Bikeforums.net is a forum about nothing but bikes. Our community can help you find information about hard-to-find and localized information like bicycle tours, specialties like where in your area to have your recumbent bike serviced, or what are the best bicycle tires and seats for the activities you use your bike for.darkhelmet16
08-16-07, 12:34 AM
I went into my LBS recently (Spokes in Wheaton, IL) and wanted to check out getting a new bike and getting into riding again. Having grown up on cheapo sporting goods store bikes, I wanted something that I could actually ride that wouldn't fall apart immediately. Realizing that I'm still in college and that the cheapest new bike I would be interested in is over the $300 mark, I looked around in other places... until tonight, when I went on Craigslist and saw a guy advertising a Huffy TransAmerica road bike in pretty good shape, for $30. Since I haven't ridden regularly in a few years and would like to start out with something cheap but reliable (and at the same time, something that would need some maintenance right off the bat so I could learn my way around a bit), I bought it. Having brought it home tonight, I decided to do a little research and... nothing. Granted, I haven't picked through every last Google search result, but nothing was turning up, and I guess I'm just wondering: has anyone heard of this bike? It's a pretty standard 12-speed road bike, red with a rack on the back, definitely on the older side but not unusually so. No indexed shifting, etc. Yes, I know Huffy has a bad rep as just another department store bike, but it seems to be at least 20-30 years old and still perfectly rideable, so I've gotta give 'em some credit on this one. I'm the kind of guy who likes to get down and dirty with researching things, and I'm pretty excited about getting this bike tuned up and taking it for a ride, but I still want to know what's up with this thing- where can I find out about it? When was it made? Where can I get spare parts? What else do I need to know? Sorry about the long post, and sorry if this is in the wrong area, I'm brand new here :-) If anyone has any information, or even just general words of wisdom for someone who wants to get into cycling for fun and fitness, I would love to hear it! Thanks in advance!
~Evan
~Evan