You聮re right. You don聮t need a mountain bike. It always kind of slays me to see people thumping around a basically urban environment with a mountain bike, sporting dual suspension and big, knobby tires.
Jamis Coda Comp
Coda CompI saw someone on a really cool bike two weeks ago聴a Jamis Coda Comp ($825; www.jamisbikes.com). It does look sort of like a mountain bike, with an upright seating position, but it has road-style wheels and gearing so it聮s both comfortable and fast. Plus it has slightly fat (700 by 28) tires for better float on rougher terrain. I should think it the perfect bike for squirting around on bike paths and converted rail routes.
That said, cross bikes are extremely useful bicycles for this sort of thing as well. I like their good performance and adaptability (they also make great rain bikes because they have cantilever or disc brakes and room for fenders). Bianchi聮s Axis ($1,400; www.bianchiusa.com) is one of my favorite cross bikes. It has a light, tough aluminum frame, a mix of SRAM and Shimano components, cantilever brakes, and a triple chain ring聴a very useful thing on big hills聟oh, wait, you聮re in Minnesota. It聮s a comfortable bike, with a setup like any good road bike, but a little slacker than a more typical road racer, so a little less twitchy on corners. I think you聮d love it. But look at the Jamis, too. I think you聮ll find it an intriguing alternative.
The votes are in: , including the year’s hottest road and mountain bikes.