pmalloy

RIP Bridgestone 700

I'm looking to replace it with something fairly cheap, as winter is on its way and this is the second bike I've had stolen in a year. I've found the following two bikes and am pretty curious about them:

https://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...ndingMethod=rr
https://www.walmart.com/ip/700c-Schwi...d-Bike/5585799

Between those two, I'm leaning more towards the first one. I know older cyclists have a thing for the original Schwinn Varsity, but I'm having a hard time finding much on these new walmart editions. Are they any good?

pmalloy

I guess what I'm really looking for is the best road bike I can find for less than $400. And of course, cheaper is better

SlimRider

Hey there PMalloy,

What are you doing to lose two bikes in one year?...

Anyway for Walmart, I'd go with the Denali, the Varsity, or the Thruster. I hear more positive things about the Denali. The Thruster will outlast them all!

- Slim

PS.

You might want to check these out:

www.bikesdirect.com/products/mercier/galaxy_tour.htm

www.bikesdirect.com/products/mercier/galaxy_al_xi_sc3.htm

www.bikesdirect.com/products/windsor/wellington3_IX.htm

www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/mirage_pro_xii.htm

www.bikesdirect.com/products/gravity/avenue_c.htm


- Slim



Though Schwinn has been improving with Dorel...I wouldn't think of buying Walmart Carbon for soooo many reasons!

fietsbob

wally world is not at all like a bike shop, see if you can find something at a proper shop.

then you will get service after the sale, even on a used consignment bike.

robberry

How did you lose two bikes? Are you not locking them up properly? Did the Sheldon method fail again?

Check out bikesdirect.com.

Schwinnrider

Road bike under four hundred bucks? Bikes Direct is your place.

https://www.bikesdirect.com/products/...e_xi_steel.htm

I like the looks of this one. It has downtube shifters, but those are bulletproof, and much more reliable than the brifters you'll get at such a low price point. The frame is cromoly so you get the comfort of steel. It is specced with rack and fender eyelets, and fenders are certainly a good idea. It comes with 700x25 tires, but from the looks of things you could put 700x28s easily, and possibly fatter.

Stay away from WalMart, and buy yourself a good lock!

I looked at the WalMart bikes----WTF is "carbon fiber wrapped aluminum" supposed to accomplish?

americanlt2

Get the NewYork STD U-lock and get a bike registry chain. With both of those locks it will take a lot of work to steal your bike.

Ridefreemc

Schwinnrider that is a great deal and would suit way better than the Wally bikes.

treebound 

I'm curious as to how both bikes were stolen, looking for info to learn from and to maybe get people to offer positive help, I'm not looking to criticize.

Also, knowing a general region or part of the world someone is in can really help for people helping. (I should make this my tag line/footer.)

Anyway, I see from an earlier post of your's that you're probably located around Boston MA somewhere, and it appears you might have found your Bridgestone on Craigslist, so is there a reason you want to buy new now? I've found locally for me that I can find a better bike used for the same money for a new bike. $400 should get you a really nice bike on the used market, $250 should get you something nice as well.

I used to know someone in S. California who bought his bikes from K-Mart and WalMart because he averaged having one stolen one to three times a year. He lived in a fringe area and worked in higher crime areas, so he figured it was cheaper to buy a new cheap bike than a better bike because they got stolen before they wore out or before anything broke.

In any case I'm really curious about your locking methods and how the bikes are getting stolen.

And as far as "older folks" preferring one bike over another, I suspect those older folks are thinking of the older Schwinn Varsities, and even those were'nt all that great (they were just built like a tank and Schwinn built a LOT of them so they seem to be everywhere even today).

Me, personally, for a personal use bike, I'd tend to avoid buying an x-mart bike and would either buy something better at a true bike shop, or would buy used.

If you have $400 to spend, then spend $250 on the bike and the rest on a locking system.

Two bikes stolen in a year sucks, sorry for your losses.

pmalloy

The first bike I lent to a friend who locked the bike around a removable chain fence (decorative, the kind where the links can be unscrewed)

This one I left outside for about 2 hours, late afternoon on Sunday. I had a thick cable lock that I'd bought for ~$20 on Amazon. I know I'm supposed to use a U-Lock, but I only left this bike out for short periods of time, and never overnight. I just had a hard time justifying an $80 lock for a $150 bike.

And I performed a lot of maintenance on that bike right before it got stolen, so I'm just not in the mood to spend the money or time on the fixes that a used bike is likely to need.

And I'm in Boston - there are no bike shops I know of where bikes can be found for the price range I'm looking at. I'm really liking some of these suggestions from bikesdirect. I know Walmart is not the place to buy a bike, but I figured if someone was using the Schwinn name those bikes couldn't be too bad.

pmalloy

And while I've gotten used to downtube shifters, 24 speeds sounds a bit trickier than 12 while dealing with Boston traffic and road quality.

niccig

Based on a quick run-through of the bikes section on Boston Craigslist, I'm thinking you can buy a much better used bike for the same price as what you're looking at on Walmart. There also seem to be a couple of bike co-ops in Boston. Co-ops sometimes have used bike sales to raise money, or at the very least should be able to help you evaluate/make necessary repairs to a used bike. Most also have some sort of system to earn parts/bikes if you volunteer.

Micheal Blue

I would think that for winter biking one should get the best quality bike one can reasonably afford. Getting stuck somewhere during a winter ride because the bike is a cheap piece of crap could be hazardous to health. Wouldn't it be better to get a better bike AND a good U-lock?

Schwinnrider

While you have 24 speeds at your disposal, you won't use most of them. Heck, you could probably run the big ring and just shift the rear derailleur. I worry about the durability of brifters at a low price point, but I could be wrong, because I had a bike with really low end Shimano and it worked FLAWLESSLY for years. It's really difficult to get a bad bike nowadays if you buy bike shop quality stuff. I hear the big box store Schwinns aren't bad, but the BD bikes are much better.

himespau 

Try a place like Bikes Not Bombs in Jamaica Plain. They sell refurbished used bikes of various sizes and the time I went in there had some at around your price range. I can't imagine they're the only ones. I think Ferris Wheels (also in JP, but right on the 39 bus line) had a flyer out this past week saying they were selling the rental fleet they'd had this year and had some other used bikes in their basement that were up for sale. Might want to try there as well.

treebound 

The way I look at it:
The $80+ lock isn't to secure the bike, it is to help ensure that I have a ride home regardless of the value of that ride.

U-lock and a decent cable used together gives you the best option to ensure your ride home. But it is at a cost, a cost in dollars and weight and hassle. I've locked a $10 bike with a $100 lock, but then I've also locked an $800 bike with a $10 lock, it all depends upon where you lock it and the likelihood of a motivated thief being there during the same timeframe.

The name "Schwinn" on the Walmart bikes is simply a trade name that was purchased and no longer has a direct tie to the "Schwinn" company per se. x-mart Schwinn = x-mart Murray = x-mart Huffy = x-mart Roadmaster, look beyond the name on the headbadge to see who is really who. One of the Schwinn family members is still involved with Waterford and Gunner bikes in Waterford Wisconsin, so there are still ties to the Schwinn of old but under a non-Schwinn headbadge. Just a side-note.

Many people do just fine with Walmart bought bikes, you just have to decide what will work for you. But do upgrade the locking system regardless of what you end up getting. But then even that is no guarantee, as noted by someone on here who came out to his bike to find the handlebars stolen/missing per a recent thread on the site here.

This one doesn't look too bad for your local market:
https://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/bik/2666069399.html Schwinn

But I'd probably lean more towards this one:
https://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/bik/2665925458.html Univega

Note: both these bikes are different sizes so size would drive my decision first.

Another decent candidate:
https://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/bik/2665911186.html

lostarchitect 

I like the univega and fuji posted above. I would also tend to look for something used.

But if you want new, and you're capable of basic assembly and maintenance, BikesDirect is a good choice. I have a bike from them and I really like it.

robberry

Did your friend pay you for the first bike?

A cable lock is not a good lock, and $20 cable lock is basically a piece of ribbon holding your bike from blowing in the breeze. If you're really worried about spending money on a lock, check out the Kryptonite mini u-lock. They're $40 on Amazon.

mikeybikes

Lost two bikes already? I'd just find a beater. Clearly, with your track record, you don't have the luck to keep nice things.

georgiaman

Omg slim these might have high tensile steel! Never thought you would stoop so low!