I've been thinking for a while of buying a bicycle.  Some
years ago a standard groupset for a mountain bike / all-
terrain bike was something like SIS (Schimano Index System).
What is today's equivalent (basic indexed groupset).  What
alternatives exist (can I buy something a more reliable for
a little more money?)  Can I still buy a non-indexed
groupset?

How can I tell if a bike will take standard, interchangeable
parts?  Are there certain brands to avoid (I know that early
Raleigh bikes used proprietary stuff, is this still the
case?)

"Puncture-proof" non-pneumatic (I'm not sure if they were
solid, foam or something else) tyres used to be sold in
Britain under the 'Octopus' name.  Is something similar
available in the U.S?

I probably want a disc brake for the rear, possibly also for
the front. I want some strong wheels because I'm very heavy.
Who makes good rims these days?  Througout my new bike,
strength is more important than weight.  Constructive
comments, observations and discussion are invited.

70 responses total.

This is a little off your questions, but do look into recumbent bikes.

Bents are cool, but not appropriate for me at this time.

Try a used mountain bike with wide tires.  You can probably find one for
$10-25 at a yard sale.  Get a library book on bike repair and adjust the
brakes and gears yourself.  Murray and Huffy are low-end and have one piece
cranksets (the things the pedals screw into).  If you can find something with
two-piece it will be better quality.  This will let you get into shape and
determine what it is you really want.
We like the handlebars about level with the seat, but some people who don't
go very far or very fast like them higher so they can ride upright.  Make sure
the handlebars and seat are adjustable to your size and riding style as bikes
come in different sizes and handlebar shapes.  The standard mountain bike
brakes are pretty much interchangeable and work much better than the old
10-speed center-pull style, even on a Huffy.  You probably want to look for
something with a long seat post and some space between where the top bar hits
the thing the handlebar plugs into and where the lower bar hits it.

Murray, Huffy, Roadmaster, and similar department store brands are best
avoided, in my experience.

They are heavier than the more expensive brands, but work fine as
transportation around town. What is your experience with them?  Jim rode a
Murray for a while, with steel wheels.  He needed a handicap so I could keep
up with him.  

I had a Roadmaster.  It was heavy, to be sure.  The last straw was when
the plastic rear dereilleur snapped off while I was trying to climb a
steep hill. I bought a used Schwinn LeTour and was amazed how much
easier it was to ride, and how much better everything worked.

Roadmaster being Sears?  I have never seen a plastic derailleur.  The Murray
was quite sturdy.

I'm not sure who sold Roadmaster bikes.  I got it used.  Roadmaster is
one of those big Taiwanese companies that specializes in making
cheaply-constructed stuff for discount stores.  I think Western Auto
used to sell them.

Re #6: So you'd recommend Schwinn?  Do they take standard parts?

My Schwinn seems to have pretty standard parts -- Shimano dereilleurs,
etc.  I'm sure you can buy much better bikes, but Schwinn isn't a bad
bet if you need something low-end to get around on.  I prefer a bike
that isn't too expensive or fashionable to leave locked in a public place.

Re #10: Thanks, I'll have a look at Schwinn.

All our mountain bikes (used) have interchangeable parts.  You need to match
any indexed shifters with the correct number of rings on the rear wheel,
except a 5-shifter will even work with a 6-ring wheel.  I still recommend
getting something cheap and used to learn on and decide what you do and don't
want after that.  I thought I wanted narrow tires, but somewhat wider ones
let me ride on sidewalks, and at night on bumpy roads.  You can try out
different handlebar types if you find someone with old parts willing to work
with you.

Re #12: That's good, hopefully it suggests that bicycle
  manufacturers over here are using standard fittings.  I
  used to ride, so I've a fair idea what I'm looking for:-

  - Standard Part Fittings,
  - "Robust" is more important that "lightweight",
  - Fairly tall (I'm about 193cm or 6' 4"),
  - Non-pneumatic tyres if possible,
  - Not fussed about suspension,
  - Disc brakes a plus (on rear wheel certainly),
  - Wide handlebars are a good thing,
  - Basic, but fairly solid groupset (preferrably non-
    indexed, but I don't know that they're made any more),
  - Perhaps a sealed, one-piece crank,
  - Comfy saddle (might be a challenge, I have no butt).

Tires without tubes are heavier and less comfortable.  You could instead just
carry a patch kit or even a spare tube.  
Wide handlebars make it hard to get the bike through narrow spaces such as
doorways.  We always chop ours off narrower and like the short straight type.
We ride with handlebars at about seat height and this takes some weight off
the seat.  Wide saddles can be painful if you ride a lot.  Rubber brakes made
in the past 20 years or so work very well - why disk brakes?  Do you plan to
maybe ride to work?  If not, how far and on what surface?  By groupset maybe
you mean shifter - we have some old non-indexed shifters that you could have
if you know how to assemble bikes yourself.  

If you want sturdy, get steel handlebars and cranksets.  Jim has broken both,
also he has broken several frames.  He came back from one trip carrying 85
pounds of things acquired along the way (and camping gear).  Steel wheels
don't brake as well, but maybe the rims would be stronger than aluminum.

Re #14: I've repaired enough punctures for one lifetime. The
  extra weight is proportionally insignificant (you've met
  me, you've an idea what I'm talking about! ;-) Wide handle
  -bars give me more leverage to get myself out of rutts,
  furrows and the like.  Disc brakes because I weigh a lot
  and don't have fond memories of traditional brake blocks.

  Work is too far away for me to ride there and back.  My
  hope is to ride for leisure and exercise. Mostly on gravel
  and dry dirt I expect, although I'm sure tarmac is
  inevitable too.

  The groupset includes derailliers, shifters, chainrings,
  cogs and probably some other things that I have forgotten.
  I'm not sure if non-index shifters will work okay with
  derailliers from an indexed groupset.

Jim has combined shifters and derailleurs from various bikes and made them
work.  The 'traditional' brakes (center pull) did not work that well but for
the past 20 years anything but the Murray category has been using caliper
brakes, attached on one each side, which work really well - have you tried
those?  Sorry you don't live close enough for Jim to make you something.  We
ride our used mountain bikes on lots of gravel and dirt.  If you avoid glass
punctures are rare.  Do you keep the tires inflated all the time, so that they
don't end up stretching and having the valves dragged so they are not at a
right angle to the tire?  

Re #16: Most of the brakes that gave me trouble sound (from
  your description) like caliper brakes. Only my most recent
  bike is likely to have had centre-pull type (are these
  mostly wire, with the blocks on small metal hinge/bracket
  things that attach directly to the forks?). I used to keep
  my tyres pressured, but still managed to get plenty of
  punctures from thorns, flints and things.

Jim says if it is two separate attachments to the forks that is cantilever
(not caliper).  Caliper has one attachment at the vertex of the Y of the fork
or whatever ou want to call it.  Calipers come in center pull or sometimes
side pull and those are the ones found on old Murray bikes.  

This response has been erased.

I have tried granny gear and it is easier to get off and push.

This response has been erased.

Contrary to keesan's experience, I've had far better luck with
center-pull brakes than with side-pull ones.  The side-pull ones would
never pull in evenly so one side usually wanted to drag on the rim.

The cantilever side pull brakes are what I like, not the type found
occasionally on older bikes where they are attached similar to center-pull.
Cantilever are attached one on each side and can be adjusted separately.
I need to figure out my mine are squealing when I brake so I can use them at
night and near other people.  Something to do with the angle?

Could be old, hard brake pads.  The rubber loses its resiliancy as it
ages.  Try a new set.

We fixed one set by changing the angle, I think.  These don't feel hard.

Try sanding a bevel on the leading edge, maybe.  It sometimes works on
squealing car brake pads.

Kona build bikes especially for huge people (the Clydesdale
Hoss), but I'm not about to spend US$ 1,000 on a pushbike.
Raleigh have the C200 with disk brakes fore and aft and it
looks like that takes standard parts.  The C200 is US$ 500.
I could get two new cheap bikes for that, but I don't know
how well they'd hold up.

Thanks for the tip, Andy.
Here's a review of the C200 I found on epinions.com

Full Review 
I made the decision this year to get serious about cycling and in order to
do that, I had to get a new bike. I had only done some recreational riding
before and had a typical "toy store" bike (A Murray 18 speed). So I began my
search in a couple of ways.

The first was to talk with a friend of mine who was a serious mountain biker.
He was able to tell me a lot about frame and component construction, as well
as reputable names. The next step was to look at some of the current issues
of various biking magazines. I was lucky enough to find the "buyers guide"
issue of Bicycling available. I nearly memorized that issue and learned enough
to be really dangerous in a bike store. Then came step three - actual visits
to a bike store.

Surprisingly, even though I am middle aged, I can't say I had ever been in
a professional bike store. I thoroughly enjoyed the process. All of the stores
I visited were very helpful and all but one had bikes available for test
drives. My criteria when talking with them were simple: I wanted a good
quality bike that would allow me to easily hop on for a quick tour of the
neighborhood, but also was sophisticated enough for longer tours. I also had
a very limited budget. I finally settled on the decision to go either for a
mountain bike or a hybrid, which is halfway between a road bike and a mountain
bike. After test driving about twenty different bikes, I was convinced that
a hybrid was right for me.

Here's why:
1. Road bikes require you to often be "in the drops", meaning you are bent
over with your hands on the lower curved portions of the handlebars. This put
on strain on my back.
2. I wanted to be able to switch between riding on pavement and some hard
packed dirt trails without having to have two bikes. The hybrid allows this
because of the slightly wider tires.
3. I still wanted to have things like better shifting mechanisms, toe clips,
and a lightweight frame. Good hybrids have all of these.

The reason I finally decided on the Raleigh C-200 had a lot to do with the
advice of the bike shop I chose to do business with. This shop owner explained
that the Raleigh bikes were high quality, and surprisingly, one of the last
brands still manufactured in this country. Most of the other major brands were
made in the Orient. The frame of this bike is all aluminum. This ordinarily
results in a very stiff ride, but this model has a shock absorber on the fork
as well as the seatpost. The seatpost shock absorption is also adjustable to
custom fit it to your style. The components are all in the mid range of
quality.

This bike has a triple chain ring and eight gears in back for a total of 24
speeds. This is great for any type of terrain. The 700 cm wheels are
approximately equivalent to a 27". This gives a little more of an advantage
for speed than the typical 26" on many low quality bikes. The shifters are
in the twist grips, making it easy to change gears. 

Raleigh has also included a device located in the center of the handlebars
that they call the "CI-Deck". It looks like a speedometer, but all it really
amounts to is a gauge to tell you what gear you are in. This is a totally
useless waste of the handlebar space it takes up. They should have just put
markings on the shifters. The whole bike weighs about a third of what my old
bike did, even though it looks a lot bigger. This makes pedaling a lot less
work. 

I have put about a thousand miles on this bike this summer, including a two
day, 150 mile, charity event. My typical ride is 20-40 miles. I have learned
to love this bike after making a couple of modifications. I replaced the seat
since they chose to include a heavily padded seat with springs. This sounds
good but in reality only resulted in the numbness many males experience from
improperly designed bike seats. I also added bar ends, which I installed in
a downward pointing position to allow a modified drop position. 

I have had no malfunctions with any part of the bike and have only had to make
minor adjustments to the cable to keep the gears shifting properly.
I would highly recommended this bike to anyone looking for a high quality,
low cost ( I paid $375) bike that is more than a mountain bike but less than
a racing bike. 

Recommended
Yes

Component Package: Shimano C-201
Recommended Use: Daily Rides 
 

Spring seats are much heavier than gel seats.
700 mm wheels are helpful on gravel roads with potholes because they don't
go as far into the smaller holes.  We prefer them for around town on
sidewalks, and for riding out of town on dirt roads.  Narrower tires are
better on good paved surfaces, but you feel the bumps more.  

Have you bought panniers yet?

I have a gel cover for my seat but need to upgrade to something like the C200.
My Peugeot Iseran has the old skinny tires and is murder after about 10 miles
of hauling my litter of milk monsters.  Plus, I'm unsure about the
brakes/rims.

Do you have a trailer for the kids?
The brakes on the older bikes (the skinny tire types) are usually not as good
as even the cheap bikes have now.  The better brakes are attached to the frame
directly and grab harder.

Yes, we have a trailer and they have helmets.  There is an awesome 16 mile
trail by my house that follows Cedar River.
The brakes blow when I have the trailer..and even sometimes without it when
I'm slowing downhill.  I definately need an upgrade.  I've swapped out the
brakeshoes but no difference made.  The Peugeot bike has the brakes mounted
to the frame but I suspect the disc type brakes on the C200 are much better.

I had thought that becoming a dad would mean that I'd have
no time to cycle.  A trailer might be a nice option (perhaps
attached to mum's bike ;-)  It also means I have a very good
incentive to burn of some of this excess weight.

One incentive for biking with the kids in tow is the destination being a
playground where they can burn off their energy.  Its no fun if there's no
incentive for the child to come along.

We had a trailer for our two kids and loved it!  It was a Winchester, with
canted wheels, and was extremely stable.  One time I took a corner a bit too
hard and the trailer simply slid sideways on the dry pavement instead of
flipping, like our antique Cannondale did once.  It had 5-point harnesses and
the kids faced in opposite directions, which cut down on bickering.  My wife
loved it too because passing cars would give her a wide berth.  I use to pull
them to preschool, drop of the trailer at home and ride into work year-around.
The kids, now teens, still have fond memories of riding in the trailer.

Did they wear helmets?

I've got a Trek 4500 off road bicycle that I really like.  I just got back
from a run though the woods around my house.

I looked at some inexpensive bicycles in K-Mart (I was in
there buying some other things). I could buy a pair of bikes
(one for Mrs. ball) for the cost of the C200 that I have
been pining for, but the inexpensive bikes might not have
(standard) replaceable parts.

Why not buy a good quality used bike instead of a cheap new one?

- Backtalk version 1.3.30 - Copyright 1996-2006, Jan Wolter and Steve Weiss