TortoiseAvenger

I'm trying to keep this short, but my brain is swimming with options and I'm going nuts. Here's the story, in the most succinct form I could come up with:

My favorite bike I had in the past was my Felt z85... a budget conscious endurance road bike. I liked it a lot, except I wasn't crazy about the lack of ability to add fenders/racks, or the rim brakes. I sold it a couple years ago and have since been bike-less. I recently moved to an urban area and don't have a car.

I want a bike for:

• transportation
• picking up groceries
• exercise
• recreation

Bearing in mind a budget somewhere around $1,500 I could:

• buy a 2019 Cannondale Synapse Alloy 105 SE
• buy a steel framed stock bike
• Build my own with help from the local co-op

The Cannondale seems great. It's friggin gorgeous to me. I like the internally routed cables, the color, the disc breaks (I'm not a fan of rim brakes... at all). The geometry is quite similar to the Felt I liked, and, being purchased at REI, I can return it for up to a year if it is a mistake... a wonderful, and very uncommon thing.

BUT... I have this romantic notion that I should get a steel frame... that they last forever and I could constantly be tweaking and upgrading parts on my "baby," rather than using the new bike for 5 years and throwing it out for a new one. I love the idea that something has longevity, and is upgradeable, changeable, etc.

BUT... Am I really going to want the same frame in 10, 15, 20 years anyway? Especially one in my current price range (And therefore a little heavy)? If I'd have bought a frame 10 years ago I'd be pissed that I couldn't put disc brakes on it (yes, I love disc brakes THAT much). Who knows what they'll come up with in 15 years that I just have to have that frames sold today are incompatible with.

I can't go retro (though I'd love to) because disc brakes, to me, are non negotiable.

So. Thoughts? Thanks in advance to anyone who can calm my mind... I keep going back and forth over here.

Nicholas

surak

The answer is always multiple bikes.

But seriously, your problem is you don't even have one bike, which you must remedy immediately. Just buy the Synapse and have it meet all the near-term practical needs you listed. As you said, with REI's return policy, there's little downside if you regret it later. If you find another bike that you can fulfill your romantic dreams of working on forever, you can decide then whether it's worth being a replacement or N+1, while you still have a working Synapse so that your analysis paralysis won't actually paralyze you from going out riding.​​​​​
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CliffordK

Look at some of the REI Co-op bikes.

That Synapse looks nice, and does have rack mount points if you wish, although probably not for much more than 20 or 30 pounds or so (of course we all go overweight).

I find a trailer can be handy for cargo runs.

Steel is up to you.

Jamis has worked in steel in the past. I have an older Jamis Coda that I've converted to drop bar (rim brakes). But, I think there are disc versions.

Nonetheless, I've also been happy with my rim brakes for everything that I do. And, some of the new rim brakes are quite good.

CliffordK

An option is also to skip the rim brakes. Find something cheap on Craigslist that fits your needs. Then, ride it as a commuter for a few months. Do a proper shake-down.

Then once you get happy with the cheap commuter, and see what you do and don't like, then buy a new bike that suits your needs.

Either resell that Craigslist commuter, keep it as a spare, or use it as a beater bike.

Keep in mind that commuting can also be hard on bikes. Where do you store it on both ends of the commute?

TortoiseAvenger

True.

I work from home, so I'm not really commuting. But, sometimes I'll want to go to the grocery. Maybe a movie. Or, of course, the liquor store. It won't be outside in the elements for 9 hours every weekday. When I'm at home, it will share my tiny studio apartment with me.

WhyFi

I have a bike that's in the price bracket that you're talking about and I use it for grocery and liquor store runs - we're talking about it being unsupervised for 10-15 minutes at a time. No way would I leave it locked up for a 2-hour movie, though. You want a beater for that kind of situation.

TortoiseAvenger

Interesting. I don't have much money to throw around, but I never thought that this bike might be considered precious enough to doubt using. I thought of it as a "starter" road bike that no one is too excited about either way.

A Honda Civic of bikes, no?

WhyFi

I don't know where you live, but $1500 bikes locked in the rack and unsupervised for hours are not terribly common anywhere I've been.

Maelochs

Build a bike at the local co-op, ride it for a while, see what you wish was better and what you wish was different.

Benefits of a cheaper bike: cheapness, lower desirability. Costs less to get, to keep, and is less likely to get stolen if you use anything like a serious lock (anything that cannot be cut with a steak knife or picked in two minutes.)

Maybe you will find that the bike is perfect---carries loads, gets you around, waits for you at movies .... or maybe you will find that you want a bike for riding ... something like the Synapse, which you might not want to leave outside a movie theater all night, but would appreciate if you went for a couple hours' ride the next day.

Build or buy a two-tier rack so two bikes take up the same floor space as one bike .... and have one for riding, and one for work and rain.one bike

Maelochs

Not after the first few minutes of being left there, no ........

bpcyclist

Bike thieves will steal anything. Just take a look at the collection the next time you ride through a big homeless camp... There are millions of them, everywhere.

delbiker1 

You should make a decision and live with it.

aliasfox

In NYC, I've seen a delivery guy on a Klein Adept full suspension rig, with the logos all taped up - forgot what fork it had on, but pretty sure I saw at least some XTR on it. I'm betting the original owner probably thought that his decade-old $4k bike was safe on the street, too.

I've even seen 20 year old Specialized HardRocks stripped of their wheels, frames rusting on whatever street signs they were anchored to.

Moral of the story - for locking up outside a bar or movie theater, get something cheap, replaceable, and don't get too attached to it.

CliffordK

It all depends on where one is. I don't think the OP posted a location, but demands on the center of NYC are very different than the farmlands of Iowa.

Nonetheless, if you have a $1000+ bike, get a good lock for it, and read about locking technique.

Ogsarg

I'd go with the Co-op or used bike suggestion and focus on your transportation/around town requirements. Make it as unappealing to thieves as possible. That satisfies your immediate transportation needs. Then start saving some money for a nicer bike for the recreation rides where you won't be forced to have it locked up outside for more than a very short time.

TortoiseAvenger

All good advices and things to consider. I really appreciate everyone chipping in their 2¢ to help me out.

ChrisAlbertson

That 2019 Canondale will last a lot longer than 5 years. Aluminum frames don't rust. If you can afford it, it is a great deal with 105 groupset and all the mount points for racks and such already there.

But if I had no bike, I'd be on Craigslist and get a 26" "city bike" for $200 with a flat bar and flat pedals. Ride that while you figure out what you want then sell it for about what you paid or keep it and buy also a real road bike.

BTW I'm looking or a bike too. I plan to buy it after the summer. (we ride year-round here in California) I was looking at Synapse but now CAAD13 is top of my list. I have a 26" flat bar city bike already.