paramountx

So hello, I've been riding for years now. First as a kid but now as an adult. My first bike that I bought was a Trek 3700 (2011) and I liked it but now I am thinking about getting a new bike. My LBS suggested a Cannondale Six. and I was just telling him about my concerns. So i'll list it here. Oh and I am about 6'2 250+ but losing.

I wanted a bike with a chain guard because I messed up so many of my pants, oils, tears. ( I remedied it buy getting ankle strap and/or wearing shorts).

I wanted a bike that had a seat with suspension in it. o
I want a bike with rapid shifters. Disc brakes, hardtail. A bigger crank wheel than the one I had because, and correct if I'm wrong, that witha bigger crank, I can faster, ignoring aerodynamics. Just imagine as a true experiment, where CRANK size is the dependent variable, wouldnt I go faster.

Front suspension -preferably able to lock


I tried searching around but to no avail, maybe more season riders and experts can point me to the right direction

Oh and I usually ride on pavements, like city streets but many times I ride on dirt and woody area,---but MOSTLY pavement with lots of rubble and glass. For my current bike I have bontrager 3 and some super tought innertube with a liner.
..and lets say money is not an option


So yea....Hi

corwin1968

I can't help you with specific recommendations because most of your criteria are things I don't prefer but a larger chainring will only make you faster if you have the strength and endurance to pedal it. If you are riding on your largest chainring and smallest cog right now and you are spinning it out (ie, spinning so fast your pedaling is no longer accelerating the bike) then larger chainrings will allow you to go faster. If you are not spinning out your largest chainring then a larger one won't be much help.

Also, many of the things you want are inversely related to speeed in that those features generally result in a heavier and slower bike.

dynaryder

Chainguard with a derailleur drivetrain is going to be a prob;they do exist,but are hard to find,a bit of a pain to install,and only work with certain ranges of rings. Easier to find are plastic rings that go on the end of the big ring to keep your pants clean. Shimano offer them for most of their hybrid/touring cranksets,and there are aftermarket ones around.

Other than the chainguard,bikes that fit the bill would be a Cannondale Bad Boy 1,Specialized Crosstrails,and Jasmis Allegros. These bikes don't have big gears,but they have hybrid/touring gearing that is taller than the MTB triple on your trek.

paramountx

I was looking at CX 3 (2013) from Cannondale.
How do I check to see the Crank size.

As for special covering on the crank, I forgot that mine came with something, so the new one should too. Now I realize that the CX doesn't have a suspension in the seat, but make a seat with springs like I have already.

Cfiber

www.cannondale.com/2013/bikes/recreation-urban/recreation/quick-cx/quick-cx-3/

www.rei.com/product/844797/cannondale-quick-cx-3-bike-2013

paramountx

Yea, i was at that site. that how i found out about it, but im not sure how to decipher because on rei.com they show differnt specs.and how do i know if my current crank size is biger or smaller

Bunnicula

Ride it, see how you like it.

paramountx

those specs are not whats on the cx 3 bike..now what

erg79

You're making it really hard to help you out here. What is the problem you have? What specs are not on the CX 3--what are you looking at that you say that they don't match with what is on the bike? Give us some more information here.

paramountx

I'm sorry. The specs for the CX 3 from the Cannondale website is not accurate. What I want I listed already, however after just surfing around compromising I decided on two bikes the CX3 and the 8.4DS However at the time of me selecting the CX3 i was basing it on the wrong specs. So I'm just contemplating on the two of them

if u compare the specs from rei and cannondale they are different

Jimi77

You could upgrade to a Shimano Tourney 48t crank set for ~$30, which would include the ring guard. You could spend a little to a lot more for nicer crank set. If your current fork doesn't have a lockout, then the Rock Shox xc28 isn't bad for ~$125 and lets you lock out the fork on the fly (not all forks let you do that) and has a rebound adjustment. You can get a cheap suspension seat post for ~$20 or a nice one (thudbuster) for ~$125. While you're at it, I'd suggest spending another ~$40-60 on a better rear derailleur (Shimano Alivo or Deore). I've had the lower end derailleurs fail on me.

clbw

Or just look at the CX2 or 1 they have better group set (Shimano Alivo / Deore) the CX2 is a much better bike in the CX line if you stayed with the Cannondale I would also look at the Bad Boy series. but nothing beats going to you local LBS and test riding to see what works.

giantcfr1

Are you talking about chain-ring or crank length?
The chain-ring on both sites state the same...48 teeth. If you want larger, get a bike with a compact road bike crankset.
If you want to stick with an MTB crankset, change your cassette to road, and adjust your front deraileur so that it blocks the inner chain-ring. That said, your smallest cog on both your road / MTB cassette as pretty well the same size anyway.

paramountx

I think im talking about crank length, not ring. Like 170mm vs 175mm

paramountx

Hehehe..how my knowledge of bikes increased since then. I ended up getting a 8.6 trek ds

NormanF

The consensus on here seems to be DS 29ers is a good value for the money.

They can replace a road bike, mountain bike and hybrid street bike because they offer more.