Trek also has a new-style "touring bike," the 720 Disc - fittings for
racks & fenders, 28mm tires, disc brakes at the $2000 price point - that
would make a fairly reasonable "practical road bike". For "heavier duty"
they also have the 920, which comes with 2" 29er tires and a 42/28,
11-36 10 spd cassette. I've not seen that one in real life (a guy in my
club has a 720 Disc) but unless the design is thoroughly and totally
screwed up, with the right tires on it that ought to be pretty
satisfactory even without taking advantage of disc brakes' ability to
swap wheel sizes (say, for the 650Bx48mm Switchback Hill). In the
Specialized line, there's the one Jan tests in the upcoming BQ. And
given how new and trendy these bikes are, you'd think shops would be 1)
aware of them and 2) keen on promoting them.
On 09/15/2015 08:43 AM, James Warren wrote:
Agreed. If the kid working in the store in this case were trained properly to
know the goods they sell, Trek for example, I would think he would bring up the
Trek 520. Sometimes workers in shops have little knowledge or training. When
that's the case, it's a bummer to shop there for anything where you do need
their assistance. Creating a good shop requires a lot of care and vision.
Sent from my iPhone
On Sep 15, 2015, at 4:13 AM, Steve Palincsar <[email protected]> wrote:
Perhaps it's the shop and the staff. There are several bikes in the big manufacturers'
lines that could serve as "sensible, versatile road bikes".
On 09/14/2015 06:42 PM, Anne Paulson wrote:
Here's the next step in the story of my online friend who wants to buy
a new bike to replace the $500 step-through bike she's been riding for
an hour to two hours every day for exercise. She reports:
I went to Richardson Bike mart again, told them my needs, told them my
last bike was a Trek step in around $500 and that I was ready to
upgrade to a really good bike. I told him my frustrations with the
Trek, my habits, my goals, etc. The guy pulls out another step in that
is $649 and offered zero additional features/benefits.
I was so irritated. I said, "wow, I was willing to go as high as $2000
for something really nice, but what you're showing me is basically the
same thing." So either he wasn't listening, or doesn't think I look
like a non-beginner, or he was just trying to unload a discontinued
bike.
******************************
(this is Anne again:) Several people here disrecommended Richardson--
now I see why!-- and recommended she look at something like a Surly
Cross-Check at Oak Cliff Bikes. So that will be her next step. I don't
know if she wasn't taken seriously because she is a woman, or if the
sales people don't understand anything but racing bikes and low-end
shopping bikes because that's all their shop carries, but it's so
frustrating that bike shops can't sell people sensible bikes even when
the people ask for sensible bikes and are willing to pay for them.
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW
Owners Bunch" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email
to [email protected].
To post to this group, send email to [email protected].
Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
