General Cycling Discussion - Help me make a decision

I've been cycling for about a month now on a 1970's motobecane 10-sp road bike. Last night, I put a nice dent in the lip of my rear rim and my bike is out of commission at the moment. I'm not sure if I should pay to fix the rim, buy a new rear rim for $70 on ebay, buy a new rim set for $120 on ebay, or finance a new bike for $700. Help me decide.

I know another option is to find another old 10-speed at a thrift store, but there don't seem to be any thrift stores near me that have old 10-speeds. I live in the NW suburbs of chicago if anyone knows a place.

Buy a $10 donor bike at Salvation Army for the rims... and save up for the $700 bike. Financing will quickly turn it in to a $1400 bike. :)

Buy a $10 donor bike at Salvation Army for the rims... and save up for the $700 bike. Financing will quickly turn it in to a $1400 bike. :)

+1

Lots of older bikes available on ebay, craigslist, local classifieds, yard sales (tis the season).

Buy a $10 donor bike at Salvation Army for the rims... and save up for the $700 bike. Financing will quickly turn it in to a $1400 bike. :)


I'm currently saving up for the $700 bike and would rather pay cash, but I'm finding out that $50 here and there for miscellaneous extras (new tires, helmet, mirror, etc...) quickly diminish my new bike savings. I'm not normally one to finance, but they have a 90 days same as cash which seems tempting since I'll know I can swing that without having to pay any extra fees for late payments. But yes, financing would be the last thing I want to do.

+1

Lots of older bikes available on ebay, craigslist, local classifieds, yard sales (tis the season).

Ah yes, completely forgot about Craigslist. I just put up a WTB thread.

+1 on getting a cheap bike for the rims, and save up for a nice bike. Save $20 a week, and you'll have a grand next spring for a nice bike and accessories. And spend your time building up you speed and endurance. and on rainy days do research for your dream bike next spring. Spring of 2008 you can find nice deals on new 2007 models.

None of the above, craigslist is the way to go. Let us know how many people offer you a bike/wheel due to your WTB.

do a web search for a local bicycle co-op. The one here in Tucson has a ton of old parts like 27" rims.

Also call around to several of your local bike shops, they just might have what you need for cheap.

Check with your local bike clubs. Many have a classified section in their newsletters. Someone there might have what you need.

The answer to all bike problems is to buy a new bike.

I'd try to fix the rim that you have.

Perhaps the nicest thing about riding a 70's Motobecane is that you can always try fixing it and, even if you totally screw it up, you haven't lost much.

I'd pull the tire off and try to tap the dent out of the rim with a small hammer and a drift of some kind. Don't try to take it out all at once. Start by working around the edges with lots of fairly light hammer blows.

If that doesn't work, at least you haven't spent any money and you'll still have all of the other options available to you.

So here's the end to this story. I had a guy contact me that I was going to get a used rim from, but before going to his house, I stopped at the LBS to pick up a new tube since the old one got a staple in it. Anywyas, at the bike shop, I asked the tech to take a look at the rim and he said it looked pretty good except for the dent in the lip. He then bent it back for free. I was quite impressed with the shop overall (a Performance Bike store), so I bought some new handlebar tape since I kinda needed that too.