Around me, old steel mtn bikes are super common and they make fantastic pack mules, IMO. You can almost always find nice old Trek, Giant, and Specialized for $100-$150 in pretty decent shape.

Check garage sales for the absolute best prices. Another great source: Call up your local scrapyards and ask if they'll sell you bikes that have been brought in. You can almost always get a frame for $5-$10, or sometimes a complete bike for under $20. Even if you have to replace most everything on it, you can still get it done cheaply, if you do the work yourself.


An example: A couple of months ago, I picked up a Trek 820 at a yard sale for $15/$20 (I don't remember, now). I sold the surprisingly decent knobby tires for $5 each. I splurged on some fat Michelin slicks for it, got lucky with a $10 saddle from a discount store, and ditched the crappy grip shifters for a stem shifter set I had laying around. After all that, I cleaned the crap out of it. It turned out to be about the most-comfortable riding bike I've got in my collection, and is going to be my heavy-hauler "work truck" bike. I am very tall, and was initially wondering how I would feel about the 26" tires, but I've got no complaints whatsoever. Fairly fat tires at 1.85", they absorb potholes, cracks, and debris with aplomb, yet they don't feel sluggish.