Yes this is now my second thread about my bike search. I am sorry.
This is what I am looking for in my new bike:
- Able to run a wide range of tire sizes with fenders
- Drop bars
- Zippy but able to handle a load (I think I can get by with just rear panniers)
- Generous gearing (can be swapped out I guess)
- Clean shifting and easy-to-maintain brakes
- It can BE heavy as long as it doesn't FEEL heavy under saddle because I won't often have to carry it.
- I like the idea of steel but am not sold on it -- if aluminum I definitely want a carbon fork though
- Not very upright, I hate the loss of power I feel on upright bikes and I think they're unfun.
This is what new bike will be used for:
- Daily ~10 mile roundtrip commute to work - some dirt/gravel trail, mostly road, some hills (sadly will have to be locked outside under no canopy when I'm at work -- I may keep my current commuter bike as a "rain" bike...)
- Future bike camping & tours - probably nothing too crazy
- Around town / social rides
This is the main problem I am facing: I am approximately 5'2". NO ONE carries light touring/cross bikes (which is where I think my needs list is pushing me) in such a small size, and no one appears to be selling them on craigslist either -- I've been scouring listings across three cities for months with no luck.
So I've basically accepted I'm going to have to buy new, which hurts my mustachian heart, but I can afford it and I really do love bikes. (I do worry about locking up an expensive bike, but we always use u-locks, work is fairly secure, and around town there isn't too much of an issue. It will live safely in my basement.)
However I just plain don't know how to shop for a bike when I can't test ride. And I'm getting caught up in brand name games -- a Surly cross check was the front runner for a long time but that's basically just because people talk highly of Surlys. I've never even ridden one! Why was that my top choice? Although the Surly is actually more affordable than a lot of the other brand names that have been tossed out -- Salsa Vaya, All-City Space Ghost, etc. I don't exactly have a "budget" per se but I don't think my heart could handle paying more than ~$1250. (I know, some of your hearts just stopped, but bikes ARE one of my core values.)
We live near a plethora of bike shops, and most will order a bike for me to test ride under "no obligation" to buy but I think the psychology of ordering a bike would make me want it to work even if it doesn't. I certainly wouldn't want to go through that process a few times.
My husband has this amazing ability to just acquire bikes for free or cheap, but I think that is a lot easier when you are a ~5'9" man! This 5'2" lady is frustrated.
So, anyway, how would you go about this? I basically just have an ever-increasing list of possibilities on my phone, none of which I can easily test ride, so I am getting overwhelmed.
(And then yes a TINY part of me is thinking -- your commute is so short, what is wrong with your current bike and you always have your road bike for fast rides -- but I know we will want to do some touring in the future, and I really don't find my current commuter bike fun, and I've had it for four years, and I've now paid off my loans and bike commuted for over a year which was the deal I made for myself about getting a new bike.)