new to biking
 

Okay there is probably a million and one threads on here about this but here is one more. I am 34 this year and getting back into biking. I have gained some weight in the past couple years and am currently about 250. I really want to get a bike but the budget is tight right now and would like to buy something cheap preferably around the 250 at the most mark. I know after reading the forums here people say to go to the bike shops and ask but i have and they are way out of my price range. So big question is , is there any good bikes out there that i can get for this much. I dont have a problem with tuning bikes since i use to be a huge biker back when i was younger in fact i was in competitions all the time for bmxing and i use to tune bikes for my friends all the time. I just want to get in shape again and would like to lose a few. I have been considering a hybrid but can they hold up with my weight? i would like a comfort style or something hybrid, just because it would be easier to get around. I do have alot of bike trails around my that are paved. Any help would be much appreciated. like i said though i know that i should save my pennies like everyone said and get a LBS bike but they are just to high right now. I wont mind spending the money a couple of years down the road maybe 1 or 2 but i have to do this right now. thanks.

Buy used. As you have some experience and skills with wrenching, you should have little trouble finding a decent used bike and getting it adjusted and ready to go. Getting the right size is very important. Other than that, a hybrid or MTB without suspension would make good starters for you. Good luck and let us know what you find.

craigslist can be your best friend. Search around on your local craigslist until you find a bike that looks like its in pretty good shape. Then research that brand and model, or even post the ad on this forum and ask opinions. You can get some incredible bikes for cheap, but you have to be ambitious and check regularly.

You would be surprised how many 10 and 20 year old road and mountain bikes are out there and in incredible shape.

First of all :welcome to our little part of the net. If you feel comfortable about your bike tuning abilities, then buying used is a good route. Look on craigslist and such, there are good bikes at reasonable prices for those who wait. At 250 pounds, most hybrids should be fine if you look for high spoke count wheels. :thumb:

well i know what you guys are saying and thanks for trying to help but i have done the route of the craigslist and other types but no one in my area is selling anything worth it. I live in PA and if you have one or know of anyone with a decent bike i would be willing to drive anywhere for it in PA.

Have you tried riding a bike at your weight? I don't know how tall you are, so 250 may not be too out of line, but when I weighed 240 I couldn't ride very long because it would make the crotch go numb and my butt hurt, so make sure you can even ride.

I ended up seeing a nutritionist and going on a good diet and walking several hours a day (I had to work up to it) and walking 5 days a week, and I was able to drop well over 50 lbs, so you may be better off losing the weight and getting the legs in shape by walking first and saving your $ to get a good bike later.

If you can ride, definitely check Craigs list or something. I recently read that some clipless pedals are designed to hold only 185 lbs, so you may be limited on what you can ride and use. You may be best off with a cheap K-mart mountain bike to begin with. I kind of doubt you'll be doing 2 hours with the local bike club, so that should do for now. And if it's a big pain in the butt, then you'll give yourself more incentive to lose the weight and get a good bike so you can ride, ride, ride. Make it a reward!
:}

well im not totally out of shape i just got some meat on my bones. i keep goin at work. i have a very physical job i just want to lose some weight and be able to get the tire gone. No matter what i do i know im gonna still be a little on the heavy side which i dont mind cause i do have a thicker body. But as far as being able to ride i did take out my freinds mountain bike and yes i can keep up just the mountain bike is defintly not the way for me since i dont like the forward lean right now ,i would like to have some of the features of sitting upright in a hybrid or comfort. i was looking at some of the ones at the walmart like the schwinn avenue and the link or even the ones at some of the sporting stores like a diamondback wildwood? any thoughts on those?

I'll add my vote to buying an experienced bicycle. What you can get new, cheap is usually a bicycle shaped object from a big box store, and most of them are crap.

Philly CL is loaded with bikes under $250. Many not actually in Philly. And I only looked at today's list.

http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/bik/

I got some of my best bikes from freecycle www.freecycle.org For those not in the know, freecycle is a grassroots movement to keep useful items out of the landfills, everything must be free... free + recycle = freecycle. It doesn't have anything to do with bicycling.

I posted an ad that read something like this: Wanted: junk bikes to fix up and ride with my kids. I don't want good bikes, give them to a kid. I want the bikes with bent wheels, frozen cables, missing seats etc.

And junks bikes I got galore. People were relieved to give me their junk bikes because it cost too much to fix them and they didn't know how. Now I have several bikes I ride and have given several away to my friends. I've also scored a few bikes at thrift shops that needed minor repair. Some of the thriftstore/garage sale bikes I've sold to buy more bike parts, the freecycle bikes are strictly to fix and ride or give to friends.

250 isn't that big. I was 250 when I started riding and many here were well above that (some double that weight) when they got in the saddle. You may not go far at first but you can start working into it.

thats what im thinking , i see alot of heavier people trying to lose some on the trails around here. start encouraging people instead and it would make things better for everyone. Im just trying to get some idea as to what i can look at for a bike here. I figure give this a shot because its hard right now with times the way they are you want to get a bike but dont have tons of money to spend on something at a LBS. I mean should you just not bike and give up on the whole idea just because you cant afford to go to a LBS and spend, spend, spend. Im sure there is tons of people out there that own cheaper bikes that are riding them around that are not having all kinds of issues. I truly understand what people are talking about when it comes to buying quality im a musician and when someone talks about buying some inferior product to me i just truly think to myself " at least there making music" not what a hunk of junk why waste there money.

and the other thing is that this is something that i wanted to do with my fiance so that we can start living a healthier lifestyle. the diet is started why not enjoy the great outdoors together also.

Hi Sad, I am 300 and just getting back into it. I think $250 is a good amount for a used entry level hardtail. I am sure you will have luck in PA with this. If you want help combing Craigslist PM me and I will call on a few for you. I wish you luck, James

+1. I have been riding between 325-350 for over 4 years now. Yeah, the first couple of weeks I sucked gas, but after a month I was riding 20 miles daily.

Good deals can be found on Craigslist. There are some bike fitting guides available on the net that will get you close to what you need. Like this: LINK

And...Welcome to the board.

The Schwinn you mention here looks to be almost exactly the same as the one I ride now. I commute 14 miles RT on the bike 3-4x a week. The frame is sturdy and light and supports my 300 #s quite nicely. The components aren't top of the line, but they're good enough for me. The derailleurs and brakes were all in need of some serious tweaking, but you've got some experience, so you would be able to do that pretty easily. I had little mechanical experience with bikes, and I figured out those adjustments from info on the web and in the manual quite easily.

The problem is the wheels! You might have better luck with them since you're only 250, but after a month or so of consistent riding, I started breaking spokes. Got the first one fixed at the LBS, went riding next day, and *ting*, lost another one. I was not the only one with the problem on those wheels either...

Knowing what I know now... I think I would have taken a closer look at Craigslist or for used offerings at an LBS near me. Aim for something with a higher spoke count... Just my $0.02.

Don't know where you are in PA, but you might even have something like this near you?

I picked up an '86 Diamond Back Ascent off of Craig's List for $40 a couple of years ago. Cleaned it up, lubed it, tuned it, put on some new tires and started riding. 1,000 trouble free miles later (actually, I broke 2 spokes in a fall at one point but they were cheap and easy to replace) I decided to try a road bike. A friend gave me a '77 Schwinn Le Tour II he'd dug out of the trash. Did the same type of refurbish on it I'd done on the MTB and started putting miles on it. Even commuted to work on it for the better part of last year. The trick is to buy an older, decent-quality bike cheap, not buy a cheap bike.