[*BCM*] bike questions

[Moz]

Ari said:
> - Why do some people prefer stiff forks instead of front shocks if they
> come out to the same price?

Because suspension forks do actually cost more, so the manufacturer
shaves money on the rest of the bike to meet the price point. If you
look closely you'll find that the cheap, crappy suspension fork
actually means you also get cheap, crappy components somewhere else on
the bike too.

It depends very much on how much you ride and what sort of riding you
do. For someone like me who's riding 60-100 miles/week and carrying a
load on the bike pretty much all the time, all that "cheap, crappy"
translates to "throw the bike away after a year". Which gets to be
pretty darn annoying after a while - the last few months are
unpleasant as the bike slowly stops working, the first few months are
ok but I'm still tweaking the bike to make it work right for me. So I
spent nearly $2000 on my last bike to get a decent frame with decent
components (Shimano 8 speed hub gears, Old Man Mountain racks, and so
on).

But if you don't ride that much, or haven't yet, a cheap bike is a
good idea - try to get something that fits you and that you can afford
to throw away after a year. That way in a years time when you have a
much better idea of how much you'll ride and what exactly you want
the bike to do, you'll also know of a decent bike shop that you can go
to and get the bike you actually want. Or by then you'll realise that
you don't actually ride that much so the bike you have is fine.

-- 
Moz
Save homo ped plumbium - they're driving themselves to extinction.