Originally Posted by Sammyboy
No, I'm talking about a GOOD bike. The mid-low end Peugeots of the late 70's to early 80's, while superior to the Denali, are still not awesome bikes. I have one that I got for free, and I'm expecting two more for £5 in the next week or so. I have one 531 Falcon tourer that I got for nothing, and a 531 Raleigh Royal, with Suntour Cyclone gruppo, that I paid £23 for. That's the sort of thing. It's worth the extra £15.
This is not as easy as it sounds in some areas. In my town, good used bikes are nonexistant at bike shops, difficult to find on Craigslist (as in you'll spend months looking in Cig's price range), and ebay shipping turns a decent find into something overpriced. You CAN find super bargains at some yard sales, but a LOT of duds have to be waded through in the process.
The deals you speak of in the above post are not to be found around here unless you spend your weekend combing crappy yard sales. And have a lot of luck. And after you get your $10 bike home stripping it for that one part that's useful, and combining it over a period of many weeks with other bikes that had a few good parts here and there. Sounds fun, I don't ever seem to have the time, though.
I envy the folks who live in areas where these $10 bikes flow freely. It just isn't happening in my neck of the woods. Even the craptastic rusty Schwinn Varsity's go for $50-100.
That's why a new bike looks real attractive, and cheap, to some.