Cheap bike or no bike
 

Some of the threads below got me thinking about finances and bike quality. Each situation has so many variables that I'm going to ask this question within these parameters..........limited money, limited access to good used bikes and the bike will be ridden moderately heavy (20-30 three times a week and 50-60 once on the weekend). So would you.....

1) Buy a cheap bike (ie actionbent, recumbentusa, etc.)

2) Go wherever it took to get a good used one, regardless of time and miles.

3) Save and get a high end bike despite the fact that it may be multiple months or even a couple of years.

4) Skip it because low dollar bikes are too much trouble and you don't want to delay gratification that long.

Thanks to all who take the time to answer.

5) Build it myself :)

It's entirely within the abilities of most people to build their own bike, using recycled bikes for parts. Go for it! If for whatever reason you never finish, at least you tried (and probably didn't lose alot of money).

The used bike supply needn't be limited (at least not for recumbents). Go to Bent Rider Online forums and look at the classifieds. I bought a used, like new Catrike through those ads for $1600 including shipping. A new one with the same options would have cost about $2500 not including the shipping. Plus, they are a good group of people with a lot of useful knowledge about 'bents.:)

I'm guessing this is going to be your first 'bent? If so, here's an auction for what I consider an excellent first recumbent. It's called a BikeE. They can be found pretty regularly on eBay. You might also try looking for one on craigslist. Auction #

150078316329

Currently it has 10 hours left, so it may be gone by the time you read this. But keep looking, they are great bikes. I still have my '97.

Options 1 and 2 are just fine, if you ask me. Chinese made bikes can easily withstand the riding you'll be doing, at least the ones that ActionBent sells (I know, I sell and ride the same ones). Used bikes can be great too, as long as you get one that's in good condition. If you buy used, get a premium name brand. Visit the classifieds section on the 'bentrider online forums for some great deals.

I'm not sure if I can answer this without opening a can of worms or not, Limited money..... I don't know about anyone else but every bike I own I financed one way or another so I think the only parameters on him or herself when buying a bike or recumbent is not the amount of money they have to spend, but the amount they are willing to spend.

Limited Access........ With Internet Access, there are no limitations, (i.e. EBay, Craig list, Cycling Forums) the list goes on. I don't know of many bike shops or companies that you can access on the Internet that won't ship you what you want from tubes to Bents or Bikes, again the only limitations are what you put on yourself, and with the riding distances your going to do or that your talking about I'd want a good Quality Recumbent.

As for the other questions 1 - 4 they are pretty much up to the individual. It’s all personal preference.

Interesting responses. And I'm glad everyone overlooked the fact that I loaded the question in a way that I did not mean to. In rereading the question I see that cheap=poor quality. I did not mean to do that. In fact, that was the reason for my original post.

My first bikes were at the very low end of my bicycle shops pecking order ( not Wal-mart low you understand). But they did everything that I asked of them and with later upgrades lasted my wife and myself for years. With maintanence they worked pretty trouble free, and had I the money I would have bought better and I'm sure they would've been nicer. The truth is tho it would have been overkill for my needs.

So fast forward to my current journey for a bent. I started looking for a bent armed with this history and found two strains of thought. One, bents are earlier on the evolutionary curve so you need to buy the highest quality that you can so it will indeed serve your needs for years. Two, bents have finally achieved a level of quality that will serve the average riders needs for years so pick your product and upgrade later .............if you want to.

Limited finances are indeed a relative thing. I know people who own nothing but the best in vehicles, but somehow they are more than willing to jump into my Taurus to snag a ride. I've owned three Taurus' and they have all functioned great, but if they would have been nothing but trouble I would have spent more to get more. In my above statement, on Ebay you can buy new bents for 600 bucks, in the store I'm looking more in the 1000-1500 dollar range and on various sites I can buy ones that I'd have to trade my car in for. So, I was just testing the waters to find from ACTUAL USERS where the "functional" line is currently. I'm past the age where I need to impress the girls(I never was good at that anyway) but I still want quality. From this and other threads you have all given me guidance.

PS....one dealer would like to know the responses simply because he cannot keep everything on the floor he's as curious as I am.

So, to kind of sum up what Ric said; what are you willing to pay? $600? $1,500? As much as you get for your Taurus?;)

I've found top brand name, low miles 'bents used. I was willing to spend $650 when I came across an 8 year old, low miles Tour Easy.

I found a used Greenspeed GTX trike on a LBS bulletin board listed at $2,900. It came with rack, panniers, fenders, headrest and a Schlumph Mountain Drive. I took the number. Four months later, I had saved some $$$, so I called. Still available ...now MINE...for $2K even! (I checked their website and estimated it's RETAIL price to be north of 7,500 bucks)

My first recumbent came out of the blue. A friend (who already had a bent) called me from a LBS and told me over the phone about a used bent in the back of the shop. Only $600. I said buy it! When he rode up on it, and I gave him the money, I thought ..."what the HELL did I just buy?!"
It's a Challenge Hurricane from Holland. Kind of a quasi-lo-racer short wheelbase above seat steering thing. It came with full rack & panniers, rear suspension and no instructions!:eek:

Man was that a trip to learn to ride!:D
It's how you would feel if they gave you the keys to an F-1 race car.:eek:
Once I got the hang of that one, I opened a recumbent rental shop. And the rest is history.

So just find the "best" recumbent you can find, for the money you're willing to spend.

And ride a bunch of them in the meantime, they're ALL different.
Check Yahoo for a local recumbent club where you can at least see different styles, and talk to the owners.

Good Luck! Welcome to the comfortable cycling world!:)

FWIW, the bacchetta cafe and agio are pretty inexpensive, and nice nice nice to ride.

When I was shopping for my first bent, the first thing I did was check out all the cheap offerings. What I wanted was one with componentry similar to my Trek 1000, and not over 30 pounds. Most of what I saw wasn't worthy of a second thought. The few that were, I got test rides and decided I didn't like them, either. I finally went with a used V-Rex. By getting it used, I only had to pay a little more than I'd have paid for a cheapie.

They look nice. I'm stilling leaning towards the Stratus or V2 simply because of dealer proximity but I will keep my eyes open for some used bacchetta bikes.

Interesting to note that LBS dealer happened to mention this morning that the owner of Rans (Randy Schlitter) and the co-owner of bacchetta (John Schlitter) are brothers and both were at Rans for years. I wonder why the split and what the differnent philosphies of each are.