Originally Posted by veganbikes

If you do swap tape, which is a good thing, take some good pictures underneath the bars after you take off the old tape (and maybe clean things up) that way people know what is going on underneath that old tape which is in the end a safety issue. Sweat soaks into the tape and sits on your bars and is corrosive. It is especially bad on bikes used on trainers but if it hasn't been changed in a while it can still happen. I don't care if tape looks dirty or whatever on the outside it is underneath that concerns me and should concern everyone to some degree. Not to panic about it but to change out your tape once and a while and when you do that you can also swap to new cables and housing and take care of your bike more often.


I would look beyond Giant or Fuji personally but in the end find something that fits you and works for you. Don't focus on price, focus on fit and function first and then once you have figured that out you can work on price. An ill fitting or ill performing bike is a bad deal no matter how your budget did. Obviously don't go broke or cause financial hardships but don't make it the biggest focus as then it can become the only focus and you get so narrow you lose sight of everything.

In terms of more important, shifting and braking would be my more important get what you want there as upgrading that can get expensive. However if I was buying a complete bike I want a good complete package that fits and works well for me as I said above.