5 ms·

These people care way too much about specifics. Just get any old bike and drive it. Carbon vs aluminium vs steel? You're not fucking racing with it, you're driv

These people care way too much about specifics. Just get any old bike and drive it. Carbon vs aluminium vs steel? You're not fucking racing with it, you're driving it through a city. Also: in the falls and crashes I did have over the decades: never once did any part of my frame as much as dent. It doesn't matter. Just get a 40 euro clonker and drive it. Fix it up when it needs fixing. Unless you're doing 15 or more clicks of commuting with it, that'll be perfectly fine and anything more luxurious than that is a waste.

AussieWog93 5y ago
>Just get any old bike and drive it. Carbon vs aluminium vs steel? You're not fucking racing with it, you're driving it through a city. Thank you for having the balls to say this.
- AllegedAlec 5y ago
  I don't understand this urge many 'experts' have to look at someone who's starting a new hobby (or in this case: mode of transport) and tell them to care about all of this stuff that doesn't matter. It'd be like someone asking advice on getting his first car and all of these people come in and tell him that you'd really want a boxer engine, and while you can get FWD, RWD or AWD is just superior. And you also really ought to get a turbo on it. Some people still prefer a supercharger, but those are just outdated, and modern antilag systems just make turbos superior in all ways.
  - stefs 5y ago
    i feel like in this case it's more like: Q: i want to buy a car. A: just get one. compact car, ferrari, station wagon, truck mixer, F1 car, oldtimer, golf cart, doesn't matter! all of those will get you to your destination eventually.
- mariusor 5y ago
  > It doesn't matter. But that's not really true. A lot of novices are turned off riding because they use a bicycle shaped object which rides like a tractor. Buying a light bike with good handling and a good drive train is important for taking pleasure in riding even if you're just doing a 4km commute or supermarket run.
martopix 5y ago
You could say this for literally anything -- just buy a cheap one and it will be fine. Some people are willing to spend a little more money to get more comfort. I have two bikes, one is a silly city bike without gear shift, and with dodgy brakes. I have to go up and down the hill, it's really not possible to use it for that comfortably. The other is an excellent (also second hand) bike with 7 gears, panier rack, disc brakes. I love it. Disc brakes, BTW, are so comfortable on your fingers.
- AllegedAlec 5y ago
  > You could say this for literally anything -- just buy a cheap one and it will be fine. Some people are willing to spend a little more money to get more comfort. Yeah, you can. And for 95% of cases it'll be fine. The article opens with "For non-expert cyclists". Those don't need to worry about the material of the frame, or the kind of brakes. Give them a 3-speed with hand brakes and it'll be fine. What's way more important and much more likely to cause a huge shift in comfort for starting cyclists that this article doesn't talk about is correct size, saddle adjustment etc etc. > Some people are willing to spend a little more money to get more comfort. Totally. This is coming from someone who used to own 4 bikes (once every-day bike, a mountain bike, a street racing bike and a carrier bike for postal work). But you get those for specific reasons after you've learned what you need. That's when you are already an expert. If you're not a biker, the thing to do is get something cheap so you can get used to it and just do it.
stefs 5y ago
fun is an important factor. if riding is fun, people look forward to it. i, for one, prefer my bike to driving my car or taking public transport. if riding your old clunker is a chore you'll find excuses at every opportunity and probably stop riding altogether (especially if convenience is also a factor, e.g. if you have to haul your bike out of the cellar, weight makes a huge difference). also if it was true that ease of use wasn't a factor e-bikes wouldn't be booming.
yread 5y ago
I was like you until I got my first new bike that was also a road bike. Before I had badly maintained second hand bikes around 20kgs and it was ok. But cycling on 20mm tires, with brand new drive train on bike that's 9kg or so was just amazing fun. It's now 10+ years old but it's still way more fun. You step on the pedals and just fly away
wooque 5y ago
This. I bought some 65eur junk and drove it for years. Don't even know what type of frame it has, or gear, or brakes. It needed lot of fixing during the years, but it worked and that is what matters. Plus I didn't have to worry about someone stealing it.
stevage 5y ago
On the other hand, if you're going to be doing a lot of riding it, there's not much point trying to save on upfront cost. Over the years, I've spent thousands of dollars maintaining mine, and who knows how many hours riding it. Technically I could have bought a cheaper one at the start, but it's a bit of a pointless saving after so much time.

AussieWog93 5y ago

>Just get any old bike and drive it. Carbon vs aluminium vs steel? You're not fucking racing with it, you're driving it through a city. Thank you for having the balls to say this.

AllegedAlec 5y ago
I don't understand this urge many 'experts' have to look at someone who's starting a new hobby (or in this case: mode of transport) and tell them to care about all of this stuff that doesn't matter. It'd be like someone asking advice on getting his first car and all of these people come in and tell him that you'd really want a boxer engine, and while you can get FWD, RWD or AWD is just superior. And you also really ought to get a turbo on it. Some people still prefer a supercharger, but those are just outdated, and modern antilag systems just make turbos superior in all ways.
- stefs 5y ago
  i feel like in this case it's more like: Q: i want to buy a car. A: just get one. compact car, ferrari, station wagon, truck mixer, F1 car, oldtimer, golf cart, doesn't matter! all of those will get you to your destination eventually.
mariusor 5y ago
> It doesn't matter. But that's not really true. A lot of novices are turned off riding because they use a bicycle shaped object which rides like a tractor. Buying a light bike with good handling and a good drive train is important for taking pleasure in riding even if you're just doing a 4km commute or supermarket run.

martopix 5y ago

You could say this for literally anything -- just buy a cheap one and it will be fine. Some people are willing to spend a little more money to get more comfort. I have two bikes, one is a silly city bike without gear shift, and with dodgy brakes. I have to go up and down the hill, it's really not possible to use it for that comfortably. The other is an excellent (also second hand) bike with 7 gears, panier rack, disc brakes. I love it. Disc brakes, BTW, are so comfortable on your fingers.

AllegedAlec 5y ago
> You could say this for literally anything -- just buy a cheap one and it will be fine. Some people are willing to spend a little more money to get more comfort. Yeah, you can. And for 95% of cases it'll be fine. The article opens with "For non-expert cyclists". Those don't need to worry about the material of the frame, or the kind of brakes. Give them a 3-speed with hand brakes and it'll be fine. What's way more important and much more likely to cause a huge shift in comfort for starting cyclists that this article doesn't talk about is correct size, saddle adjustment etc etc. > Some people are willing to spend a little more money to get more comfort. Totally. This is coming from someone who used to own 4 bikes (once every-day bike, a mountain bike, a street racing bike and a carrier bike for postal work). But you get those for specific reasons after you've learned what you need. That's when you are already an expert. If you're not a biker, the thing to do is get something cheap so you can get used to it and just do it.

stefs 5y ago

fun is an important factor. if riding is fun, people look forward to it. i, for one, prefer my bike to driving my car or taking public transport. if riding your old clunker is a chore you'll find excuses at every opportunity and probably stop riding altogether (especially if convenience is also a factor, e.g. if you have to haul your bike out of the cellar, weight makes a huge difference). also if it was true that ease of use wasn't a factor e-bikes wouldn't be booming.

yread 5y ago

I was like you until I got my first new bike that was also a road bike. Before I had badly maintained second hand bikes around 20kgs and it was ok. But cycling on 20mm tires, with brand new drive train on bike that's 9kg or so was just amazing fun. It's now 10+ years old but it's still way more fun. You step on the pedals and just fly away

wooque 5y ago

This. I bought some 65eur junk and drove it for years. Don't even know what type of frame it has, or gear, or brakes. It needed lot of fixing during the years, but it worked and that is what matters. Plus I didn't have to worry about someone stealing it.

stevage 5y ago

On the other hand, if you're going to be doing a lot of riding it, there's not much point trying to save on upfront cost. Over the years, I've spent thousands of dollars maintaining mine, and who knows how many hours riding it. Technically I could have bought a cheaper one at the start, but it's a bit of a pointless saving after so much time.