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Advice on a new Fitness/cruise styler

prsboogie

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Aug 13, 2014
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I have been searching for a new Fitness bike and have been very interested in the following bikes in order of preference.
1) Ghost Roam 3
2) Specialized Sirrus
3) Cannondale Quick
4) Ghost Escape
5) Specialized Crosstrail
6) Windsor Rapide (bikesdirect.com)

I do not have a lot of money for this purchase and I have no interest in a straight road bike. I have an old Univega Rover 302 that's 20 years old and on its last leg.

Any and all advice is welcomed.
 

dlague

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I like Specialized bikes. We have a couple and they are solid. Ours are traditional MTB. That being said, I have always wondered about the style bike you are looking at. We have MTB and raised bikes and Ride the 85 and 15% respectively so the road bikes have limited use. My question is how do these do on trails or other dirt terrain? What type of riding do you plan on doing?
 

Highway Star

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You're definitely on the right track, I think the fitness bike is the way to go for you:

Mercedes-Benz+Fitness+Bike-cgrecord-net484.jpg
 

prsboogie

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I like Specialized bikes. We have a couple and they are solid. Ours are traditional MTB. That being said, I have always wondered about the style bike you are looking at. We have MTB and raised bikes and Ride the 85 and 15% respectively so the road bikes have limited use. My question is how do these do on trails or other dirt terrain? What type of riding do you plan on doing?

I really do not plan on dirt riding at all but the write ups for these models say they can handle off rode terrain. I'm sure not rock gardens but level dirt roads should be OK
 

bvibert

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My Dad had a Specialized Crossroad (I think that's what it was) to use mostly on rail trails we have around here. As he started riding more and more miles he liked it less and less and decided to get something else. The bike shop was trying to push him into a road bike, but like you he didn't have any interest in one. He was looking at the Specialized Sirrus, but ended up with a Cannondale Quick and he really likes it. I don't know what factors made him choose the Quick over the Sirrus, but I think he just liked how it felt better (price may have played a part as well). He's been doing 60+ mile rides with it on a mix of roads and rail trails with no complaints.
 

skijay

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Dec 22, 2003
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MA
Last summer I purchased a 2015 Scott Sportster 50 for my "rail trail" bike. It does work well on paved / gravel / stone dust / dirt trails. I didn't want to spend a lot for a bike that I use for maybe about 75 - 100 miles a month. It works well for me.
 

prsboogie

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Aug 13, 2014
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Location
Swansea
I ended up getting a Diamondback Haanjo Metro from REI. Between my active junky cask back and $25 dividends and taxes it was just under 500.00 I had a PayPal credit so it only cost me $200 cash. They had to order me a larger size than they had in stock but I really felt comfortable on the bike. It will be in next week so I'll really get to check it out for real then.
 
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