Hi,

I just sent my car off to the junk yard yesterday. I need a bicycle to ride 5.4 miles round trip to the grocery store once or twice a week. Can someone recommend an inexpensive bicycle that would be appropriate for this?


There are no hills on the way to the grocery store. Would a cheap cruiser ($80 huffy at walmart, 1 speed) be okay? Would a bike that inexpensive fall apart under heavy use? It's considerd a "Men's" bike so I hope it would be sturdy.

There are traffic lights on the way so I wonder if it would be safer to have a five or ten speed just to have a low gear to get started quickly? Also, would the lack of high gears keep my speed annoyingly slow?

I plan to try riding in the snow this winter - we can get a lot of snow several inches a week for extended periods in bad winters.

My ideal bike would be inexpensive, have a five speeds with gears internal to the rear hub so they wouldn't freeze up in winter. Also front and rear fenders and chain guard. Front basket and rear panniers. Are there any inexpensive bikes like that?

I noticed most bikes don't have fenders. Should I just get a cheap road bike and add fenders, etc.

Are there any web stores have the good prices for bikes, parts, and accessories? I would want to get a front basket, reare panniers, maybe a rear rack. Do any inexpensive bikes come with those? Looking on the internet it seems like it would be cheaper to add them separately rather than looking for a package... is that right?




Thanks