Advice on choosing a commuter bike
 

Hello, I am in looking to buy a dependable bike that would suit a daily 16 mile commute. When I lived in NYC, I rode a Schwinn cruiser-type, which was heavy but did hold up on the streets and in an accident. Now, I'll be biking along quieter roads, but may be heading back to the city in the not too distant future. I am hoping to buy something relatively cheap, perhaps maximum $200. Since this commute is much longer than my previous commutes, I was thinking about getting a road bike. Should I even consider getting another kind of bike? I'll also need to transport groceries and such.

I would love advice on what particular bike brands/models to look for on craigslist and a ballpark estimate of what I would pay for a solid dependable bike. It doesn't need to be brand new or particularly fashionable, just something that works and will hold up on a variety of roads.

Thanks for reading!

In the < $200 range, with your criteria, you're pretty much targeting a vintage touring bike. Of course, successfully purchasing a dependable older bike requires a certain amount of savvy. If I'm on track with your thinking, I suggest you post a new thread on the C&V site, with your objectives. There will be plenty of folks there with knowledge and experience to help out.

Touring bikes tend to command a premium and it may be difficult to find one in your price range. Plus once you buy a used bike, it generally takes some money to get it working right since the consumables need to be replaced. A more cost effective option is to find a vintage mtb. They tend to go for a lot less than a road bike and they are easy to mod to make them good commuters. On a longish commute, drop bars are a plus though. You can fairly easily and inexpensively add trekking bars to a mtb which will give you more comfortable hand positions for a long ride than the stock flat bars.

16 miles one way or round trip? Flat, hills, mountains? Riding on busy roads, quite roads, segregated paths? How far is the grocery from your home? Do you buy groceries daily, few times per week, or weekly? Is your current bike upright or partial lean forward? Have you ridden a lean forward road bike much before?

The Nashbar flat bar road bike is on sale for $250. Aluminum frame steel fork. It's got mountain bike drive train, altus/acera and I'd expect it to hold up pretty well and maintenance (parts) would be simple and cheap.

Assuming you know what size you are looking for, check bikesdirect.com and bikeisland.com - just make sure to re-assemble everything prior to riding. If you go this route it may be prudent to set aside a few extra bucks to have a local shop tighten up the wheels as well.

$200 isn't much of a budget, but it can be done. Keep it single speed and you won't have a drivetrain to keep clean.

Dawes Streetfighter single speed is on sale for $229 at Bikes Direct, free shipping. 100% Cr-Mo would stand up to whatever you put it through and I'm not sure you can beat that price for anything new.

Keep an eye on Craigslist.

Where are you?

I find it is hard to put many demands on the used market. You can look for certain features, but you can't be very brand and model specific. Many "road" bikes work well, but you have to choose whether you wish to commute on skinny tires or fat tires. Either will work, bit it depends on the rider and flat tolerance.

As mentioned, if you find an expensive bike for under $200, it may be because it has some expensive repairs ahead of it. Even a pair of good new tires can easily run you $100.

It all depends on where you are located (hint...tell us!) but you can find something nice on CL for under 200, especially if you can turn a wrench. Of the last 3 CL specials I ended up with, the combined cost is <$200. Of course, I spent money on them after purchasing, but I spent more than was needed to get them ridable...I spent it because I wanted to spend it. If you tell us your location and height, heck I am sure some of us would enjoy spending a little bit of time going through your local CL and picking a few that might work for you.I know I would - my local CL is often boring

Agree that if you aren't brand/model specific, you can generally find what you are looking for given some time.

I disagree about the tires...my RibMOs were like $22 each and so far so good. As long as you don't insist on Schwalbe tires, there are decent ones out there for a reasonable cost.