Originally Posted by
kayakindude
Keep an eye out for after Christmas specials since you are so close to the holiday. I scored my Dahon Vybe for $300 this past January and it has been a reliable workhorse. It has a freewheel which has had 0.0 affect on my riding or the bikes reliability. It is considered low end but it is cheap to customize and held up to multiple trips around the country and is great for commuting by train. One thing to consider is gear inches. Was not on my radar. I prefer biking fast, so I had to increase my gear range. The Crane gear range is better than the Vybe. It cost me about 70 to remedy that.
I'm sure not all freewheels are problematic and unreliable but if $300 will buy a bike with a higher quality drivetrain why buy a bike with such a low end drivetrain? It's the same low end freewheel as fitted to low end walmart bikes and I just don't see the point when $300 will buy something better. Many people are happy with their walmart bikes and many would always warn against buying them. You may get lucky but why gamble with a freewheel just seems false economy especially when there is a bike at that price point not compromised with such weak low end components.,