jdustt1

Hi Folks,

Thank you in advance for your time and I greatly appreciate any feedback.

I've recently accepted a job at a company that will be close enough to my apartment to commute. I live in Austin, TX and the roads that I will be taking are pretty bike friendly, so I've decided to begin commuting by bike. The bike will be used to commute about 2 miles each way and then to go on some rides on weekends with friends and around town. After riding many bikes at a few different local bike shops, the combination of a steel frame and road bike handle bars feels the best to me. Here are two options I'm considering. They seem fairly comparable to me, but since I'm so new to this, your expertise / feedback is greatly appreciated. Both bikes come in around the same price and are very similar looking. A local shop has the Torker in stock and the Jamis can be ordered. I was able to test ride a similar Jamis, but this particular model wasn't in stock.

https://www.torkerusa.com/bikes/commute/2012-interurban

this site seems to have a better break down of parts... https://www.bikecommuters.com/2011/06...er-interurban/

vs.

https://www.jamisbikes.com/usa/thebik...esport_gy.html

If any of you are familiar with these two bicycles, I greatly appreciate any feedback!

umazuki

The Torker looks to have slightly worse components, but the Jamis is a little spendier. They should both be solid for a novice commuter, especially for that distance. They should be fine on the weekends too.

The only thing that jumps out is the Torker is a double chainring in front, whereas the Jamis has a triple in front. You may want the triple if you have a lot of hills. There are a few other differences, but if you're new to riding, you shouldn't get caught up in them. It really just comes down to: Which one did you like riding more, the Torker, or the (similar) Jamis?

DaHaMac

I like the Jamis a little better as well. I have a Schwinn Le Tour with the same drivetrain as the Jamis that has carried me 2,800 miles. Some of that has been commuting, some of that has been group rides with a best average moving speed of 21mph, and some of that has been Century rides. I'd love to have the Jamis steel frame over the Schwinn's aluminium to be honest.

One thing to keep in mind with both of these being 8-speed drivetrains is the difficulty of upgrading. I recently wanted to upgrade the brifters on my Schwinn but it would require upgrading my ENTIRE drivetrain to a 9 or 10 speed to get better shifters. Therefore, if you can scratch up the extra money to buy a 9 or 10 speed drivetrain to begin with then you would be much more please in the long run, imho.

Check out this bike if you have dealers in the area. https://www.raleighusa.com/bikes/stee...ng/clubman-13/
The Raleigh, especially the 2012 model or maybe even a 2011 model, should be available for well under $1,000. My local dealer a few month ago had a 2011 version he could get from Raleigh and sell me for $750. I'd see if there were a similar deal available for the 2012 Clubman.
2011 - https://www.raleighusa.com/archive/20...ad/clubman-11/
2012 - https://www.raleighusa.com/archive/20...ad/clubman-12/

musikguy

Don't get lost in the details. You did the research. You narrowed it down to two comparable bikes. The choice is now yours. Honestly, the best thing to do at this point is to ride both and see which one feels better.
If the LBS where you are going to buy the bike doesn't have the Jamis for you to ride, find someone who does. Ride both bikes. Pick the one you like.