Hybrid Bike Buying Advice and suggestions under $1000

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alaska1986

New Member
Hello

Looking for some suggestions on a hybrid bike to fit our needs below. Really looking for a top 5 type consensus list from experts based on our budget and application that i can start to narrow down
I read some previous posts but they didnt quite fit my application so i posted this to make sure i get the best advice


Application
Live in Anchorage Alaska.
We bike in summer only mainly for fitness and as a byproduct of that sightseeing and commuting. We may work our way up to a 20 mile bike ride on the highway (girdwood to indian). We plan to take bike maintenance classes in town but would like something low maintenance

We will probably ride 80% on paved trails in Anchorage and maybe 20% on natural surfaces when we go hiking or
camping. No single track, loose dirt, gravel, rocks at this point. Its a short season so on average id say we bike 2x a week.

I am 5'6 170 lbs, my wife 5'0 132 pounds. We are ok with second hand but obviously limited by selection in Anchorage.

Backstory
Ok we are noobs to the biking world so hopefully you go easy on us. We got some cheap bikes and started biking and found we enjoy it.

Short story we bought cheap 7 speed Schwinn Discover Men + Women bikes and quickly found out those are not suited for 22mile roundtrip
coastal trail ride on pavement.

We are looking for an upgrade but dont necessarily need an upgrade to the Taj Mahal if you know what i mean.

I have read a bit on the basics of bikes and generally know what to expect for the price.
(brake type, wheel size, gearing, component quality handlebar config, frame material, suspension)


Budget/Buying
I have seen bikes commonly into the over $1,000 range. Based on my brief search i feel confident we can get something well under $1000USD but the choices are overwhelming and Id like some help. Our riding style isnt anything extraordinary so i just cant see spending $1k. I see us biking at most 2x a week.

We are ok with second hand but obviously limited by selection in Anchorage so to save money we often have to get creative. Any advice on websites for buying would be great.


We have about 5 bike shops in town including Trek and REI. Other stores carry some popular brands to. We also have this placed called Off the Chain
that is a bike collective that will teach you or help you to things yourself. We dont mind DIY as long we have someone there by our side vs learning
from youtube videos or we can just pay someone but dont want that to end up being cost prohibitive for our budget and sacrificing bike quality.

Any advice relating to fitting the bikes would be great too, my wife found the last bike seat uncomfortable on the long ride.

I understand that buying online opens up a lot of options compared to local retailers so we dont mind going that route and having
someone assemble it in town, we aren't much the DIY type when it comes to that though.
 
This site is mostly centred on the UK, so relevant advice to folk living in Alaska is going to be scant. I think you guys have Craigslist and Ebay, so that may be a good starting point. Sorry this doesn't help much.
 
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alaska1986

New Member
This site is mostly centred on the UK, so relevant advice to folk living in Alaska is going to be scant. I think you guys have Craigslist and Ebay, so that may be a good starting point. Sorry this doesn't help much.
well im riding 80% on paved pathways and 20% on regular trails so unless the pavement or dirt is different in the UK id expect the advice to hold


I am aware of craiglist and ebay but they dont offer much in the way of bike suggestions whereas this forum has a dedicated thread for it. Ask yourself would you goshop blindly for a $500-$1000 purchase on ebay or craiglist?
 

vickster

Legendary Member
If you have access to Trek, look at the FX range, they do unisex and women specific variants. Doesn’t like sound you’ll need any sort of suspension.
This would suit for you (there are cheaper versions too with cheaper components)

https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/...bikes/fx/fx-3-disc/p/28474/?colorCode=reddark

And these are the wsd options, two frame designs

https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/.../fx/fx-3-disc-womens/p/28475/?colorCode=black

https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/...-disc-womens-stagger/p/28476/?colorCode=black

sizing guide here, just need height and inseam
https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/size-finder

Looks like probably an XS for your wife and a S for you (unless you're very long or indeed short legged). I'd expect the Trek store in town would have most sizes in one or other of the FX models for you and your wife to swing a leg over

Padded shorts and a wsd saddle should help your wife. If new to cycling, it’s usual to get some backside discomfort.
 
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well im riding 80% on paved pathways and 20% on regular trails so unless the pavement or dirt is different in the UK id expect the advice to hold


I am aware of craiglist and ebay but they dont offer much in the way of bike suggestions whereas this forum has a dedicated thread for it. Ask yourself would you goshop blindly for a $500-$1000 purchase on ebay or craiglist?
well im riding 80% on paved pathways and 20% on regular trails so unless the pavement or dirt is different in the UK id expect the advice to hold


I am aware of craiglist and ebay but they dont offer much in the way of bike suggestions whereas this forum has a dedicated thread for it. Ask yourself would you goshop blindly for a $500-$1000 purchase on ebay or craiglist?
I take your point about the similarity in dirt and pavement.
If I was looking for a new hybrid bike I'd start in Decathlon, their own brand B'twin bikes have a very good reputation. Same goes for Halfords own brand Carrera bikes, but I suspect this doesn't help you much, sorry.
 
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alaska1986

New Member
If you have access to Trek, look at the FX range, they do unisex and women specific variants. Doesn’t like sound you’ll need any sort of suspension.
This would suit for you (there are cheaper versions too with cheaper components)

https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/...bikes/fx/fx-3-disc/p/28474/?colorCode=reddark

And these are the wsd options, two frame designs

https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/.../fx/fx-3-disc-womens/p/28475/?colorCode=black

https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/...-disc-womens-stagger/p/28476/?colorCode=black

sizing guide here, just need height and inseam
https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/size-finder

Looks like probably an XS for your wife and a S for you (unless you're very long or indeed short legged). I'd expect the Trek store in town would have most sizes in one or other of the FX models for you and your wife to swing a leg over

Padded shorts and a wsd saddle should help your wife. If new to cycling, it’s usual to get some backside discomfort.
Sounds great. Ill look into these models and setup an appt at my local shop thanks!
 
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alaska1986

New Member
I take your point about the similarity in dirt and pavement.
If I was looking for a new hybrid bike I'd start in Decathlon, their own brand B'twin bikes have a very good reputation. Same goes for Halfords own brand Carrera bikes, but I suspect this doesn't help you much, sorry.
thats alright thanks anyway
At least i can look at some of the features on those bikes to get familiar with whats available out there in my price range
 
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alaska1986

New Member
Well the trek fx and specialized sirrus X 2.0 came with strong recommendations now tge issue is that they are sold out everywhere and this is only compounded by tgecsupply chain disruptions created by covid 19
 

SkipdiverJohn

Deplorable Brexiteer
Location
London
In what way are the current Schwinn bikes unsuited for doing 22 mile rides? I regularly do rides that long and longer on both very cheap and more expensive machinery, and TBH, a properly maintained cheap bike is just as capable of getting a rider from A to B as an expensive one.
The main difference between cheap and expensive bikes is marginally better mechanical refinement, and marginally less weight.
 
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alaska1986

New Member
In what way are the current Schwinn bikes unsuited for doing 22 mile rides? I regularly do rides that long and longer on both very cheap and more expensive machinery, and TBH, a properly maintained cheap bike is just as capable of getting a rider from A to B as an expensive one.
The main difference between cheap and expensive bikes is marginally better mechanical refinement, and marginally less weight.

Well i dont really know the technical but they are slow meaning when we put them in the highest gear we dont get much speed out of them when we try to push them. Also my bike doesnt handle hills well i will kick it into a lower gear and virtually will get nowhere when going uphill, my bike will make a weird clicking noise when i pedal sort of like the chain gets hung up and then releases. This is all after we got a tune up before riding this season. I want to say we barely get 10mph at full speed
 

SkipdiverJohn

Deplorable Brexiteer
Location
London
From what I've been able to find online, as I'm not familiar with that particular bike, you have got some sort of 21-Speed hybrid with a front suspension fork.
It looks like a cheap bike, but it has a wide range of gearing and so should be capable of both getting up pretty much any hill and having a fair turn of speed on the flat - so long as the rider is using the gears properly. I don't see why you have any issue with speed, as the gearing is normal for a hybrid or MTB. Any other similar type bike you buy is going to have pretty similar gearing.
The noises and roughness from the transmission sounds to me like whoever was tinkering with it didn't know what they were doing. Unless some part of the geartrain has actually been damaged in an impact, it should run smoothly so long as the gears are indexed correctly. Probably a gear cable tension issue.
 

Sene

New Member
I just talked to trek dealer. I want a bike that will be ideal for 60% rail-trail and 40% road. Dealer suggested fx 2
 
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