Originally Posted by
longhitv
I’m looking mostly to just ride from Coquitlam to Langley or Pitt Meadows 20km maybe 30km return. Flat surfaces on a Sunny Saturday or Sunday morning. Have a coffee somewhere and head back done by 10am. Likely I’ll be solo, but at times a friend or two may jump in.
Rode through there yesterday. You'll want a bike that can handle the terrain from Pitt Lake in the north to The Stomping Grounds in the south. From Alouette Lake in the east to Colony Farm in the west. The good parts of this involves many hundreds of km of pancake-flat smooth gravel.
I suggest a 10-20 year old 'cross bike with say 28-32mm tires. 32s will be fat enough for the terrain and your weight.
The world is inexorably and unnecessarily going to disc brakes, but a bike with TRP mini-V brakes and 9-10 speed brifters will provide the shifting performance you want with all the braking power you need, hopefully at a reasonable price. I rode with downtube shifters for 30 years - just say no. Clipless pedals are a major improvement as well. Frame material: I have multiple bikes each in steel, titanium, alu and carbon. I cannot tell the difference between them, as tires and the saddle and bars make all the difference in terms of the 'ride'. However, steel is heavier than alu/titanium (tie) and carbon, all things being equal. Low weight is a very good thing.
Sourcing bikes... currently we're in the middle of 'Bikemageddon', in which everything under $1k at a shop is gone, and our local Craigslist, normally a sewer of overpriced, broken and stolen junk, is far worse than usual. Folks are posting take-off reflectors for $5, tubes for $15, and thrashed department-store BSO's for higher than original retail. If you can outwait the pandemic, and the usual crush of spring bike demand, maybe some deals will be available - eventually.