike just to see if I like it. I've only got another month or two to try them before I'll need to switch back because the weather around here will start getting pretty wet pretty soon and I might need my knobby tires then. but maybe not. Thanks again for the advice.
Gray

[Trek420]

First, welcome to TE. Lots of wise wonderful women (and some guys) here and plenty of ALC experience.

My neice, UK Elephant on this board (we don't call her that in real life ) did her first and will do her next ALC on a Specialized Cross bike. She did very well on the ride. The cross is also her commute-mobile.

I'm thinking of a LHT for my next long ride which would be my 6th. We'll see you in 2010 I adore love worship my road bike, and I'll never look at another road bike but my next ALC, I wanna Long Haul Trucker.

A good thread here wherein we helped another first-time ALC'er.

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=20696

[GraysonKelly]

First, welcome to TE. Lots of wise wonderful women (and some guys) here and plenty of ALC experience.

My neice, UK Elephant on this board (we don't call her that in real life ) did her first and will do her next ALC on a Specialized Cross bike. She did very well on the ride. The cross is also her commute-mobile.

I'm thinking of a LHT for my next long ride which would be my 6th. We'll see you in 2010 I adore my road bike but my next ALC, I wanna Long Haul Trucker.

Thank you so much Trek420!! I am so happy to talk to some people who have actually done the ride. As I continue to train I'll be asking a lot of questions about it and it's nice to know that veterans are around to hopefully answer them. Thank you. And initially I was planning to get the LHT specifically because I thought it would be ideal for the ALC. Then I got confused when i read posts on this forum about the Cross Check. Thanks again.
Gray

[Trek420]

I was planning to get the LHT specifically because I thought it would be ideal for the ALC.

I ride a full custom Mondonico Futura Legero. There's no other bike I could have done my first ALC on, or as well my 2nd time. I love this bike.

The LHT is ideal for my next ride. I'm surprised we don't all get one. But then I'm happy because if everyone got a LHT how would we find our bikes each morning in a sea of 2000 bikes? Tassels?

After my last ride I asked my LBS "what's the best bike that is up for the ride, light and fast, with all day ... no all day all week comfort ... but that I'm not going to get farklempt if someone knocks a row of bikes over in bike parking (btw the crew is awesome, they will spoil you for any other organized ride, and I've never seen anything like that happen!) and it gets a tiny scratch.

He said the LHT is the bike for me. I've ridden one and he's right. When I first got on the bike "oh, nice but not as good as my custom ride" but he's also right that the longer you ride ... the more you will like this bike! I truly feel at the end of a week I'd like it as much or more than my custom ride.

Other bikes I've seen people very happy with on ALC are Rivendell and there are a lot of Riv riders here. And I'd love to have a Riv but my thought is to get a bike up to the task but that I won't be worried if it gets a real dusty, someone or a whole group leans their bike on it ....

[Blueberry]

Interesting, Trek. I'd think the weight would be a little heavy.....

Out of curiosity, I'm guessing you would get a 26" size? If so, do you think finding narrow tires been a problem? My LBS certainly discouraged me from it - because of the lack of availability of tires...

CA

[Trek420]

Hey, why worry about the weight of the bike when the engine (me) could stand to loose oh ... 40-50 lbs? Yes, it's all muscle! Yeah right.

When I can't take 20% off the engine I'll start to worry about the weight of the bike. The Mondonico is surprisingly light especially for steel but a lot of that has to do with what's on it; Campy record, Rolf Elan wheels.

[GraysonKelly]

This may have no significance at all, but I did a bunch of measurements and basically figured that with my height, weight, blah blah that any bike from a 54 to 56" was about ideal for me. I stupidly went into my LBS and told them what I'd figured out but didn't bring my bike so they could tell me what size it was to compare. They put a 54" road bike (it was a Trek but beyond that I don't know what it was) on a trainer and I felt so cramped! They took some measurements and concluded that the 54" was too small for me. I could have told them that. Anyway, I'm pretty sure that I could comfortably use the LHT in the 56" frame and wil be able to get the bigger wheels. I hope anyway. I'm going to see if I can find a bike similar to the LHT that is in a 56" frame just to see. My LBS said that several of their employees have owned and/or still own and ride surly's so they will put it together for me if I order it online or they will order it for me and put it together. We'll see.
Hey Trek 420 I have a question about the ALC...do you know if there is anyone from the east coast specifically around the WV,PA,MD, VA area that has done the ride? I am wondering about how people from around this area trained. Right now I'm mainly riding the "rail trail" which is an old railroad route that was converted to trails. It's pretty nice but only goes so far. As I said earlier, there is no real place to ride on the road and I'm wondering about different areas to go to get not only mileage but also some more hill work. Mountain biking for the hills is great, but not in anyway similar to what I've heard about the ALC.
Gray

[Trek420]

If you enroll in the ALC discussion board

www.aidslifecycle.org/discussion

You may find ALC'ers in the East Coast. We're from all over. But you don't have to train with ALC'ers to do the ride. Is there a local club near you with organized rides?

[badgercat]

I'm pretty new here, too, but it's a great place to be.

I recently got a new Trek hybrid (after riding a cheap mountain bike for many years), and while I love my new bike, it doesn't have drop handlebars which I can already tell is going to be kind of uncomfortable on longer rides. I was initially drawn to cyclocross bikes when I was thinking about getting a new bike, for some of the same reasons you've mentioned. They just don't fit into my price range at this point in my life. I wish it would be easy to just throw drop bars on my hybrid.

My boyfriend has a Cannondale cyclocross bike (it just came in earlier this week!) and he's having so much fun with it so far. I don't think Cannondale makes any women-specific-design cross bikes, though, if that's something you're looking for.

Anyway, with less than two weeks on my new hybrid, I'm already wondering how I spent so much time riding around town on my rusty old mountain bike. I'm sure your bike is lovely (Rincon, incidentally, is the name of a mountain range near where I live, and I was cycling in that area just this morning!), but I hope getting a new bike is as much fun for you as it has been for me!

Anyway, I don't have much else to say besides welcome and good luck with your decision making!