Conference noted::bicycle

    Allan,
    I too am thinking about getting a new bike, and the one I have almost
    decided on is th '94 Giant Innova. I currently ride an old 10-speed,
    which has give good service, but I want to upgrade to something better,
    with more gears to allow my ageing body to get up some of the hills I
    come across.
    The Innova seems to me to be a good bike for my budget. I have never
    used grip shifts, but I like the idea of them. I understand that the
    Innova has a good frame (the same as the more expensive models in the
    range), but the fittings seem to me to be somewhat cheaper, keeping the
    price down. What is your opinion of the level of the gear on the
    Innova? I had toyed with the idea of getting a better standard of crank
    set and deraillers fitted to the bike (at extra cost of course), but
    I'm not sure what I would get out of that exercise. I have looked at
    the next model up the range, and although it has the same frame, and
    more expensive fittings, It also has thumb shifters, and, more
    particularly, a micro drive cassette, which I understand people have
    had lots of problems with in terms of wear and breakage.
    
    By the way, the Innova retails here for A$699.
    
    I would appreciate any comments on the subject.
    
    		Rudi Pertot

re:1

What I found was that alot of the shops in Ottawa were just getting around
to getting the 94's put togeather. I was a little disappointed that the
Innova didn't come with the STX gearing. I did find another bike made by 
Leader which did have the STX gearing. It was in a brochure though. I'd like
to see it in the raw before making the choice. Also, I found out that Bicycle
will be reviewing cross bikes in the April issue. It is due out March 22nd.

I am putting my decision off till I review the issue. 

	Cheers
	Allan

    Allan,
    I would be interested in hearing what you finally decided on, and in
    particular why. It sounds to me that we are looking for much the same
    thing in a bike. If you find something that is really good at the right
    price, let me know, and I'll see if it's available here.
    
    	Keep us posted
    		Rudi

    I've just examined a bike very similar to the Giant Innova. It's a
    WHEELER, and it has the same gear as the Innova (Shimmano Alivio) and
    has grip shifts. It's a full chromolly frame, but has standard tubing,
    as distinct from the Giant's oversized tubing (making it lighter?). It
    has braze-ons for panniers, and generally looks to be a nice bike. The
    part I liked best is that it's A$100 cheaper than the Innova.
    The front gear rings are 20, 32, 42 teeth, and the back is 11 to 19 (7
    gears) giving an inch range of 24 to 103 overall.
    
    Does anyone know much about this brand, or have any comments?
    
    	Rudi

After shopping around I finally bought a bike. The hype got me I guess.

I looked at raleigh, fasttrack 200, Diamond Back cross country, Trek 720.

Raleigh - I heard too many things about their cycles. 
	- "The bike fell a part after one season."
	- May have components where you see them to help sell the bike
	  but skimp in other areas where it counts.

Diamondback - When you got down to working the crank I could feel the 
	      crank warping.
	    - not full cromoly.

Fasttrack   - I liked last years model.
	    - was not full cromoly.
	    - 94 has gripshift.

Trek 720    - Felt good.
	    - Had gripshift.
	    - was told that if you could get hold of the 93 that it was
	      a better built bike. There cutting back to come up with
	      a bike in the $500 CDN range.



I was a little leary on Gripshift. A lot of manufactures were going to it
to cut down on the price. It worked well on the models I tried. It was positive
but it was non-shamino working with shamanio components. I think it would
be ackward in rain or cold(gloves/mittens) to shift.

So I found a deal.

I purchased a Marin Sausalito. 94 price $849- $899 CDN. I bought the 93 model
for $680 CDN. It has Shimano 400cx grouppo, Araya rims, Dual rack mounts
front and back, an 11-19 gearing ( I will be doing more road miles anyway),
and it weighs in at 10.7kg (23.5lbs). 

After 30km I feel quite comfortable with my decision.


If I hadn't found the Marin , I would have purchased the INNOVA.

	Cheers
	Allan