The Elimination Round- The bike I chose after my research

THE ELIMINATION ROUND

Fellow traveler, 

You might have gathered that I was in a maniacal "research" to select a good hybrid bike that suits my biking needs and also keep my spirits up and soaring as a newbie to cycling. 

Here is the conclusion that I have come to..

Firefox Road Runner (21 Speed) and Hercules Ryders ACT 110 are clearly out of the competition. I have to tell you, that ACT 110 is a decent ride. It looks good, the parts are ok and I read a lot of good reviews too. If I was in a stringent budget and yet adamant on quality, then ACT 110 would have been my choice. Firefox somehow failed to impress. A good detailed specs chart in their website itself can turn the table though. But its still too, err.. “entry level”.

I didn’t get any serious testimonial on the Company Firefox. Help me out guys..

Hercules Company profile here.

Schwinn, Cannondale, Bianchi, Trek and GT bikes are very reputed. I value these brand names. Mostly because of the quality of the products that they can’t compromise on and also because I certainly like people ogling and appreciating my ride (and myself on it! :-P).  I feel that along with enjoying the ride, looking good and snazzy while doing it is a reason good enough to kick your butt onto the saddle and blaze away.

Schwinn 2012 Sporterra is 7-speed while Schwinn 2012 Sporterra Sport is 8-speed. The latter also has a very good rear derailleur (Shimano Alivio) and cogset (SRAM PG-830, 11-28t, 8-speed). Other than these differences and some aesthetic tell-aparts, they are ditto. I checked out my LBS and to my dismay, I couldn't find either of the models. Anyways, I find them on the day of purchase and if they happen to please me over my final choice, I might end up buying a Schwinn. Until then, this baby is out of the pic.

Schwinn Company profile here.

Cannondale 2011 Quick 5 is exotic. But I think I should honor my friend, Surej’s idea to get a handsome bike lower than your maximum budget and burn the remaining amount on some nice accessories. Also, I see a lot of components are same in the GT variants, which of course are cheaper than Cannondale Quick 5, GT Transeo 4.0, particularly. Furthermore, Cannondale choice of SunRace CSM668, 11-32 for their rear derailleur is a disappointment. So, Quick 5 leaves the arena, winning my heart and earning a standing ovation.

Cannondale company profile here.

 GT 2011 Traffic 3.0 is a winner all the way. Everything, except for the Suntour XCC crankset, makes it worthy of my personal bike of choice…until GT Transeo 4.0 came under the microscope. Transeo 4.0 is 2000 bucks cheaper, has a Hardtrail frame and almost all the components are similar to Traffic 3.0(some are even better!! :-O). 

My friend George is an experienced cyclist. He favors front shocks for hybrid commuters. So I widened by filters and let Transeo in, hopefully for good.

Check out GT’s company profile here.

Bianchi . The legend, the beast among the bike companies. This Italian company has conjured up some of the best, sexy performance bikes in the history of cycling. However, I couldn’t find anything that impressive on the 2012 Spillo Rubino Altus Rigid. Neither did I get a direct link to the bike in their website. Incidentally, most of the details I procured for the comparison were obscure.

Check out Bianchi’s company profile here.

Trek 7.1 FX is a marvelous bike. Most of its components going into the wheels are sourced from Bontrager. A decent looking bike for serious people. That’s what I felt. 7-speed is another turn-off. I hear a lot of arguments regarding the need of an 8-speed in a commuter. But I think its a bang for the buck if you can get a quality 8-speed for the same price tag.

Trek company profile here

And the winner is…

You guessed it right. It is GT Transeo 4.0!!

What?! That is not what you had in mind? Well, never mind. I didn’t have it in my mind too. It is this heart thing; intuition, sixth sense, heart-call, free will..whatever you call it. It happens when you find the thing that you really wanted. GT Transeo 4.0 may not be the best in the list but it made a connection with me. To be frank I was searching for excuses to include it in my list. I was glorifying its details, overlooking its flaws..I was even getting emotionally parental with this thing.

If you want the absolute techie side, then here goes..

Reputed company. Well under budget.  Great frame.  Awesome looks. Feature loaded. Decent drivetrain. Trustworthy wheels. Efficient gear mechanism. Last but should have put first, Readily Available in my LBS.

So, in my perspective, the best value for money, entry-level young hybrid bike.. GT Transeo 4.0!! 

Lets go Bike Shoppin!!!