grimmster18

Hello! I've been doing a 6 mile round trip commute since August (completely car free), and am finally ready to get my second bike. My current bike is a crappy craigslist Schwinn mountain bike, and its been really weighing me down lately. On the bright side, I have some tax money to spend on a new bike, but on the negative side, I'll be doing a lightweight cross country move in a year, so don't want to make too large of an investment seeing as I won't be taking it with me when I leave. I use my bike for everything, riding to the airport, getting groceries, and midnight commutes to check on experiments, so I feel that getting something lighter and more enjoyable to ride in the sunny summer months would be absolutely worth the investment, but have absolutely no idea what I like, or what to look for. The roads in my city are fantastic, with well maintained bike lanes and trails on relatively smooth surfaces and no pot holes.

Anyone have any pointers on things to look for in a bike, brands that tend to be reliable but relatively inexpensive (<400), and ideas on how to get a feel for the type of bike that would work best for me?

curlyque

Quite frankly, I don't know how any functioning bike could weigh you down if a 3 mile ride is the furthest you go in one shot.

grimmster18

Fair enough, thanks for the input

Andy_K 

A lot depends on what craigslist is like in your area. Given your situation I think a used bike is clearly the way to go, because they hardly depreciate at all. Around here there are usually pretty decent road bikes available for under $400.

Of course, a road bike won't be as good for things like grocery runs as what you have.

You might be better off just getting a better set of tires.

spare_wheel

Reading comprehension much?


For under 400 (assuming dollars or euros) your best bet, IMO, is to buy a used bike (e.g. craigslist). Look for older alu or steel road bikes and pay special attention to shifting function and component wear. And unless you know your way around a bike wrench I would add a safety check and tune-up to the budget.

grimmster18

Used definitely sounds like the best way to go, especially with the pointers given to make sure it's in decent shape. Bozeman has a great bike co-op that has a few options posted on craigslist, so I'll be stopping in to see them in person. Thanks for the help, and happy Thursday!

curlyque

[QUOTE=spare_wheel;17685223]Reading comprehension much?


Is that supposed to be a sentence?

Darth Lefty 

In my local Craigslist market, $200 is the asking price for lower / older road bikes, $300 for some nice midgrade racing road bikes up to about 1990 vintage, $400 might get you 8 or 9 speed brifters, or something really nice from an ignorant seller. I think the problem you'll run into is that your market is tiny.

My experience was that switching from a MTB with 2" knobbies and a suspension fork, to a road bike with tiny slicks, took me from 12 to 16 mph. The increase from MTB knobbies to MTB slicks was about half that good. So that's the sort of increase you'll be looking at.

thebird55

I got one of these from ebay for a little less than the quoted prices. (I've since converted it to a 24 speed.)
Save Up to 60% Off Gravity Dutch Hybrid/Comfort Bikes


Then I added this.
M-Wave 3-Piece Traveller Pannier & Alloy Pannier Rack Bundle - Walmart.com

mstateglfr 

Craigslist a steel late 80s/early 90s road bike or hybrid. What you like/feel comfortable in terms of shifting should guide you heavily as stem shifters vs down tube shifters vs grip shifters vs thumb trigger shifters are all quite different. If all of those are comfortable to do and you are confident, it opens up a lot of options.
Most importantly- make sure the bike fits. A bike that is too small or large will not be nearly as fun to ride.


$200-300 should get you a steel road bike or older hybrid that is in good mechanical working order. Taking it to a shop(if you cant/wont do the work) will set you back $60ish for them to go over it and adjust anything necessary.

You can still do grocery runs just like always- a Schwinn CrissCross hybrid or World Sport will handle pulling/carrying groceries. Often times these bikes have 36 spoke wheels...more spokes = stronger wheel when considering weight stress.



Consider the crank- do you use your smallest chainring very much right now? If so, you may want to stick to a 3 ring crank. That gearing is a godsend when pulling a lot of weight and allows the bike to be used for more purposes than just going fast in a straight line.

MichaelW

You can use road bikes for grocery runs if you select well. Look for rack eyelets, as much tyre clearance as you can find and a compact double, rather than race double chainset.
Specialized Allez (lower models) is typical of a good entry level racer with practical uses.

spivonious

Since you won't be taking it with you, I'd check the used market for a steel road bike in good repair. It shouldn't be too hard to find one in good shape for under $400. Make a bike shop checkup part of the terms of sale if condition is suspect. I think any honest seller would be okay with those terms.

fietsbob

Start by picking the Best bike Shop where you live.

Maybe they will even assemble and adjust the Bikes Direct Pick. If you are not Mechanically Inclined. (for a Fee )

ItsJustMe

If you have the option, try for a cyclocross bike. I have a road bike and I wish I had the option to go with wider tires sometimes. My road bike won't take anything wider than 26 to 28 at the absolute limits. I'd like to at LEAST do 32s and this time of year with the roads all heaved and buckled and potholed I'd even run 35s if I could, for the next month or so.

alan s 

Just get something you like and can afford. When the time comes to move, pack it in a bike box and ship it to your new location.