I bought a bike (and now I want another one!) Recommendations?

[Zen]

http://www.google.com/search?q=how+t...L_enUS344US344

[Biciclista]

Roar, if you're in Seattle (sure sounds like it) there are lots of urban bike shops that specialize in what you're looking for!

[Roar]

Thanks for your replies. Roguedog, it does not have to be Campy, though that would be nice.

If I bought a frame, or even went sans-campy and bought a whole bike (possibly my preference because building up seems like it could get expensive), then would I be looking for a cross bike or touring bike or something like that? For something zippy that would take panniers??? Is that what I should be focusing on?

And re welcome to the world of buying bikes, ahhhh, yesssss..... I can see how people get addicted to this. This would be bike #4.

Thank you very much for your input.

[MartianDestiny]

Salsa's new road tourer might fit the bill:
http://salsacycles.com/bikes/vaya/

Or maybe the Fargo (less zippy, more durable/beefy):
http://salsacycles.com/bikes/fargo/

Or the Casseroll (less touring type, but still commutable):
http://salsacycles.com/bikes/casseroll_double/

I'd also look into Kona's offerings as they have some small touring/cross/commuter type bikes. None are going to come stock with campy though.

[Roar]

Oh, thank you. I will look at your suggestions.

(The Campy really is not a deal-killer. Just a wish, if possible, which I am now thinking is not gonna happen.)

[Cataboo]

You know - if part of the reason you don't want to ride your road bike is because you don't want it to get stolen at work - you really don't want to spend a lot on your commuter bike.

I have a surly pacer frame that I built up with spare parts that I used to make a commuter - then I realized it really was a little bit too nice to leave chained up in the rain.

So now I have an old steel trek mountain bike (rigid fork) that I've upgraded the components slightly with stuff I had lying around (not campy by any means), put faster thinner slicker tires on it... and it does. And while i'd be mildly irked if it was ever stolen, I know for less than $200 or so, I can get another.

[roguedog]

Roar - no worries.

I'd look at Jamis Aurora series, the Trek Portland or 520 and the Specialised Globe series. Giant probably has something like those mentioned above as well.

The Aurora and the 520 are touring bikes and the Portland and Globe I think are categorized more as commuters.

As someone said above, if you're afraid of the bike being stolen or dinged up or whatnot, maybe looking for a used one might be better. It's why I mentioned looking for a used frame and building up from that.

I got lucky on eBay for mine. Found an old 1992 520 for $200 in my area.

I just cleaned it up, cleaned and lubed the chain, got a Brooks, got some pedals, a rack (that I'd gotten off craigslist), trued the wheels, put on new specialized aramdillos ... and I was done. Hmm.. I guess to get it ready to ready I was in bout $400 by the time I was done.

Hmm.. if it fits you I'd also consider zen's Mariposa in the classifieds right now. That's nice bike by a good builder. Not sure if it has rack eyelets though.

Even if a bike doesn't specifically have rack and fender eyelets, you can use pclamps. I've seen folks do that too. Not a bad solution as long as you're not hauling like 40-50lbs of stuff. Will likely impact handling though. It's just not ideal. I didn't like how the panniers worked for me (heel clipping) so I ended up just throwing a Wald basket on top of the rack (using pclamps) to haul my commute gear and farmer's market prizes.

Have fun!