sara8228

Hello,
I am new to biking. I have an old Sears Vintage Cruiser ( i tried attaching an image below)


I live in Chicago, and am a beginner in the whole riding in the city. I plan on only biking around casually- mostly in my neighborhood or to friends- but wont be using it as my only source of commuting.

My dilemma is that I know I need new tires- and i bought a groupon for a local bike shop in town. The bike shop got mixed reviews on yelp- with many saying they try to rip you off, so naturally being that I have no idea what I am asking for- want to make sure i ask for the correct thing and know what to ask for so i get the most for my money (which i have VERY little of). Any advice/information/links to information would be GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!!

jimc101

Why not go to the bike shop and ask them about the tires they stock and prices, to see if they have anything that fits what you have, before letting them know you are limited to buying from them, as you seem to have locked you self into that one shop.

If you are limited to a single shop, and their stock, not too much point in asking for general advice, when you are limited to what you can buy

dabac

First thing you should do is determine which is the exact size that you've got. Usually embossed on the sidewall of the tire. Diameter has to be spot on, while there's a fair bit of leeway WRT width.
If you head over to www.sheldonbrown.com you can navigate down to his chapter on tires and read up on how to interpret what you've found. Then you might as well use the associated harris cyclery site for some price comparison.
Depending on the size your require your options may be somewhat limited. The common sizes have tires with decidedly different characteristics, like puncture protection, or low rolling resistance etc etc, but your selection might not be as bountiful.
Apart from that. I've never been troubled by which tires to use for JRA(Just Riding Along), for that purpose just about anything will do.

JonathanGennick 

Offhand, those tires look to me like the old, 26 x 1 3/8" size. Take the bike to the shop. Let them look over the tires and tell you for sure what you have. Don't be surprised if they have to order in the correct size.