alank2

It has been about 25 years since I've mountain biked - a friend used to take me on a lot of different trails and it was a good time. I'm pushing 50 now (male) and looking for more exercise, but probably just going to ride around my neighborhood for the most part, it has some hilliness, but nothing extreme. My goal is really exercise and if I can get myself in the habit, I'd probably want to use it once or twice a week for an hour or so. I want to get more bank for the buck generally speaking. I don't mind assembling or maintaining a bike, but even so I'd rather have simple with less maintenance if given a choice.

I'm not looking to spend much, 200-300 better, but I'd go 400, but at the same time I hate buying something that isn't worth paying for. I started by looking at some Schwinn hybrids at Walmart and they had one for $200: They also had this for $300 but it looks like it has a Shimano shifters/derailleur. Then I saw a Schwinn Vantage F3 at Amazon for $500 which is really more than I want to spend.

Then with some more searching I found bikesdirect and they have these:

$259 - gravity swift 7
$299 - gravity swift 21
$399 - gravity swift 8

The swift 8 has a Shimano Nexus 8 hub which I find interesting, but don't know much about.

I realize that shopping for a used bike can yield a better value, but I don't want to do the work of waiting for the right deal so I'd rather buy new.

Questions:

#1 - Given the way I plan to use it, would a 7 or 8 speed be less complication and fine for what I'm trying to do with it.
#2 - I read some reviews of bikesdirect and it sounds like there are people on both sides of recommending or not recommending them.
#3 - Of the ones above, any thoughts?
#4 - Thoughts about other models I've not listed?

Thanks for the help!

rollagain

Of those three I'd go with the 8-speed internal hub gear model. Just ride it and enjoy it; I doubt you'll find a better price for a bike with that hub gear. I've got one and it's nice, real smooth. I upgraded one of my rides by buying a whole wheel with that hub and the wheel alone cost $400. Nothing to fuss with, shift gears while stopped. You'll likely never need to replace it.

Get the red one, it's faster.

Now someone will come along with other suggestions.

alank2

>I thought the Swift is more of a comfy cruiser.

I don't know that it would ever be on a trail, but they do list it as a hybrid.

I'm 5'7 and they recommend a 16" size. I appreciate the tip about leaning forward. I don't really know what would be better. I certainly don't mind the comfort of being more upright, but I am trying to get exercise. I had a Yamaha 600cc cycle once and I was not a fan of how far you had to lean forward on it. Do you think the 16" or 18" would be better?

>Of those three I'd go with the 8-speed internal hub gear model.

That was going to be a question - is it worth the $140 more for the Nexus 8 compared to the swift 7.

>Get the red one

Well, they only have black for the 16" or black or tital grey for the 18".

Maelochs

Swift 8
https://www.bikesdirect.com/products/...r-hybrid-8.htm
Swift 7
https://www.bikesdirect.com/products/...hybrid-xiv.htm

If you want ultimate simplicity, get the internally geared hub (IGH) basically there is nothing for you to mess with because it is all a sealed unit (with a lube port, I think.) Shifting is one lever, up or down, while moving or stationary.

The 7 has a rear derailleur---that device hanging down off the rear axle which moves the chain from gear to gear. It shouldn’t often need adjusting, but might occasionally. Otherwise shifting won’t be much more difficult than with the IGH. One thing---when you come to a stop you will need to downshift before you stop, or you will be stuck in a high gear and struggle to get started.

The 21 has a front derailleur. This would possibly be the best version for someone who planned to ride a lot of different terrain or a lot of hills. You will get considerably higher gearing (more speed) and considerably lower gearing (better climbing.) However, setting up and maintaining a front derailleur can be more trying…. Shouldn’t be an issue, but the more moving parts, the more you might have to maintain.

They both come with an adjustable stem (it claims) so you could lower the bars if you so chose. Also, there is a lot of quill exposed (the bar from the headset to the stem) which I am pretty sure you could lower considerable.

These all look like decent beginner bikes (no offense intended---I seriously mean bikes for people just starting to ride) who might want to stretch their legs a little bit now and then, but aren’t looking to explore trails or go one multi-hour rides.

The bike should be fine on packed-earth trails or a little sand and gravel—but would be slow over rocks and roots and tough terrain. But—when mountain-biking started, these would have been as good as or better than what they were riding back then.

For road use, the wide seat and upright position could get troublesome. A lot of people ride comfort bikes like they are sitting in chairs. They plant themselves on the seat and let their legs dangle. This is fine for tooling around the neighborhood at 5-10 mph, but it doesn’t really engage the leg muscles as well as it might.

If you start riding with vigor, and leaning forward some, that saddle might start chafing your thighs.

Also, this doesn’t engage the core muscles so much, and after a while can really pound the lower back. When you lean forward a little, you use your stomach and back muscles as a leaf spring, instead of bouncing your spine up and down and compressing your discs. It works the core muscles and saves the spine—and spines are handy later in life.

With the adjustable stem and quill (gooseneck) you can literally change your riding position in the middle of your ride (assuming you bring the right allen wrenches.)

Saddles can be had for cheap, though it can be a real pain to find one which isn’t a real pain. Everybody has a different body, and the more we ride, the more different our bodies get. Still, you could likely go for quite a while on the stock saddle, and then buy something cheap on EBay and be fine with that, until you started riding for 50 miles or more.

Maelochs

Also .... almost all the people who dislike BikesDirect are people who have never shopped there.

The bikes are what they are. They are solid, lower-budget, decently equipped machines at a good price point. The site goes a bit far with its ad copy---"Compare with bikes costing 1000x more!"----but what they offer is solid, reliable machinery at a decent cost. You can see what you are getting ahead of time, and they deliver what they promise.

You won't be getting cutting-edge ultra-light race-ready anything. The drive trains are industry standard, the cockpits are decent and sturdy, the frames are a few years' old technology but well made.

You might want to take the bike to a shop to get the wheels checked after a few hundred miles, because often the spokes were tightened by not tested, and after a few hundred miles there is some random loosening, stretching, whatever .... and with any bike with derailleurs you will need to adjust the shifters to account for initial cable stretch.

After that, these are just basic bicycles. Keep the chain clean and lubed and the tires pumped up and you could riding the same bike 20-30 years from now.

dedhed

I'd also look a little farther down the BD '"hybrid" page at some of their flat bar/fitness bikes.

In general, if looking at 7-8 speed derailleur equipped bikes, you want to stay away from freewheel rear hubs and only consider cassette hubs. If your looking at shimano rear gears if it starts with "MF" it's a freewheel and if it starts with "CS" it's a cassette

alank2

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate the detailed responses, you guys are very helpful!

I am leaning towards giving the Swift 8 a try. Any thoughts on the sizing? I'm 5'7 and 195 lbs but would like to get down to 180 lbs or so. Their sizing recommends the 16". Any reason I should consider the 18" or should the 16" be ideal?

Nyah

I like the 21, because of its range of gearing, over the Nexus 8. As was said previously, the Nexus 8 will be fine for riding just around the neighborhood. But the 21 will allow more than that. If you enjoy riding the bike, you may want to explore beyond the neighborhood. The triple chainrings will make that easier.

I recommend the 16" size, based on what the website says.

alank2

Thanks everyone; I ordered the Swift 8 so we'll see how it does!

alank2

The Swift 8 has arrived today from Jacksonville.

Two questions so far:

#1 - the front fork where the tire fits into the channels, one side looks flat and even, but the other side had less clearance almost like it was squished a little bit more. The tire fits into it just fine and locks down fine. I almost remember seeing this on other bikes too so maybe it is normal.

#2 - It has a black Nexus 8 hub on it labeled Inter 8 - SG-C6000-8R. The dots line up in gear 4, not gear 5. I thought it was supposed to be gear 5, but perhaps I am wrong.

coffeesnob

buy you a trek hybrid

Payton1221

I bought their Motobecane Elite 8 (it has the Nexus 8) and I really like it for the money. The Nexus 8 is great, and I have plenty of range from low to high, and if you pause while shifting, it's whisper quiet too.

I'm 5'11 and bought their 17.5" and, to do over, I'd probably buy one size larger. I adjusted my seat all the way back and bought a stem riser (probably adding ~2" to the height of the handlebar and it's okay). With all of that said, I think I have a preference for slightly larger bikes than what a bike store would "fit me" with.

I'd like to suggest that you buy one of the inexpensive computers too (e.g., Cateye). Use the odometer to challenge yourself to ride so much every week, month, or year.

alank2

Payton1221 - Good tip - I just finished installing the Cateye Enduro no less than 10 minutes ago!

I ended up with the 16" and it feels perfect so far.

Another thing I found on it was that the chain was much too tight which was putting an undue amount of pressure on everything. I loosened it a bit and it fells much better now.

Looking forward to trying it out some more when it warms up today.

alank2

Do you have to have 10 posts to attach a picture too?

alank2

Here is a picture - took it out for a 2 mile neighborhood ride today:



Gravity Swift 8

mtb_addict

Should probably check all the bearings for proper adjustment. Always take the wheels off and check the bearings...make sure the adjustment is not too tight...and make sure the lock nuts are tight. On my first BD bike, the factory didnt tighten the locknut, so in a few weeks time, it damaged the hub.

erudite

Looks great! How are you finding it? I've been considering this bike but have never owned or ridden one with an internal hub.

alank2

mtb_addict - Thanks fro the tip - I'll try to find a video that shows how to do this. If you know of one please post it and I'll check it out.

erudite - So far it is great. I'm really looking forward to a warm day where I can stay out on it for awhile. I really like the Nexus hub so far - I wasn't sure how I would feel about the rotational gear shift because I had the trigger style before on a derailleur mtb, but the thing is very easy to use and you can jump a number of gears if you want to. You do need to let up on the pedal pressure slightly, but it works very well. Change gears and hear/feel a small click as it transitions. I did an excel sheet to compare the 8 gears it has compared to their derailleur Swift 21 and the 21 had only one gear that was lower (though it was lower by 28%) and the 21 had only one gear that was higher (5.8%). My concern was that the lowest gear might not be low enough, but gear 1 feels quite low to me although my neighborhood doesn't have any massive hills. Oddly, for going fast on downhills I might have liked a gear 9, but gear 8 was working fine for that job too.

alank2

bikesdirect customer service did okay by me - they told me how I can correct the issue and gave me a credit at the same time.

Alan37

A good friend of mine has Motobecane Elite 8, and he is satisfied with it. I don't know all the characteristics, but it seems to me that it's a good one.