Find me a bike - Page 2

My father was wanting a bike for the same reason, pedaling around the neighbourhood and bike path. I reccomened the Trek Pure which uses a more forward design for pedaling, most bike shops have them for around $399 which includes an Aluminum frame, and 7 speeds. He bought it 3 weeks ago and already put 70 miles on it lol

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I'm a big fan of Gary Fisher bikes, and although Trek now owns the brand, Fisher himself is still very much active in his namesake line and they always churn out good and detailed bikes. Fisher (the bike) is a mountain bike brand but they have a line that seems to describe what you want Dopey:

I've purchased TA Specialites components from Bilenky and they are first-class in service and responsiveness.

I have not seen Kona mentioned. The Sutra may be your type of bike. It has gears set up for touring rather than high speed.
http://www.konaworld.com/09_sutra_en.cfm

Mercian in the UK are used to shipping bikes to the USA and may be worth a look
http://www.merciancycles.com/index.asp

No one has mentioned frame material yet. I am going to assume, comfort is an issue. Outside of seating stance, I think frame material plays the biggest role. I would stay away from aluminum. From there, your price point will determine, i.e chrome moly vs. titanium, etc.

Any experience with swobo? Too gimmicky?

Steel

unless you want to spend a bunch of extra money (saving weight costs exponentially more money as the weight comes down)

I agree that steel is far more comfortable that AL and gives the best bang for the buck. Ti and carbon are good choices too, but as you point out, far more pricey.

My post above #16 included frame material, I also rode the bike I didn't notice anything wrong with the frame being alum. I personally ride a Cro-Mo frame, but wouldn't mind an aluminum frame to save on some weight.

You should get an ironic, hipster bike.

The nature of aluminum is such that it's less flexible than steel. For this reason, and its light weight, it is why it makes a good choice for a certain type(s) of bikes. Less flex in the bottom bracket when proj'ing hard. However, this stiffness comes at a cost: comfort.

So since I figure dopey is not looking to do a sprint like the Lion King, I figured I'd drop the comfort aspect of frame material on him. FWIW, I rode a Trek AL frame for years. The reason being, I'm a big guy, and I'd loose mucho energy when I'd stand up and nail it due to bottom bracket flex.

dopey, a steel frame is nice, but depending on where you live, you might have to worry about rust. In any event, I just bought a commuter bike to ride around the neighborhood and for local errands. It's a Specialized Sirrus and you can find a basic model for under $600. It should get here in a few days, and if you can wait, I'll give you my impression on it after I take it out. In the short term, I'm only going to change a couple of things on it, e.g. the suspension seat post.

I had a Specialize Sirrus. It's a nice enough bike for what it is which is a sort of roadish flat bar bike. The flat bar/lack of hand positions is a killer for longer rides. It ended up being my gateway drug to road bikes though. Also, unless one is storing the bike out in the rain, rust isn't going to be an issue on a steel frame.