fr8-2-frac

You get what you pay for.

The difference in comfort in a bike that costs a few dollars more is worth twice the money.

Ride 2 miles on crap & be tired & sore or ride 10 miles for a few buck more in comfort. The choice is easy.

BTW

While its no longer made in the US, Raleigh makes a good bike for the $. If you want USA check out Gary Fisher, but be prepared to pay the $. I've not owned one, but hear great things.

HSLD

You've got that right. I spent more than I was planning on a Trek 5200 and I'm very happy I did. Trek is one company that does Carbon right!

With other bikes I've had, older SL and SLX frames and even Canondales - the frames flex at the bottom bracket when you really apply the torque. This new bike is stiff at the bottom bracket but still dampens the bumps. The result is that I ride more and have fun while I'm at it.

Skygirl

Gary Fisher the mountain bike guru, is my neighbor. Have any of you used his bikes, and if so, what do you think?

I'm thinking of buying a new bike....even though I tore up my knee on a bike, as well as the guy on the table next to me last night at physical therapy, and the guy next to him, and so on, and so on....LOL..guess that's to be expected when you live in the capital of mountain biking, kind of like going to Vail and asking everyone there how they tore up their knee...:-)

HSLD

I remember when the PT for screwing up your knee skiing was to go ride a bike....go figure. Anyway, what can you say about Gary Fisher? The man is a legend and makes an excellent product. I rode a few times at the Golden Gate park (northside of the bridge) and it seemed like EVERYONE had a Fisher - is that like a Marin county law?

Skygirl

I think it is mandatory law here... Actually my friend Charlie Kelly invented the mountain bike with Gary Fisher, but Charlie decided to run off with the famous San Francisco rock bands to be their roadie. His ship came in but he wasn't around to board it then. Really interesting guy though.

They told me at physical therapy that they were going to put me back on a bike as well for my PT. I just laughed and asked, "Well how did I do this again?"

Pilotpip

Gary is a cool guy. I had a couple beers with him, Greg Herbold, and John Tomac at Interbike a few years ago. It was pretty humbling to be in the presence of the founders of the sport. I'd love to get out to Marin county and ride some of that, but our singletrack here in the midwest is pretty tough to beat and I've been out to the rockies for a number of vacations to ride.

I loved hearing stories about Repack Hill and how guys like Gary, Joe Breeze, and others took old Schwinn cruisers and just bombed down the fire road, that was crazy stuff. (It got the nickname of repack hill because you had to repack the bearings with grease after every run since the coaster brakes heated up and slung out the grease.)

You also have to take into account that when you're getting a bike from a shop you're getting the service that comes with it. Most shops will tune your bike up for free, and they're already professionally assembled. Plus there's the bennefit of supporting local small businesses.

Skygirl

Repack Hill is practically in my back yard. I run into those guys all the time at the local market. Check out Charlie Kelly's web site if you want to take a historical step back into mountain biking history. It's fun to see the old photos of all of the locals... Charlie has told me some of the best stories!

Speed

I bought a Gary Fisher Mamba about 12 years ago, maybe it's been even longer. It was a lower-end basic bike but the best I could afford at the time and I've loved it. Most of the components have been changed once or twice. I upgraded to Deore XT and Alivio the first year. The bike has been bulletproof and a pleasure to ride. These days I have street tires on it and use it almost entirely on pavement. It's a great bike for city streets and traffic. It's a little heavy for road riding but I've actually ridden a couple of centuries with it. We still have a lot of weekend layovers at ABX and I've hauled it to TUS, ABQ, BOI, MSN, MKE, etc.

Tell Gary I said thanks for the great bike and ask him if he needs a personal pilot!

Skygirl

Will do, when I see him. I see Charlie around a lot, and since we have a lot of mutual friends,we always have a great chat. He's an interesting guy, the kind of guy you all would love to have a beer with.

Speaking of biking and blowing out knees. Since I'm still on crutches, do I get any special privileges when I fly?...LOL...like, don't you need to bump me up to first class in order to make room for my crutches and bum knee? Any UAL pilots flying SFO to SNA next Wednesday? If so, and I'm your pax, please be nice to me...LOL...My knee and I will accept pity, as well as an upgrade.

Pilotpip

You might get to board with the elderly, Pregnant, UM's, and crippled.