Originally Posted by jperegrino
Got my bike stolen out of my back yard today. It was a middle-of-the-road mountain bike I had for 10 years and rode hard, so while I'm disappointed, it was due to replaced eventually.
So, what should I get next? My budget is no more than $400, including all the fixin's (2 hour night light, fenders, tail lights, slick tires). My commute is 9 miles each way, half on bike paths, half in urban traffic. I prefer mountain bikes as I do a tiny bit of off-road (e.g. on vacation once a year) and I ride year-round up here in Boston.
If want to get everything for $400.00, you're only choice is to get a used bike. These are my estimates:
Lock --- $70.00
Fenders ---$45.00
Lights ----$65.00
That leaves you with around $220.00 for a bicycle. There is no way you buy a new bicycle for that amount which means you have to buy used. A used bike will need a tune-up before you put it on the road or it may require purchasing new tires. If you subtract $50.00 dollars for the tune-up you're down to $170.00 for the bicycle. That's not much for a bicycle but you can't buy a cheap lock and you really need good lights from CatEye. I wish you good luck.
Today I parked my bicycle at a new mall locking it behind a dumpster. I hid the bike because I never use the rack because the kids try to steal the cycle. Later in the evening, I came back to retrieve the bike and found it missing! I thought someone had stolen by bicycle and it was the worse feeling in the world. That bike was my only transportation to the mall and I just could not believe it was stolen. I was overwhelmed with grief and almost started crying right in the parking lot. Memories filled my mind of all the places I took that bike.
I walked all over the mall and found my bike behind another dumpster! What a relief! It made my day.