The women's Scott Sportster P5 was purchased for my wife over a year ago after she was having one heck a time trying to find a bike that was comfortable to ride. I come from the philosophy that a high-end $5000 bike is worth nothing if it doesn't fit the rider. And out of all the bikes we looked at, fitted her on and test-rode, the $375 Scott Sportster P5 was the winner through-and-through.
A little background: My wife isn't necessarily a beginner; she actually has been riding for years and she was a very strong climber and roadie at one point. Two events took her out:
1. She was "doored" while splitting traffic on her motorcycle (legally) to a stoplight and that seriously damaged her knee - even with armor in her riding leathers. Some lady had road rage and slammed her door into my wife when she was safely passing through. Her knee has never been the same.
2. She went over the handlebar on her old road bike which aggravated the knee injury and destroyed her riding confidence.
Sucks because she used to really give me a run for my money on the road, but we are working up to where she was. These two events threw her back into beginner'ville and I am being very patient with her. Due to all of that, she stayed off the bike for a long time and lost her riding fitness.
The Sportster is a hybrid type bike that carries the rider in an upright, seated position for all day adventures on the road, gravel or dirt path. The stem is high, the v-brakes are powerful, and there are plenty of places to bolt on racks and fenders. A rider can truly go on an epic tour with this bicycle with the triple crankset combined with the 8-speed cassette in the back, going all the way up to a 32-tooth rear cog. Because of my wife's knee injury, we opted for wide, flat platform pedals that allows her foot to be placed comfortably as to not aggravate her injury as straps and clipless systems do (to her). The chain moves through the drive train with Shimano shifters and Shimano Acera derailures.
The one negative comment I have about this bike is the cheap front suspension fork. However, I did offer my wife to swap on a rigid fork and she told me she actually likes the "give" the spring suspension offers on the bumps. No problem! Again, she is the rider, and if it feels right for her, it feels right for her.
Some changes we personally did was add front and rear racks, a Serefas "female" seat (which compensates for wider sit-bones) WTB 700X38 Pathway tires with Slime tire liners and a trekking (mustache) handlebar that offers 4+ hand positions for the rider.
For a sub-$400 bike, I am completely impressed with what this bike has offered my wife in terms of performance - and I use that word by its true definition: The accomplishment of a given task measured against preset known standards of accuracy, completeness, cost, and speed.
I think it's easy to equate "expensive" to "performance", or "speed" to "performance - because neither speed nor expensive was the objective of this bike. We tested $1000 bikes, but none of those felt "right" for her - and the bike that just happened to fit her was this.
She has not had the chance to test the trekking handlebar yet, but I am confident she will like it. On long stretches of flat road, she used to lean on her regular handlebar to stretch her back and utilize her glutes more for pedalling. It always made me kind of nervous when she did this, because it's one pothole away from crashing. The trekking handlebar offers multiple hand positions, allowing the rider to stretch out a little in the cockpit. This product seems to be less popular in the US than in other countries, but after test riding it myself in the front of my house, I have to say that it is a very appealing upgrade. To top it all off, a matching purple bell tells trail zombies to get outta the way!
The Forte' Platform pedals are a fantastic product. They are wide, very grippy (for mountain bike use) and have sealed bearings. The pins are removable, giving the rider choices for how much grip they want, or as the pins wear down, they can be replaced. They are a nice, neutral, cool grey in color which goes with any bike. Again, price was the ultimate value at $39.99 - similar name brand pedals are in the $80 - $100 range.
Bike shopping can be very intimidating, and often times people think buying the most expensive is the best thing to do. Although higher end components and good geometry makes a difference for the hardcores, the daily recreational rider can get away with a budget bike that fits him/her. Don't discount the entry-level to mid-level bikes that are in the sub-$500 price range. Stay on top of the maintenance with these bikes and you can have a ride that will last a lifetime. From what I've discovered with the Scott Sportster P5 - it is more than enough bike to perform above and beyond its expectations.
Source: http://www.dionridesbikes.com/2011/06/1-12-year-review-of-scott-sportster-p5.html
No comments:
Post a Comment