bicycles! Teach me what I need to know!!!

Fingolfin

Fingolfin

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Hello everyone

So i'm looking at getting a bicycle, but I don't want to spend too much.

I've read up a bit on the subject and their seems to be a lot of conflicting information.
I don't want to spend too much money (less than $200) so i realize I'm not going to be getting any sort of primium bike.


Realistically it will be used to ride around town on paved trails, but probably will see some minor time on unpaved trails.
That being said, I don't think i need full suspenion (correct me if I'm wrong).
I also don't think i need mountain bike tires, maybe something inbetween?


am I just good to get a bike from walmart/ sport check, or are there better options?


thanks in advance!
 
Buy a used half decent bike from Kijiji. Get either a mountain bike or a hybrid and go from there. If you love it, get ready to spend the $$$. If you don't.....you really didn't break the bank trying it out.
 
CrazyKell said:
Buy a used half decent bike from Kijiji. Get either a mountain bike or a hybrid and go from there. If you love it, get ready to spend the $$$. If you don't.....you really didn't break the bank trying it out.
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i thought of that, but i don't really know anything about bikes to go and test one out, i mean i assume if it rides straights, shifts and brakes its all good, but im sure there are other things that are more important.

my buddy went to see a bike with me and told me the shocks were blown, i had no idea, hence why i feel i should go the new route. he's not always available to come with me unfortunately
 
Fingolfin said:
i thought of that, but i don't really know anything about bikes to go and test one out, i mean i assume if it rides straights, shifts and brakes its all good, but im sure there are other things that are more important.

my buddy went to see a bike with me and told me the shocks were blown, i had no idea, hence why i feel i should go the new route. he's not always available to come with me unfortunately
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Okay but at under $200 you're not getting anything decent with shocks.
 
Walmart. You definitely don't need full suspension, and for what your doing, I probably wouldn't even worry about front suspension (save a few more $$). If your riding downtown, mostly, and assuming leaving your bike outside occasionally (locked or not), no suspension is one less eye catcher for people that want to make a few bucks. Just make sure the brakes stop you quickly (be careful testing that).
 
your best bet is a hybrid if you dont want mountain bike tires, hybrids don't have suspension. for that budget, if you don't want something crappy that would be from canadian tire, then you would need to look into craigslist or kijiji for a used one that may originally cost 2 or three times the price if it was brand new retail.
 
How tall are you? What is your inseam?
 
Don't buy that crap from walmart/can. tire even if it is new from a store for $150-200. You're better off with a used bike that's good than a new piece of crap.

Few years ago I bought one of these cheapo $150 deals at Canadian Tire. Thing lasted a month before it fell apart and there are no returns on bikes. Sold it for a case of beer to some kid that was gonna repair it himself.

Bought a used Trek Hybrid from a friend for $250 and couldn't be happier.

Kijiji is your friend.
 
Don't buy a bike from Walmart or Canadian Tire, no matter what you do. They come in a box and are assembled by the staff there, and I wouldn't trust an unknown part-time staffer at Walmart with my life. You're going to ride this around in traffic. You need to know your brakes will work and won't fall off.

Sportchek, at a minimum, but even there I'd be a bit uncomfortable. Your best bet is to go into a smaller, independent bike shop, like a Source for Sports or something like that. Tell them you want to spend a few hundred bucks, you want a bike that works but nothing fancy. They will sell you a basic, but workable, rigid framed bicycle. They might have something used that is a bit higher quality.

Don't get anything that has disc brakes or suspension. For that money, they will use the crappiest components just to make the bike look better. If I could choose a $300 rigid bike or a $300 suspended bike, I'd take the rigid bike every single time. Only when you get up to around $1,000 should you be considering any bike with suspension.

Get a hybrid - don't get a skinny-tired road bike, and don't get a mountain bike.
 
Go used. In the world of the $100 water bottle holder (carbon fibre) $200 will not get you much,

Canadian tire had a very simple hybrid last yeat for $300 so if you could find a used version it is not a bad bike. My brother has one and uses it when he does not want to use his expensive bike.
 
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Duster929 said:
Don't buy a bike from Walmart or Canadian Tire, no matter what you do. They come in a box and are assembled by the staff there, and I wouldn't trust an unknown part-time staffer at Walmart with my life. You're going to ride this around in traffic. You need to know your brakes will work and won't fall off.

Sportchek, at a minimum, but even there I'd be a bit uncomfortable. Your best bet is to go into a smaller, independent bike shop, like a Source for Sports or something like that. Tell them you want to spend a few hundred bucks, you want a bike that works but nothing fancy. They will sell you a basic, but workable, rigid framed bicycle. They might have something used that is a bit higher quality.

Don't get anything that has disc brakes or suspension. For that money, they will use the crappiest components just to make the bike look better. If I could choose a $300 rigid bike or a $300 suspended bike, I'd take the rigid bike every single time. Only when you get up to around $1,000 should you be considering any bike with suspension.

Get a hybrid - don't get a skinny-tired road bike, and don't get a mountain bike.
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This is an excellent idea...
 
great, thanks for the feedback everyone.

Looks like I won't be getting anything with suspension then and I'll try to check out a small bike shop.

Duster, you said you would choose a non-suspension bike over a suspension bike at a lower price point, is that strictly because the components are crap?

when we say its crap, do we mean that they aren't going to do what they are suppose to do (absorb the shock) or that they are going to break?

again, thanks for the links and help!
 
Fingolfin said:
Duster, you said you would choose a non-suspension bike over a suspension bike at a lower price point, is that strictly because the components are crap?

when we say its crap, do we mean that they aren't going to do what they are suppose to do (absorb the shock) or that they are going to break?
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That's about right. If they can put suspension on a bike in that price range, then the suspension components would be really crappy, and they will have taken huge shortcuts elsewhere on the bike, to get it into that price point. You'll end up with a bike that isn't very good, and suspension that isn't very good. This means that things won't do what they're supposed to do (shock absorber won't be very effective, brakes won't be very good, gears won't change very well). Besides that, stuff will start breaking.

Stay basic and rigid, so that the basic components on the bike (brakes, frame, drive train) are at least decent and solid.
 
Spend at least $1000 and instead of your bike lasting 6 months it'll last 5 years

on top of that you wont want to kill yourself after 1 ride. riding a bike with a steel frame, ***** for parts (brakes, chain, shocks, deraileur, etc) is horrible.

trek, kona, specialized, cannondale are all good brands that may have something starting in the $500 range.

you do not need a full suspension if you are city riding, just get the front suspension or what we call "hard tail" bikes.

Here is my bike
http://www.konaworld.com/mtb_trail_allmountain_hardtail.cfm?content=splice
 
Petraeus said:
Spend at least $1000 and instead of your bike lasting 6 months it'll last 5 years

on top of that you wont want to kill yourself after 1 ride. riding a bike with a steel frame, ***** for parts (brakes, chain, shocks, deraileur, etc) is horrible.

trek, kona, specialized, cannondale are all good brands that may have something starting in the $500 range.

you do not need a full suspension if you are city riding, just get the front suspension or what we call "hard tail" bikes.

Here is my bike
http://www.konaworld.com/mtb_trail_allmountain_hardtail.cfm?content=splice
Click to expand...

For riding around town, you don't need a $1000 bike. $200 is probably too little, but for a bit more you can get something satisfactory.
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