Originally Posted by
ShiftDispatcher
I'm a father of two, looking for a really comfortable bike for family/solo rides. Most likely we're talking 20 miles or less and mostly 3-5 mile rides realistically. I live in Western Massachusetts, but in the valley, not the hills (though there is a reasonable incline if I want to travel to the other side of the valley).
The sixthreezero EVRYjourney catches my eye (can't post link because I'm a newbie to the board)
My concern is that while it might be high in terms of comfort, it won't be a smart choice for the longer trips, which would likely lead me to the Raleigh Bikes Venture 3.0 Comfort Bike.
Any thoughts would be welcomed.
The Venture bike is out for sure because of the fork.
I have no Idea what it would be like to ride 20 miles on the sixthreezero. It is basically an inexpensive version of the Electra Townie. I have ridden the Elctra Townie cruiser (in town short errands) and also the 7speed version. Comfortable, fun, yet the pedal forward thing is awkward. It's great for putting a foot down while remaining seated but, it seems inefficient. Hills are harder much harder. That could be me though as I am not used to pedaling like that. Regardless you should be able to find an Electra dealer near you to test ride one if the weather is nice. to give you an idea on the sixthreezero.
Staying in that price range I'd like to suggest the Trek Verve 1 $399. The verve was like many hybrids with a heavy cheap spring fork that was more cumbersome to a bike, than it was useful. Trek ditched the Fork and made a few other changes. What I found super nice on riding the Verve was the comfort, and more importantly it is a very stable bike at very slow speeds, waking speed type slow. yet on riding down the bike path, it rolled so well. IT would definitely be in the picture for a slow ride with kids, or for a leisure 20 mile ride.
Of course comfort can be very arbitrary. With that being said a simple swap of the handle bar on the Verve could make it go from slightly leaning forward to sitting up using a swept back handlebar , Jones bar, Trekking bar, not sure if they have an official 'label'. the derogatory term is sissy bar. lol Hey I've had one it was super comfy! I'd put it back on but I cut my hydraulic lines to short.
regardless here is a link to the Verve and a Link to a thread on the swept back handle bars.
https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/b...rCode=greydark
Upright geometry ?- Mtbr.com