I'm thinking second hand, since I'm new to this and if I really like it I can upgrade in a few years. Know of any LBS that have a good selection of safe second-hand road/comfort bikes at a decent price? No reason why I can't commute besides the fact I find traffic somewhat scary.
Any suggestions for a bike-newb are welcome.
New West Cycle sells lots of used road/comfort bikes a reasonable prices. They are also 10-15mins from the skytrain.
http://www.newwestcycle.com/index.php?page=for_sale
Just a mere glimpse of what they have.
2008 Giant Rincon, multi-purpose commuting, trail riding.
1980's Raleigh Century
1970's Apollo Deelite
Carry Freedom Large Y-Frame Flat Deck Trailer
2011 Tall bike
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Confronting Stigma
http://www.confrontingstigma.com
I second New West Cycles. Only about a 5min walk from Columbia station. Good bunch of people.
"harder" is not a very good safeword.
I was helping a friend move today, and she lives right by the place. I wasn't expecting to buy today, but they had an early 80's road bike at a great price and I fell in love with it. It's even the perfect colour; it's mine now.
: D
I'm very excited, I pick it up Thursday. You were right, they are very nice. As I was wobbling away on a test ride (I haven't been on a bike in over a decade) a suggestion was made that thumb shifters be installed - a good idea since the down tube shifters required more coordination than I currently have. I'll post pictures in the Intro forum once I have it.
I also went to a few other second-hand places, Ride On was a nice friendly place, but they didn't have what I wanted. Sports Junkies was okay I guess, my roommate likes them but I think there a better places out there.
Hi, you should check our Our Community Bikes on Main and 16th-ish. They are a bike coop and have fixed up bikes for sale. Also you can try their sister location the Pedal Depot on ontario and second ave which have some fixed up bikes for sale, but also many bikes in need of a bit of help. You can get help from the staff to fix up a bike. Since you found a sweet lugged road bike, both places are great to find second hand parts as needed. The staff are great and helpful. Great place to fix your bike. Jet Grrrl is a great mechanic, but hardly ever open.
Dream Cycle is nice to drool and they have great prices on brooks saddles. You know you want one. There is a nice new droolworthy shop Kissing Crows Cyclery. Might Riders has good stuff, but I have had bad experiences with them. I have bought bikes on craigslist-or tried buying bikes on craigslist. Not always a good idea if you do no know about bikes. Always hidden problems!
Do not be afraid of traffic. Vancouver has an awesome network of cycling routes, even though the cars seem fast and scary, they do know you are on the road. Pretty soon you will get used to it. Just be careful and follow the rules of the road(as much as possible, we have the advantage of shortcuts and being little and fast!). Also, you can choose to follow certain bike routes with less traffic. The scariest thing is bike theft so lock it down!
I have quite a few bikes and do not be surprised if you suddenly find you have a stable.
One thing avoid BSP at all costs...
Why?Originally Posted by Into_the_wind
Because their customer service sucks, they don't fit your bike, they don't even fit your handlebars. I've dealt with them for 5 years and haven't been impressed. Moreover, they don't really fix what you want fixed on your bike - example my rear derailleur cable was rubbing on my caad10 frame's right chainstay. I asked them to fix it, and when I got the bike back they hadn't fixed that by either placed some housing in the cable, all they did was place a sticky framesaver thing right where the cable was rubbing, which fell off after a couple of rides. All they did was adjust my brakes and shifting. I then went to DB, talked to the mech there and he put a piece of plastic housing right under the chain-stay to prevent the cable from touching the frame. That's why I'm not impressed with them. DB (different bikes) has much better service in imho, although sadly they don't stock cannondales anymore.
Not to slag New West, but those prices don't seem exceptional, especially for some of the 80's stuff. I would recommend having a non-biased knowledgeable cycling friend with mechanic's experience find you a used (and not stolen!) bike off of CL. I've found some real gems this way at significantly cheaper prices. Now you just have to find that friend. Best of luck.
if you're grabbing a cl bike you should go to Our Community Bike Shop on main st http://pedalpower.org/our-community-bikes/ everyone there is super friendly and you can learn a lot from this place one of my favorite shops.
I would personally go to Different Bikes in West Vancouver if you are able to. The staff there are excellent, they give out free parts all the time too.
I can't recommend Different Bikes. They "fitted" my wife (who we later discovered needs a 49cm) on a 42cm road bike which they conveniently happened to have in stock (rather than the 49, which they didn't). Bike salesmen.
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