6milebiker

Bought a 80$ mountain bike at a retail store ( i know i know) but anyways, since i'm only going 8 miles a day TOPS, you think this will work for me?

bostontrevor

Sure, though you may quickly find that you enjoy the ride enough to want to bike other places and go faster... Plus with regular use the x-mart bike might not hold up. But give it a shot and see what happens. You've already got the ride. FYI, for $80 or not much more you can usually get a used lower-end, but quality, machine from Craig's List.

christie133

Of course it'll work! Like Bostontrevor said, you might really find yourself enjoying it quite a bit. If that happens you might want to upgrade, then you can explore Craig's List or whatever. Happy riding!

6milebiker

not to sound the complete newbie here, but what is this "craigs list" you folks are talking about?

DiegoFrogs

www.craigslist.org look over to the right for your nearest major city(s), and there should be a bike classified section for each city. for many, the nearest city might not be close enough... for me, it's about 170 miles, but when I used to live in a major city it was great. Enjoy craigslist, if you can, because it is an excellent resource for MANY things.

dobber

Cheap way to find out you might like it. Then with the money you're saving you can get a better quaility ride.

Soon you'll have 9 rides and your Tacoma will sit out on the drive way collecting bird crap. But I did save $120 on my auto insurance.

phidauex

80$ will buy a lot of bike on the used market! But now that you have the x-mart bike, ride it! Its got two wheels, pedals, and a seat, and will happily carry you to work and back. With time, you may want some of the features of a nicer bike, and at that point you could spend 200-300$ on the used market and have a kickass bike.

Enjoy your ride!

peace,
sam

tacomee

Take the $80 clunker back for a refund! That's way too much money for a crap bike when often you can find one for free or at least less than $20. Check out Goddwill. That same $80 turd is likely sitting down there with a $13.95 price sticker on it. Look at the color of sticker and ask the manager when it's going on sale and buy it for $9.99 next Tuesday if you like. Call around to friends and family members and ask if anybody has an old bike in the basement. A free bike is a good bike. (I always try to trade for used bikes--a half rack often gets your ride)

I see nothing wrong with riding a crappy bike! Riding a crappy bike and throwing away over $50 in beer money!?! That's damn near a crime.

Ronocerous

I liked my dept store bike - only rode it for 3,000 kms, though. I had problems breaking spokes, keeping the wheels true, and it rusted everywhere you could think of. Still, I liked it. Main thing is it got me into biking ( it was a gift). I learned a lot using it.

I like my Giant Rincon better. I bought it (and many other things) from the only lbs that didn't make fun of my dept store when I would visit looking for advice.

Oh, no one ever tried to steal it, either. Twice one of my two locks has been hacked off of the Rincon.

Daily Commute

I commuted on a hardtail MTB for years, and it worked just fine. Start commuting with what you have, but bostontrevor is right, you may eventually find you want to upgrade. If you wait until you have the "ideal" commuter, you may never start.

Enjoy.

khuon

A dept. store bike can make for a good beater bike but you should probably give it the once over and make sure it's at least going to be fairly reliable. This may mean more attention than on a higher quality bike though. Remember that this is a form of transportation to get you to your job which most undoubtedly requires some form of punctuality or reliability. Do your best to ensure that it is kept in good running order.

kwhord

does a bear **** in the woods...

Raiyn

https://www.bikesrnottoys.com/

CommuterRun

Eighty bucks is nothing for what may turn out to be a lifetime passion. Your $80 bike will be very happy carrying you 4 miles in the morning and back again in the afternoon as long as you ensure it stays properly cleaned, tuned and lubed. There are several good books around on this. While you're riding it you can do some thinking about what kind of riding you're doing, in what weather conditions and on what road conditions. Then, with a little research, you'll have an accurate idea of what you want when you do up-grade. A $5000 bike is not a good bike if it doesn't suit your purposes. An $80 bike is good for learning what those purposes are. It's also a good bike for learning to do your own maintenance. You can start accumulating and trying various accessories so that when you do up-grade you'll already know what you like and most likely already have it.

Better to do these things with an $80 bike than a $800 bike.

AndrewP

The worst thing about dept store bikes is the way they are assembled, so get some tools (cone wrenches, spoke wrench and hex keys). Then check that everything is adjusted right with the help of the parktool and sheldon brown websites. That bike will be able to handle that commute for years and give you loads of fun.

https://www.parktool.com/repair_help/index.shtml

https://sheldonbrown.com/home.html

Poguemahone

The learning to work on your own bike advice is spot on. It will help you on the commute if you have a mechanical problem, as well. If you like the ride, float around, learn, and upgrade. I've got a number of bikes I bought for under 50$, all of which are amazing rides. But I couldn't have found them without learning about bikes first; I would have had no idea what to look for. Enjoy!

vtjim

My winter beater cost $12. 6.5 miles one-way for my commute. Like others have said: A few bike tools and keeping it lubed will make it very happy.

moxfyre

Heck, on DC craigslist there's a beautiful 80s touring bike in pristine condition for $60 right now. You can get a great commuter bike for $80 around here

recursive

It will probably work... for a couple of months anyway.

moxfyre

If you are enthusiastic about it, it will work. That's the most important thing when it comes to bike commuting.

The thing is, if your bike sucks, please don't give up on cycling. Lots of people buy dept store bikes and they don't work well, so they stop riding and don't like cycling anymore. If you decide you want a better bike, you've already gotten some good tips here on where to find 'em.

SpokesInMyPoop

I commuted on a $50 MTB bike from kmart for 4 months before I got my current *used* commuter on CL for $80. I sold the MTB for $15 after the FD busted.

So 4 months = around 1200 miles. I still think it was worth it Although my current commuter has about 3600 miles on it, and I must've put in about an extra $120 (fenders, rack, lights, etc).

I'm sure your purchase will pay off in the end, much like mine did.

rykoala

I started commuting on a walmart bike. I didn't know any different. And it did me pretty well right up until I taco'd the rear wheel. I rode the wee out of that thing over the summer last year and rode it back and forth to work many many times. Sure they're not the best bikes but sometimes you don't NEED the best. Me, I weigh too much and so the bike just didn't hold up under my weight but if you're light, then the wheels should be strong enough. Just beware of trying to stop in wet weather, the steel rims aren't good for braking.

Anyway, ride what you got. When its not enough anymore, or you want something better, or it breaks, take the opportunity to upgrade if possible.

Like others have said, if nothing else its a cheap way to see if you like the sport/hobby of cyclocommuting, and if not, not much is lost. Chances are, you'll be addicted though.

ofofhy

Read this thread: https://www.bikeforums.net/bicycle-mechanics/103801-department-store-bike.html

roadfix

Congratulations on your new bike for your commutes. Who cares what you paid for the bike. Have fun commuting!

barleyrocket

Ride it like you stole it.
Ride it till it breaks.
buy new bike.
Repeat.