About bicylces...

[DBR]

EDIT: Oh Christ, I spelled 'bicycle' wrong in the title!


I went to a bike shop on Friday, and was kind of overwhelmed. Priced seemed to range from $600-$10,000 and there were hundreds of bikes everywhere. And because I was there during my lunch hour, I didn't really have time to ask around.

What I was was expecting to pay was ~$400, maybe $500. What I want to do is work up to riding my bike to work and back (5-6 kms) And I need a bike that I can attach training wheels or something to at first (you laugh, you die), and not be hunched over when riding it.

I'm just looking for some basic info so I don't walk back into the store totally green next week.

So what kind of bikes do you guys ride? What should I look for in a bike? I want it to last until I am 80, I will never be mountain biking with it, never go off-roading, etc.; just a commuter bike to get me from A to B.

 

[thestrangequark]

I'd recommend you go for something used. If you go to a quality bike shop you can get a refurbished bike for much cheaper than a new one. Ask the people at the shop, they ought to be knowledgable about things like training wheels, and could make some good recommendations considering the streets and terrain in your area.

I ride a 1981 Nishiki road bike. It was $200, and has serve me very well for 5 years. She's my baby and I love her:

 

[RoJoHen]

I would definitely ask the people. If it's an actual bike shop, the employees will be knowledgeable, and hopefully they will try to find you a bike that fits your needs (rather just trying to sell you a bike).

I bought a brand new mountain bike about 2 months ago from a local bike shop for a little over $400, and I love it.

 

[PlixTixiplik]

For your commuting needs you may be best suited with a hybrid bike. It has a more comfortable upright seating position (regular handlebars rather than the road racing bike style) but still has smooth tires. The super-skinny tires have a lot less rolling resistance but you may prefer to get wider tires, which will smooth out bumps in the pavement and give you a more comfortable ride. Hybrid bikes normally have those wider tires (30 mm width or more) anyway. I would definitely suggest ditching the stock tires and buying kevlar puncture-resistant ones. For a road bike they're about double price compared to the cheaper regular ones (say $40-50 per tires instead of $20-30) but it's worth it if you're riding on city streets.

If the prices at the bike shop are a bit steep, you can also get bikes at Canadian Tire, Walmart, or MEC, or other places. The main difference is that department store brand bikes have lower-quality components (gear shifters, brakes, etc.) that may not last as long.

Also, you will probably find that standard training wheels don't fit adult-sized bikes, and none are made that do. I was just reading an article about adult bike education (specifically that there is essentially nothing available) that mentioned this. You do have some other options for learning, however.

Step one would be to find a very gentle grassy slope, enough that you can roll down but not too steep so that you would get out of control. Remove the pedals (or get the shop to do that) and lower the seat so that your feet touch the ground pretty easily. Then go to the top of the hill, lift your feet, and try to coast down. If you feel like you're losing balance you can just put your feet down, or if you fall it's grass so won't hurt like pavement.

Once you master that, put the pedals back on, raise the seat, and try the same thing - except coast with your feet on the pedals. Finally, try to do the same thing but add in pedaling.

 

[Canadave]

I'd definitely second going to a used bike shop. I picked up a great mountain bike for $100 that way, which would have easily cost me $500 or more if I bought it new. And unless you're planning on entering a race sometime soon, you probably don't even need a new bike.

 

[Roger Wilco]

You can get a decent (new) bike for $400-500 for sure, and for a simple commuter-bike you probably don't even want anything more expensive, because it would just be unfortunate if it gets damaged or stolen, although price does make a difference (just the weight of the bike is also probably more significant than you'd think).

I would recommend something simple and comfortable (and cheap), don't go for looks. thestrangequark's bicycle is beautiful imo, but thicker tires and some suspension really makes a difference when you're riding on streets that aren't perfect in my experience.
[and I'm saying that as someone usually rides a fixed-gear bike without any suspension - you really feel every single bump in the road, that's not for everybody ]

 

[BigFoot]

I was in a similar position less then two months ago. I haven't owned a bike in almost ten years and wanted to get a new one. I'm lucky though, 'cause a bunch of people at work know quite a bit about bikes. So after I told them a price range (400€ - $500) and what I want to use it for (shorter rides, 20 to 30km (15-20 miles) at a time), they recommended a couple of things (what kind of brakes and transmissions to get, which companies give you a decent bang for your buck). I ended up getting a Focus Blue Ridge bike for 500€ ($600), which was a bit more then I planned on spending, but that's cool.

So yeah, I've had my bike for about six weeks now and it's great, I couldn't be happier with it. So far I've done about 300km (190 miles) with it.

If you've got any friends that know stuff about bikes, I'd recommend you talk to them and have them give you some advice. If not, just talk to the people at your local bike shop.

 

[Daedalus12]

If you can find a bike shop or a dealer that sell one of these then go for it. The MSRP is only $329 and I've heard great things about it as far as sub 500 commuters goes.

The KHS Urban-X:

http://www.khsbicycles.com/08_urban_x_06.htm

As for me this is my current ride.

 

[Islander]

They really don't make them like they used to:

 

[DBR]

Most appreciative for the info, folks. I was quite busy and didn't make it out shopping this week, but tomorrow morning I will hit a few shops--apparently a lot of the stores around here have quite a big selection of second hands ones too.