Originally Posted by leob1
When to decide to upgrade/get a new bike? That's an easy one, on the way home from the shop after you pike up your lastest new bike.
This is the answer everyone has been waiting for!!!
Maybe to be really helpful to the OP -- instead of displaying a pathological bias against Huffys* -- a few answers are needed to questions such as: What year and model is the Huffy being ridden now (let's get that out of the way first)? What do you want to use your bike for? How far and how often do you expect to travel on it? What is your current experience -- how many years or months have you been riding? How much money do you wish to spend or budget for? Do you know anything about fit? Do you have any physical ailments that might influence your riding? Are there bike shops in the neighbourhood? Have you dealt with them... and do you trust them? Are you sore after riding the Huffy? Are there bicycle riding courses offered in your area that you could take so you do know what you want to buy?
* Remember, the OP's Huffy was already used, and the only apparent need is for a gear tune-up. Refer to the current drool-over-a-Huffy thread in Road Cycling on how misguided broad denigration can be. And if people took a really close look at the low-level bikes in LBSs, they would realise they are no better in component quality than the Huffys and probably no better assembled (and because the componentry is often of similar standard, Huffys don't rust or corrode or wear out any faster). I also wonder what the answers would have been like if the bit in brackets (Huffy) had been omitted in the orignal post.