JackBlack1

mstateglfr 

Hi and welcome.

before anyone suggests bikes, you should post a price range and if you want drop bars or flat bars.

those are 2 major unknowns that affect what people suggest.

its a waste of time for people to list dozens of drop bar bikes that cost $1500 and more if you want a flat bar bike and dont want to spend over $800.

JackBlack1

Thanks. I want to spend less than 1k and don’t think I want drop bars.

wheelsmcgee

wheelsmcgee

Metieval

when i think sand I think big tires.

less than $ 1K and flat bar

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/us/toughroad-slr-2

katsup

Jamis has a new bike that looks very attractive.

Jamis Sequel

OP, you really just need to go out and test ride some bikes to get an idea of what you like.

JackBlack1

katsup

Yes, some in the parking lot, some a lot further if they hold your ID.

rgconner

If they don't, find another one that does. Any bike shop worth supporting should allow for a test ride.

The local Specialized store has loaners you can take for a few days with a credit card deposit.

Clem von Jones

I think you need fat lightweight tubeless tires so you can run the sandy trails through Ocala National Forest and Big Cypress. I wouldn't bother with a suspension fork. Maybe a 27.5 x 3" fully rigid bike.

Fuji bike are a good value but this one has a suspension fork https://www.bikenashbar.com/cycling/...e-2016-yb-bt11

Maybe you need a true fatbike to ride on the beach sand. https://www.bikenashbar.com/cycling/...40r-26-yb-fatr

Metieval

cool but, OMG that geometry NO way! there are beach crusiers that are probably faster. lol

JackBlack1

katsup

A lot of manufacturers offer lifetime warranty on the frame, this is easy to check online or by asking. Most manufacturers have a bike in the category you are looking at, but your hardest task will be finding a test bike in your size. I am also 6'2" and not many shops have XL bikes in stock.

Skipjacks

I seriously suggest looking at a used bike that you can spend $200 on, ride it fro 6 months to decide what you really do and don't like, then resell it for $150, THEN going to buy a nicer bike.

You're a new cyclist. You have no idea what you do and don't want. And even if you figure out what you do and don't want today, after you ride for a year you'll start to change what you like as you get more into it and you get better at it.

Take me for example. 3 years ago I started commuting on an old flat bar mountain bike I had (Pro tip. Don't do that. It's not meant for commuting)

Within 6 months I loved biking but needed something better. And now I had more of an idea of what I wanted. So I bought a flat bar hybrid. It's a great commuter bike and I'm still happy with it for riding to work. And last year when I took it out for weekend rides I loved it. It was great on gravel trails (at least I thought it was) and I found myself going further and further. Now this year I found I was limited in just how far I could go. 40-50 miles and my hands were killing me and my legs were burned out.

So I just bought a weekend road/gravel bike with drop bars I can go further and faster on for weekend joy rides. This was a need I didn't even know I had when I started riding. I had no idea there were different bikes for different things or what my preferences were.

So get a cheap bike that's your best guess of what you want, ride it fro 6 months, then buy something that's more to your specific desires.

The down side of that plan is that it costs you $200-$300 up front that you probably won't get all back when you resell it. But even if that first bike costs you $100 after resale (Buy for $300, sell for $200 in the spring) it's $100 spent on research to make sure the $1000 bike you buy in the spring is the right one.

katsup

Funny, I went in the opposite direction. Started with a few flat bar hybrids, suspension, then none. But when I gave my dad the one I kept (Trek 7.2), I replaced it with a vintage mountain bike of which I now have a few. I found I liked vintage bikes and a tire change made them great urban riders.​ I​​​ do have some drop bar bikes for the longer rides though.

Shopping for a used bike is a good way to start out, just make sure the bike is your size. It takes time to find the right bike that fits a 6'2" person. OP can post ads here and we can help if desired.

Skipjacks

Perfect example of why a new rider shouldn't spend $1,000 on his best guess of what bike he wants.

I think you and I have similar needs for an urban bike. Yet we have very different taste in what styles and components work best for us. And we both came to our conclusions after a few years of riding and experimenting. And we're both right.

A new rider can read website after website until he finishes the internet. All the options about what kind of bike are best for a particular kind of riding are just opinions. And the path a new rider starts to go on after starting to ride is totally unpredictable. He might love being on the pavement and later decide a racing geometry road bike is best for weekend riding. He might love the dirt and hills and rocky trails and decide a full suspension mountain bike is what he wants.

So I always say, get a cheap bike. Ride it. Decide what you like, what you hate, and get a better feel for where you'd want to ride once you've got some experience. Then make a decision about what to spend money on.

Exception: You have lots of expendable income that's burning a hole in your pocket. In this case, go to the store and buy 4 bikes. (Mountain, road, gravel, and commuter) then you're covered for whatever comes up!

rgconner

The manufacturer support is really not as important as you would think. Frames rarely fail, moving parts wear so they have short warranties.

The support you get from your local shop is much more important, since they are the first point of contact with getting warranty work done anyway.

rgconner

If people did not do that there would be a lot less cherry rides available cheap on craigslist!

Skipjacks

Point taken, oh wise one!

I would like to change my earlier advice to "Buy all the bikes!!"

Skipjacks

And the moving parts that can fail quickly due to a defect are typically not that expensive to fix. In the last year I had a bottom bracket and a free hub fail, both due to 'reasons'. The total repair for both with labor was $100. So if 5 years down the road you blow out a bottom bracket it might cost $50 for the part and labor to fix it. (You can spend a lot more on any part. Name any part on a bike. That part is available in normal and in 1,000% more expensive.)

And while both parts on my bike were out of the manufacturer warranty they were still within my credit card's automatic extended warranty. So my credit card paid for both repairs. That's worth thinking about too. If you have a credit card that offers that kind of protection, be aware of it and feel more secure with whatever bike you buy.

In other words, don't overthink the warranty. If you're buying a new bike, it probably has a 1 year parts warranty on everything except wear parts (brake pads, tires, other things that are supposed to wear out). And nothing should be breaking in that first year unless there is a defect. So the 1 year warranty is reasonable. Past 1 year parts going bad is just part of biking. It happens. It's a machine with moving parts. Things break. And any broken part 3 years from now is an opportunity to upgrade that part and learn how to do a repair!

JackBlack1

JackBlack1

mstateglfr 

what am I missing here? The largest size(what I look at as a default since its always what I would ride) has a 73deg STA and a 71.5deg HTA. That's a relatively relaxed HTA, but hardly crazy for its purpose- a reliable urban bike. Twitchy handling isnt really needed, or even beneficial.
the ETT is longer than some, but that also offsets the relaxed HTA which is a good thing.
chainstay length makes sense. Bb drop makes sense. It has 48mm of trail.

not sure what's so horrific for an urban bike.

Metieval

this