zrm@mit-eddie.UUCP (Zigurd R. Mednieks) (02/04/84)
I recently went shopping for a touring bike for a friend of mine. The Japanese bikes we saw were all very well finished -- Fujis are just amazing and I'm certain that there are at least half a dozen other makes that pay just as much attention to detail. In the end, though, we got a Trek because Trek started out as a frame-builder and the frame is the most important part of the bike. We also found that no bicycle under $1000 comes with a decent saddle, so add $30 for a good saddle to the price of the bike. I just bought a Thule rack because I ski as well as bicycle. I could concievably put two bicycles and four pairs of skiis on my car with the right add-ons. You can also get umpteen different types of ski racks, from the very simple kind I got, to a fully enclosed, lockable box. The design of the Thule rack is superb: all the metal parts are rubber coated and it all fits together with these big plastic knobs so you can take it apart in cold weather without having to grab bare metal. I am suspicious of these "improved" rollers that have you put your fork in some sort of bracket. The main benefit of rollers is not excercise, but increased smoothness of pedaling. The punishment for being a spastic is that you fall off. "Real" rollers probably stress your headset much less as well. Cheers, Zig