rutabaga1973

Hi y'all,

I have to replace my city bike and could use your advice.

I've been riding for 8 years on a steel frame Nashbar cyclocross bike with a carbon fork and slicks. I love it, but it needs a new drivetrain, new cables, a new rear wheel, all of which would cost about $500 even with low-end replacements (and I don't have time or skill to do this work myself).

Given that it cost ~$650 originally, and other components have wear, I'm leaning towards buying a new bike instead and selling this one. I ride a few times per week around NYC. I work from home but this is the main way I get places.

My budget for a replacement is ~$800 so obviously that limits things. (Both because I'm on a limited budget--and I'm locking this up around NYC, sometimes until late evening).

I love the feel of my steel frame - I have an aluminum road bike that I ride on longer weekend rides but on that bike I feel every little bump and for city commuting, I think I want steel.

I found these two options. What do y'all think? And is there another you'd recommend?

Super Road, Disc Brake, Reynolds High Grade Steel Bikes with CrMo Forks Motobecane Strada CM SPORT
Save Up to 60% Off Disc Brake Road Bikes -NEW Disc Brake Steel Road Bikes On Sale + FREE SHIP 48 Super Road, Disc Brake, High Grade Steel Bikes with CrMo Forks Motobecane Strada CM SPORT Plus WTB TCS Tubeless Compatible Wheels

Ridgeline Ramble 1.0 Touring Bike 2018
https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/.../rp-prod172698

The Nashbar bike was a suggestion from someone here - and I loved it. And whenever I post here, y'all spot stuff about geometry or components that I miss. So I'd love your advice.

Thanks!

j

FlMTNdude

If you like the frame and it fits well, why not put on a 105 group? Questioning what is wrong with the wheel. 10,000 mile on a hub/wheel with just service and maybe a couple truings would not be extremely high mileage. If you find a good used wheel at $75-100, and do your work on eBay and such, you can definitely come in under that number. I would rather refurb a bike which rides well and would otherwise continue to serve my needs than cross my fingers hoping the new one doesn’t leave me wanting. Granted, new bikes do have their draw.

rutabaga1973

Thanks for the thoughts. Wheel is bent so it needs replacing. It has 105 group on there now. Cables are corroded and I didn't maintain the drivetrain well enough (totally my bad = learning) so it needs new stuff. The expensive bits are the wheel and the cassette. I'm afraid I don't know enough about wheels and compatibility to buy something on e-bay. I've never bought a used wheel before -- how can I tell what shape it's in? (Sorry to be dense) and if it'll be compatible with the 11-32 cassette (i think that's what i have)?

GamblerGORD53

Of these 2, the RL tour bike is far superior. The Spyre discs are fantastic. Plus the wheel base is 2" longer, always better. The TT has a just right amount of slope. The cranks are a nice 175mm. The minus is the 32mm tires and no fenders. I like 35mm at the least.
The Motobs are just not that well made.

Darth Lefty 

They’re both fine. Limited sizes remaining for the CRC bike, but better parts. Cool fork on the BD bike.

kingston 

The Nashbar is better than both of those bikes. Chains, cassettes, cables and housing are consumables, so you'll need to replace those on any bike from time to time. You could source those parts for under $300 including a brand new wheelset.

Darth Lefty 

It's also worth checking whether the rear wheel is a write-off or can be fixed. A rear wheel has like a hundred parts and it'd be a shame to trash them all if one or two has gone bad or it can just be adjusted

Korina

Having spent a ridiculous amount of money, more than it's objectively worth, to have an old steel mountain bike built up into a comfy cruiser/road/ride all day bike, I'd say fix up the one you love. Take it into an LBS and get an estimate to fix that wheel; it may not cost as much as you think.

jade408

I second this thought.

rutabaga1973

Thank you! This is all super helpful. Appreciate it!

Korina

Thanks. I forgot to say that as much money as I put into it ($500 including parts and mechanic), it's still much cheaper than an equivalent new bike, assuming you can even find a new all steel, fully rigid, 26" wheel adventure bike.

caloso

One more vote for fixing/upgrading the existing bike.

matimeo

I know this isn't what you asked in your original post, but I think that part of becoming a bike commuter is learning to wrench on your own bikes. This could be a great learning opportunity, and it's not as hard as you think to replace things on your bicycle. The added benefit, is that once you know how to do those things, you can maintain your own bike indefinitely and not find yourself back in this predicament in the future. It's fun and rewarding to be able to keep your bikes tuned up and in good condition.

alan s 

I’d go with the new Moto from BD. You really can’t beat their prices. Keep the old one as a beater and fix it up over time.

jade408

Yes, and I feel that older steel frames are much nicer than the bulk of the current massed produced production options.

zacster

I took a beat up Trek MTB from 1990 and built it up with XT components and new wheels a few years ago and I'd put that bike up against anything I could buy for twice the price. It ran just under $500, but with front/rear new wheels with a dynamo hub in front. This was 5 years ago and it still runs like new, especially after a new chain. And like the OP, I'm a NYC rider so I have the same conditions. I did all of the work myself including the wheels, and the wheels are also still like new and never needed even a tweak of truing.

I also built up my road bike with a complete transfer from my crashed frame. The wheels also needed work.

I'd be willing to help but I have a pretty busy schedule over the next month, and you'd have to come to Brooklyn. I have a lot of tools but not a truing stand and don't find that completely necessary anyway, and I'm certainly not a pro just a DIYer.

88Tempo

When I got back into riding bikes one of the first things I did was go and buy a manual on bike repair. With that book and no prior bike mechanic experience I built a Surly Ogre up from a bare frameset including the wheels. And someone on this forum can usually offer with any serious mechanical issues

Basic maintenance can pretty much be done with a decent multi tool although a dedicated allen wrench set and other tools does come in handy.

I prefer reading to watching videos for the ease of referring to a specific chapter or paragraph.

acidfast7

No. I don't like Bikes Direct as it doesn't employ anyone locally (EU for me.)

I spend my money locally but won't buy a handmade bike in the EU as I am somewhat thrifty but will at least make sure that a "local" business profits.

A CRC bike would be a better option but not ideal.

A local shop is best.

wilfried

If you want to learn DIY bike repair, there are two bike co-ops in NYC where you can learn.

https://times-up.org/bike-co-op

NYC Mechanical Gardens Bike Co-op ? New York City's Bike Co-op

I learned my still fairly basic wrenching skills at Times-Up, back when they were in a dank basement space on the Lower East Side, how to change cables, overhaul hub bearings, true wheels, etc. The dank basement is now a shiny condo building, so they run their monthly cycle of bike maintenance classes in a community garden.

This spring I went to Mechanical Gardens a few times, and changed cables and brake pads, general tune up, etc. I'm lucky to have a friend who's quite a wrench who started volunteering here, and with his help I even replaced a rim and rebuilt a wheel.

rutabaga1973

Huge thanks to everyone who gave me advice in this thread, in case you're still following it. I ended up taking the advice to get it fixed and am so happy to still have it. Only cost ~$400 which was definitely less than a comparable new bike. Really appreciate everyone weighing in.

noglider 

Good choice. Those Nashbar bikes were sleepers. Really good stuff that no one would notice.

Korina

That's great! You know we want pics of your trusty steed, right? Right?