Selecting the right bike for long rides on asphalt, dirt roads, gravel, and single track can be time consuming. I’ve bought, rode, and sold 15 bikes in the last 10 years. Here are some of my conclusions:

Wheels: A big fan of 27.5″ or 650B wheels. 29ers just don’t feel right to me. Too slow to steer, maneuver, and accelerate.

Suspension: Rigid, hard tail, or full? Full without a doubt

Geometry: Cross country geo, with a 68-69.5 degree head tube angle.

Frame size: This is critical. I was sized on a Medium at the bike shop and 7 years later got the same model in a Large and it fit and felt so much better. For gravel and street you can have much less standover clearance than a mountain bike.

Frame material: Aluminum or Composite? Evaluating this now.

Here are the bikes I’ve bought, ridden, and sold in the last 10 years:

In the 80’s my first bike as an adult was a Nishiki Custom Sport 10 speed. It was an XL but was only $45 at a garage sale. I sold it and bought a newer Nishiki Custom Sport in a medium and put flat bars on it. The shim to get the stem to fit the flat bars was a lot of money as I recall. It had stem shifters that my knees would hit and shift whenever I climbed out of the saddle. What a crappy design. I sold it and bought a new Nishiki Cresta touring bike with 15 speeds and cantilever brakes. This bike had down tube shifters though. My first new bike. I forgot how much I paid. I sold the Cresta since when mountain bikes went mainstream I had to have one. In 1985 I bought a new Specialized Stumpjumper for $650. A lot of money back then, a whole months salary as I recall. A rigid 26er with chromed drop outs, a triple crank, and cantilever brakes. The next year SIS or index shifting was introduced and I had to have it so I sold my Stumpy and got a Specialized Hardrock. This was a major downgrade though I didn’t know it until later, but that one click shifting feature made it worth it. In 1990 the first Rock Shox RS-1 was introduced with a whole 48mm of travel! Specialized had their own branded front suspension fork though I’m pretty sure Rock Shox made it. I sold the Hardrock and got a 1991 Stumpjumper Future Shock. Don’t remember where I bought it but sold it around 2003 in Berkeley. I bought a used Bridgestone XO-1 around 1994 when the company went under. I bought it used from an employee at Bridgestone in San Leandro. I never liked the 26″ wheels or the handlebar and sold it in 2011.