Fifty Plus (50+) - Preparing for retirement

With luck and if Finances don't take another drop--- I will retire next year. All that spare time on my hands and hopefully enough money to live on to make it stress free. It will make a big change in my lifestyle but I have a big enough garden to keep me occupied and a couple of grandchildren that are going to say I will not be sitting around lazing.

One of the things will be that I will have more time to ride and I am going to make certain that the bikes I ride will be respectable. I may have sufficient funds to get one more decent bike- not that I need it as the current ones are good.

But one bike I will definitely need is a Beater bike. I do not intend to drive a car and already have taken it off the road to save expense. The wife has a car so we will not be carless.

So been looking at what that beater bike will have to be. First of all of respectable quality but not cost a fortune. Able to take a pannier rack for the local shopping trips and possibly a trailer for weekly shopping. I won't be doing much offroad so it will have to be a road bike- whether race or fitness style. So dead easy really- just got to find one.

No Craigs list over here so I have looking on E-Bay. Did you realise that a 6 Year old OCR3 that cost $600 when new is now worth $750 because it has had a couple of upgrades to make it go faster? I didn't--So I will have to kep looking. Something may turn up.

Congratulations on the prospect of retirement. I'm still 10 to 12 years away from my retirement. I think its great you are planning to go carless, that will be condusive to good health so you can enjoy those grandchildren for many years.

Enjoy your retirement Stapfam, I have certainly been enjoying mine. My beater is a ten year old Specialized Crossroads: nice enough to ride around town but not a major loss if stolen. Lately I have been using DC's Bikeshare (http://www.capitalbikeshare.com/) program for most around town trips -- very convenient and no worry about leaving the bike vulnerable.

I have less time for everything during retirement. I don't know how I ever found time to work. But, I like being busy, as I suspect you do also. I spend an awful lot of time on state (http://www.ourwebs.info/indexpad.htm)and national (http://www.noewait.net) advocacy on disability issues. Then my singing group (http://www.xyzingers.info), my exercises other than bicycling (http://www.ourwebs.info/wtroom1.jpg), some travel, etc., etc. You will have a great time.

I have a Windsor Leeds (road bike) which I got on EBay brand new for $285 as my beater bike. It has panniers, lights, etc. It is Sora, 24 speed. Not fancy - on purpose - and definitely does the job.

Congrats on your pending retirement. I'm 54, so I have a ways to go. I'm also eyeing a car-free existence, mostly to save on expenses. Fuel, insurance, fees, and overall worry about the blasted thing, all adds up. I definitely admire and respect people who are able to go car-free.

As far as a beater bike, I would go for something reliable and simple, such as single speed. The Raleigh One-Way would be one I would consider.

I think a Surly Big Dummy would be the ultimate beater bike. I took early retirement as soon as I turned 50. Best decision I ever made.

Good on ya, Stapfam. As I always say, "if I'd known how much I was going to like retirement...I would have retired at 21".

I've been retired for 17 years now and still have bad dreams.

I've been retired for 17 years now and still have bad dreams.

Yikes, I'm looking at retirement a year from now and one of the things I've been hoping for is to stop having those dreams! But even if they don't stop, I'm guessing that kissing the job goodbye will have more than enough going for it anyway.

One pending issue is what to do with the bike that presently resides in my office. Live in an apartment so storage space is at a premium...

I semi retired at 59 six years ago and our 11 year old car just past the 70,000 mile mark so I speak from retired, care lite, experience.

A 1990s, steel, no suspension MB with 1.25" street slicks and a rack is a perfect utility bike.

With a rack you can carry stuff, add panniers, and you can carry more stuff, and add a back pack, and you have a week's groceries. I've tried it and I wouldn't use with a bike with road bars to carry a lot of weight in a back pack again.

The more beat looking the beater, the better as it's less likely to be stolen. A little rust and some electrical tape wrapped on the grips for effect makes it safer.

Mine is a 1993 KHS Montana Comp which makes a lot eight mile round trips to the supermarket and 16 miles round trips to the best iced coffee in the area.

This also saves wear and tear on our road bikes, and, even locked, I don't like to let them out of our sight.

Mine:

Old Blue -- Mid 80s Vitus 979
The Rat -- an early 90s KHS Montana Comp converted to a utility bike. with 90 psi, 1.25 inch tires

Wife’s

Mid 80s Ciocc Mokba 80.
90s Giant mountain bike converted to a utility bike. with 90 psi, 1.25 inch tires

We have had two, new Lynskey Sportives on order since June. which will be our first new road bikes in almost 30 years.

Don't know what the used bike market is like where you are, but a new bike from someplace like Bikesdirect would be fairly cheap. If the bike is to be a beater, you won't need all top quality components. Maybe even a department store bike would do. I knew someone who peddaled a Huffy across the USA with no problems.

Good luck with your retirement. It is a different way of life altogether than what you were probably used to. I love being retired and never really realized how much I disliked having a job until I retired. You're your own man now. You can do what you please when you please. Again, good luck.

With luck and if Finances don't take another drop--- I will retire next year. All that spare time on my hands and hopefully enough money to live on to make it stress free. It will make a big change in my lifestyle but I have a big enough garden to keep me occupied and a couple of grandchildren that are going to say I will not be sitting around lazing.

One of the things will be that I will have more time to ride and I am going to make certain that the bikes I ride will be respectable. I may have sufficient funds to get one more decent bike- not that I need it as the current ones are good.

But one bike I will definitely need is a Beater bike. I do not intend to drive a car and already have taken it off the road to save expense. The wife has a car so we will not be carless.

So been looking at what that beater bike will have to be. First of all of respectable quality but not cost a fortune. Able to take a pannier rack for the local shopping trips and possibly a trailer for weekly shopping. I won't be doing much offroad so it will have to be a road bike- whether race or fitness style. So dead easy really- just got to find one.

No Craigs list over here so I have looking on E-Bay. Did you realise that a 6 Year old OCR3 that cost $600 when new is now worth $750 because it has had a couple of upgrades to make it go faster? I didn't--So I will have to kep looking. Something may turn up.

I have a 2003 Specialized Sirrus with a triple. I will give it to you if you are interested in getting it shipped to the UK. It was tuned up last year. It has a large frame ( I am guessing 56cm). I will take a photo if you are interested.

I hope you will really enjoy your retirement. I think I will enjoy mine in 5 or 6 years. I am blessed that I am still enjoying my work. I would retire today if I didn't. I am eligible for Social Security.

Don't think of it as retirement but rather the freedom to be exceeding picky about the jobs you accept.

How about a Kona Sutra? Heavy and a triple but should be a good utility bike.

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/touring/product/review-kona-sutra-08-29159/

Don't think of it as retirement but rather the freedom to be exceeding picky about the jobs you accept.
lol

Not sure to what extent you're being literal (maybe not at all). I'll take it literally myself: my ideal of retirement (which may happen next year) would be to take on the occasional, very interesting piece of consulting work (drug discovery/development). Otherwise I expect to be playing golf, biking and flying.

I don't have an answer to the OP's question. I just bought a MTB partly in anticipation of a retirement need. Time to learn where the trails are in north San Diego county, then maybe further afield.

hmmmm .... just realized something: what I might need next would be a folding MTB or hybrid, something I can stuff in the small compartment in back of a Cessna. Small wheels would be good, but lots of gears and front suspension. Any ideas anyone? (I'll run a search of course)

OP: apologies for not having an answer.

Good to hear about your retirement plans. I was there once (retired at 61) until I got an offer to go back to work that I couldn't refuse. I am also planning on my final retirement in June, when the wife retires. It was great being retired. I'm sure that you will enjoy every minute of it, especially more time with the grandkids. I also plan on increasing the riding after June, except where I live, it is really hard to go without a vehicle, especially since we need a truck to haul my wife's recumbent trike. Unless we are riding in a group of riders, I would never let her ride that on the highway with the crazies we have driving down here. And good luck finding yet another bike.

Good luck Stapfam. How far do you have to ride to go shopping? I got a small trailer that I hook to a 2000 Trek MTB for shopping and a rack and rack bag for small runs. Topeak makes a rack bag with expandable bags that unzip when you need the extra space and fold into a side pouch when you don't.

Retirement is having nothing in particular to do and having all day to do it in !!

Enjoy!!!

Congrats on your pending retirement. I still have five years, but will probably continue on past that if my satellite is still flying. The trailer sounds like a great idea. And hooked to a non-suspension MTB.

I have a 2003 Specialized Sirrus with a triple. I will give it to you if you are interested in getting it shipped to the UK. It was tuned up last year. It has a large frame ( I am guessing 56cm). I will take a photo if you are interested.

I hope you will really enjoy your retirement. I think I will enjoy mine in 5 or 6 years. I am blessed that I am still enjoying my work. I would retire today if I didn't. I am eligible for Social Security.

Thanks for the offer but the frame would be a bit too large for me--I am only a shortie. but the Sirrus is one of the bikes I am keeping my eyes open for.

I do not have to retire at 65 and the pensions I get will make it so that I can live. Problem is the amount of capital behind me in case the roof needs repair or the boiler (Central heating-not the wife) goes on the blink or N+1 rears its head. I did have that covered till the Financial crisis that wiped out my "safe" shares in two banks that went bust. I am looking to work on till the end of March and then see how much money is in the bank-- Or rather under the bed as I think that will be safer.

But already having offers from neighbours to sort their garden-paint their house or one mad fool wants a swimming pool and decking like mine. And I know the Company will need me back to sort out the problems I will be leaving them when I depart:lol::lol:

Yikes, I'm looking at retirement a year from now and one of the things I've been hoping for is to stop having those dreams! But even if they don't stop, I'm guessing that kissing the job goodbye will have more than enough going for it anyway.

One pending issue is what to do with the bike that presently resides in my office. Live in an apartment so storage space is at a premium...
True. I didn't mean to freak anyone out. The good news is: the relief you feel when you wake up.:D

I'd recommend a touring bike like a Surly Long Haul Trucker. Next year Surly will offer a disc brake version with either 700c or with 26 inch wheels. You could fit a fat tire like the 2 inch Schwalbe Big Apple on the 26 inch wheels and go almost anywhere with the bike. The Long Haul Trucker is also designed as a touring bike, loading it up with shopping bags would be very manageable.

Try the Edinburgh bike co-op. Their own revolution brand is excellent vfm. One of their country traveller tourers is less than £500 new and would make an excellent utility machine. They have frequent sales.

I had never paid attention to the hipsters on their fixies and single-speeds. Then I rescued from someone's garbage an ancient Peugeot (UO8) with vertical drops and no derailer hanger. My junk drawer happened to have perfect old components (french BB and cranks, yada yada) and soon I had an SS. I love this thing now. I have plenty of tourers and road machines (including a handed down 04 trek 5900 superlight that I completely overhauled - wow), but it's that old SS Peugeot that I always grab for rides about town and workouts. I love this thing (did I mention that?). I highly recommend a single speed. They are elegant and perfect.

I meant horizontal (yeesh).

Do you have charities in England like Goodwill and the Salvation Army where people donate old bikes for sale in their thrift stores? The most expensive bike I ever bought from one was an aluminum frame Cannondale SM-800 mtb. I never did find out exactly how much it cost brand new but for the $20 I paid for it used, it can't be beat. The tires were flat, it was dusty, and all of the greased parts needed cleaning and lubricating. I had it back on the road in a few days at no additional cost. That was several years ago. Most of what these places have are junky mass merchandiser bikes but good ones show up on occasion. If you happen to be there at the right time you get a great bargain. The most recent one I picked up was a circa 1993 Giant Yukon for $25. It still needs a new seat but is rideable with only $3 in replacement parts, including the addition of a water bottle cage.

Flea markets are also good. We picked up a 90s GT MB is decent condition that only need a cleaning, lubing, new street slicks, and tune up. Now that we're living in a resort area and have a stream of winter visitors from the cold north, we kept it for a guest bike.

I do have an OLD Dawes Galaxy from about 1976 that is in need of some work on it- Work on it? More like around $500 to be spent to get it into ridable condition- but I'll make another post on that.

But I am looking so that When I retire- I can get that Beater bike that I would enjoy riding. Main concern is the value of it "When" it goes missing. I am pessimistic about how long it would last before I was walking back from the town after a shopping trip so I do not want something I could afford to lose. Nearly had one last weekend but I think it must be Summer or people looking out for cheap christmas presents that is affecting the Market. Couple of Bikes I would be prepared to pay £300 for but they are already way above that price on E-Bay. I have just sold a bike to a neighbour that would have been ideal so I may finish up Getting a cheap "New" low range bike but I will have to stay away from the LBS. They have this Beautifull TCR-C- same as I already have- But set up with Trecking bars and Ultegra parts. May not be able to afford that one.

And old Galaxy, with flat MB bars would be perfect.

With road bars,You'll only carry ten pounds of groceries, on your back, once.

And, you'll learn that bottles of wine and other liquids always go in the panniers where the weight is down low and you don't have the bottles pressing into your back.

Bungie cargo nets are good for carrying odd shape stuff on the rack.

http://www.amazon.com/Sunlite-Bicycle-Bungie-Cargo-Black/dp/B000WY6ZXA

[QUOTE=stapfam;13208256]So been looking at what that beater bike will have to be. QUOTE]

Time to make friends with your postman. Pashley Postie with a front rack. I'm told they get offloaded rather than mended.

I think the bike suggestions so far have that topic pretty well covered so I'll just wish you well. Retirement is a new phase in life and it sounds like you are pretty well prepared for it. I'm a couple years out myself but could go now if I had to. I hope to do more traveling after retirement.... and catch up on the home improvement and yardwork that have been ignored since I started cycling.

I wish you the best and would also recommend an older steel hardtail mtb as a beater. I lucked out when I got mine, as I had no idea what I was looking for at the time. It has turned into my commuter/grocery getter/round towner that gets twice the miles as any other bike in the garage. Good luck on your search!

You have Yard sales- We have Boot fairs. Boot fairs are a place where people go to sell their unwanted rubbish and it is held in a field. You turn up with your car- open the boot (Trunk to you lot) and sell from there. They are organised and we have a BIG one locally that is held every Sunday. There are some "Professional" Boot Fairists that make a living out of buying stock and selling it on but there are still a great number of people just trying to clear the accumulation of rubbish collected over the years.

I doubt that a 2 year old Roubaix is going to turn up there and if it did- it would not be cheap- but providing I look long enough then a suitable bike will turn up. The only bikes I have seen there are Wallymart standard and that is not what I am looking for. Ideal would be an old 60's 3 speed Sturmey archer that just needs new tyres- and they do turn up occasionally. So it looks like I will have to keep looking.

And On E-bay----Couple of bikes turned up and were cheap. Auction ends today and I will see how "High" they go. One of which I reckon someone knows the worth of- a 2 year old Whyte Hardtail. It is still cheap at £86 and I reckon it is going to go very high. This is one of my "Dream" bikes and looks hardly used. The other is a Raleigh Chopper Mk2. These are in demand and I have seen immaculate versions being sold for £400. Still at £25 and I would not pay more than £50 as it needs some work and it has been resprayed. The Whyte is worth in the region of £600 and I reckon that it could go for that. Too high a price for a beater.

You might want to look at something like an old Hard Rock. That's what my utility bike is. Hard tailed so it's great for the roads, and if I get the urge, it can take to the hills.

I also have a Kabuki Syd that offers a lot because it's already got all the holes for fenders and racks that I could ever want.