Weight of a mtb compared to a Trek hybrid

[Miranda]

Miranda, thanks for that link.

It's such a lovely bike... I could see the pics of it perfectly in my mind before I even found the thread.

[pardes]

Yes, thanks so much for the link. Now that I have Firefox I won't lose the link as I have been doing recently.

Zen, I'm going to track down your tires. (What an odd sentence that is....I think I've had too much coffee and too many websites. Everything is beginning to look a little odd.)

A slight digression.....
I've read that one of the first signs of dementia is that things begin to look a little odd. And then even a little more odd......
I was visiting a nursing home with Magdalene. We were blithely walking down the hall to my Mom's room. Another resident tied in her wheelchair reached out her hand to Magdalene so I stopped of course. It generally took me half an hour from the front door to Mom's room because everyone wanted to pet Magdalene.
As the woman reached out just to about touch Magdalene's paw, she pulled back her hand and screamed, "Get that panther away from me."
I'm not sure who was more startled by the moment: the woman, Magdalene, or me. I think we all peed our pants. I know Magdalene did.
After that incident, I learned that if you take things very, very, very gradually with dementia patients, sometimes you can reach them without startling them. Magdalene became the best at this. She would sit with her back to the patients as if they weren't even there until they approached her.

[IMG][/IMG]

Magdalene's panther paws at 8 weeks of age.

Sorry for the digression. I need more coffee.....more websites.......

[bmccasland]

Truely vicious looking dog you've got there Pardes. 1 L of dog!

[mudmucker]

That picture is a hoot. Leave it to a scientist to take a picture of their pup in a 1000 ml beaker

[TahoeDirtGirl]

Pardes- change out the tires. Do you have v brakes or disc? See the reason I ask this is that v brakes in wet conditions are sketchy for me and I wanted to keep the same set up as my mtn bike so I don't have to relearn it as I bounce between the two daily. With that, it makes your bike heavier.

My bike is 28 lbs and is full suspension. I bought a Gary Fisher Utopia which is about 38 to 40 lbs unladen (commuter bike- it's a hybrid).

On the mtb I can get cruise comfortably at 7 mph. There is no bob with the suspension, you would never know you are on a FS until you hit a speed bump.

On the hybrid, at first, with 'cycle cross' tires, I was up to 9 mph cruising. And it was alot of work. The guys at the bike shop talked me into slicks, and now, I'm cruising at 12 mph. Big difference. So I would say go with the tires. Even on a heavier bike (and sometimes really heavier after the grocery story- once I had 60 lbs in the baskets) I go faster than on my mtn bike with knobby tires. And the Gary has a front fork suspension. Which was kinda of dumb for me to get because with the slicks, I never hop curbs.

Now if you want to be hardcore die hard ride to the bus stops, you can get Nokian studded tires. You won't be going very fast though. I would sacrifice speed for contact with the road. I'll be switching the slicks over when it gets nasty..I have Nokian studs but I don't ride on the road with them but I guess you could if you really wanted to.

[pardes]

BMCCASLAND and MUDMUCKER -- Magdalene begs* to differ with you. (She was a bit huffy* about it.) "Tell them I am a 2L dog, count them 2000 millileters, not a puny 1 L Chihuahua midget dog!" Just because she took a correspondence chemistry course from "Keep Your Dog Occupied During the Day University," she thinks she's Watson and Crick, Jonas Salk, and Albert Einstein all rolled into one.

The day I bought her there was a snowstorm predicted. I was supposed to pick her up after work but I knew we were going to be snowed in by mid-afternoon. So I raced to the breeder on my lunch hour, picked her up, and hid her in my lab cubicle for the remainder of the afternoon. However it's hard to hide a puppy in a lab.

I still regret that I didn't bring home her brother too. He was black and had this incredible sweet dome head and liquid brown eyes.....

Back to the bikes......

UFORGOT and TAHOEY suggested Gary Fisher bikes. Bless them both for taking the time.

How very odd since I scoured the Gary Fisher website yesterday and came up dry and then magically their two suggestions appeared this morning.

I've narrowed it down to 4 bikes, well 3, I think the "Simple City 8W" is just a nod to the fantasy that Magdalene would actually ride in the basket peacefully unlike the last time I tried it and she screamed to any passerby, "I'm a kidnapped German princess who is being tortured held against her will!"

Here is the link to the four bikes compared. TAHOEY votes for the Utopia and UFORGOT loved her Advance. The listing of components makes my head spin without a clue.

In case the link doesn't work, they are all Gary Fisher bikes: Utopia, Montare, Advance Step-thru, and Simple City 8W.

Which bike has the best components, the lowest granny gears, is the most lightweight, and can have fenders and racks attached?

* I can't believe I'm making bicycle and dog puns in the same paragraph. Where are the off-topic police when you need them?

[uforgot]

Oh I love that Gary Fisher Simple city too! Haven't seen one, but I'd really like to try one out! A fantasy for me too, as I already have a perfectly good Raleigh that was in showroom shape when I found her on Craigslist.