jayjay8

I'm looking for a bike for just casual riding on a nice day, maybe commuting, and found this bike on craigslist.
It doesn't give much info, but I'm hoping someone will be able to figure out more details about the bike from the picture. Is $100 a good price for this bike?

Thanks.

frantik

It's a Specialized Hardrock.. an older mountain bike (probably from the 90s) with 26" wheels. Today bikes that look similar to that would be called a "hybrid" or "city bike".

It would make a great bike for casual riding and commuting. Just put on "slick" road tires instead of the chunky knobby mountain bike tires and it will be great for any kind of road duty.

for $100 that is a good to fair price if it doesn't need any work. It looks like it might be kind of small so make sure it fits you before you hand over the money. buy a cheap bike pump and you can bring it with you to fill up the tires to test ride it first. you will need the pump anyways if you buy a bike

Chicago Al 

^ +1. They are a very common basic mountain bike, I think Specialized still has the model name going though the bike has changed. We've had five or six of them through the family collection in the last two years. The most I've paid for one was $80 and it was a later, aluminum framed version with new 1.5" wide city-style tires. Mostly they've been $20-30, needing work, and I have cleaned and fixed them up and sold them on or given them away. Many of them have Shimano Altus cantilever brakes, with a plastic bushing that often breaks.

Performance Bike has a 26x1.5" tire called the 'Metro' which can be found on sale for $9-10 apiece; that would be a good step up for city riding as frantik notes.

And +1 proper size is crucial!

jayjay8

Thanks for the responses!

I'm a small person (around 5'3") so I'm looking for a smaller bike. I'll definitely give it a test ride before buying it though.

I'm also thinking of trying to talk the price down a bit. How low do you expect I would be able to bargain down to? I don't want to rip the seller off, but I also don't want to be overpaying for a bike.

frantik

the price depends on the market.. if you are out in the middle of no where, it's not a $100 bike. but you live in a California college town where any working bike in good condition can be sold for $100.. I dont think you could low ball too much

go take a look at it and if it looks good, ask if they will take 80, but buy it for 100 if you like it and it doesnt need anything besides the tires pumped up

LesterOfPuppets

I usually get about $75 for that level MTB in decent shape. Maybe a little more if in really nice shape. Hard to gauge condition from really small wrong side picture.

Looks like original tires which you'll likely want to swap out. On rare occasions tires can last 20 years but don't hold your breath.

jayjay8

Another question, I asked the seller about the frame size. She said it was a size 17. Is that a reasonable size for someone who is 5'3''? I've tried doing some research, but the results are kind of split, some saying that it's too big and some saying it's ok.

LesterOfPuppets

I'd go with a 15" unless you have long legs and long arms. Your overall height doesn't really matter.