Originally Posted by
pgjackson
To be honest, $600-900 is where the decent aluminum beginner bikes start, and even in that price range the derailleurs tend to be an issue. The problem with cycling is that it is so freaking expensive. I have a feeling that if you actually put some real miles on your GMC bike it will fall apart underneath you. If you decide that this is an activity you really enjoy, you will probably want to move up to a decent bike. I'm not saying you need to spend $3000 to get something "decent", but a $160 Amazon bike is not going to last very long. Probably just fine for tooling around the neighborhood, but I wouldn't want to take it out on 40 miler. I can't even imagine what kind of crap tires come on a $160 road bike.
Yeah but at least he spend $160 to see if he really enjoys riding. If he does, he can take all the accessories and move them to whatever bike he decides to purchase later.
I also concur with the statement that derailleurs are an issue even on $600-$900 bikes but maybe riding the GMC will make him appreciate his next bike. I think that thing weighs almost as much as my MTB, lol train on that thing for now until it does fall apart and set aside a some money here and there when you can then upgrade when you are ready. Until then, enjoy the ride buddy.