Ted_Soccer

Hello,

I love riding bikes and I want a good fast bike to commute to work in. I just cancelled my walmart order because I started reading about bikes and such not and learned that getting a used bike is the way to go for someone who does not want to spend more than 300$.

I came across this post for a Bianchi Road Bike and will be seeing him in a few days. It is $300 and the only information is as follows.

Grey Bianchi road bike, well kept, comes with newer tires/rims, suntour gears, 23" frame, asking $300.00 firm

Any advice? Looks good to me :S

with this picture.

bikemig 

Not much to go on (the picture is pretty insubstantial) but not worth $300. If you post a few ads from your local craigslist, you'll get some advice. First you have to figure out the size of bike you need though.

The crank looks cheap and I'm always skeptical of bikes with replacement forks (as this looks to be). That is often the sign of a crashed bike.

JamesRL

Pricing depends much on your market. In Toronto that would sell quickly at that price, but it would sell for much less elsewhere. Best to look at a lot of ads on Craigslist.

It is an entry level Bianchi. The components are ok, I've known a few people who have owned these in the day. It is not a lightweight bike, for a road bike, but if you are communting, it would be fine. If I recall it has the braze ons for fenders and a rack, when you need them.

The most important question is, does it fit? You should read some of the discussions here about fitting.

You should also budget some money for a tune up.

By the way the wheels are definitely not original but look to be an upgrade over the originals.

I would suggest offering less - maybe $200-$225.

FastJake

+1 Fit is most important. What size do you need?

Bike looks entry level and probably not worth $300 around here but with that lousy picture who knows. Fork could be a replacement, again hard to tell from the photo. Paint color looks... close. Wheels are obviously not original and look like super heavy "Alex" rims or something similar. I would prefer the original wheels over these.

Ted_Soccer

im 5'8" he says hes the same size. One person told me to check size u see if u can fit two fingers under you crouch above the top frame.

JamesRL

Actually, that is the right fork. I'm not sure whether this was a model for the Canadian market, but I do see this model around Toronto, and it does have a chromed fork. It has a Hi tensile steel frame, plain lugs, no engravings.

I'm not sure the Alex Rims are heavier than the originials, which were could have been steel, depending on the exact age of the bike, or inexpensive Arrayas.

FastJake

Bike is too big for you.

Google bike sizing. It's not rocket science but stand-over height is almost meaningless.

Ted_Soccer

Thanks. I understand now that I need the proper size... So walmarts S,M,L don't mean much I suppose lol.
apparently I need 53cm 20.5in. or close too.

ramzilla

the Bianchi is a much nicer bike than anything they've got at Walmart. What I've noticed about the best Walmart Road bikes is that they look like they have good wheels and solid frames but, everything else is low quality. Cheesy drive train crummy brakes, crappy pedals, ****ty shifters, junk cables. I don't think anybody ever bought a Walmart bike just for the wheels & frame. But, who knows.

lostarchitect 

I also am 5'8" and I ride around a 54-ish.

xiaoman1 

Standover height is only on factor top tube length another and so on... in my estimation if you have to lean the bike over a lot to get off then its too big/tall for you. Only way to tell is to try it out, a person can be 5'-8" and have a long torso with shorter legs (top tube critical)..top tube too high ,legs to short..... I think you see what I'm getting at
JM2C Ben