cheap commuter
#1
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2011
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From: Florida, U.S.A.
Bikes: sport touring with small front back baskets. 17 mph
cheap commuter
anyone up for a huffy mountain bike challenge. torch and bicycle tools help
Last edited by roashru; 01-09-16 at 04:16 PM.
#3
Day trip lover
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 813
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From: capital city of iowa
Bikes: '16 Giant Escape 3 (fair weather ride), Giant Quasar (work in progress), 2002 saturn vue (crap weather ride)
What's wrong with using a Huffy mountain bike for a commuter? I use a Huffy Stalker as my main winter and poor weather commuter and it is great at it. If you treat a Huffy with even half as much TLC as you do a LBS brand bike you will have an exceptionally hearty commuter for far cheaper. Don't knock the huffy.
Last edited by mr geeker; 01-10-16 at 07:26 AM. Reason: replied from phone
#4
What's wrong with using a Huffy mountain bike for a commuter? I use a Huffy Stalker as my main winter and poor weather commuter and it is great at it. If you treat a Huffy with even half as much TLC as you do a LBS brand bike you will have an exceptionally hearty commuter for far cheaper. Don't knock the huffy. 

#5
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 2014
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From: still above ground
Bikes: 2016 Specialized crosstrail comp disc
#6
Day trip lover
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 813
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From: capital city of iowa
Bikes: '16 Giant Escape 3 (fair weather ride), Giant Quasar (work in progress), 2002 saturn vue (crap weather ride)
#8
Disco Infiltrator




Joined: May 2013
Posts: 15,328
Likes: 3,519
From: Folsom CA
Bikes: Stormchaser, Paramount, Tilt, Samba tandem
Apropos of Huffy, the local Safeway - Safeway! - had cruisers for Christmas, $150. There was a leftover for sale last weekend in the seasonal clearance stuff, $75.
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Genesis 49:16-17
"Well, well!" said Holmes, impatiently. "A good cyclist does not need a high road. The moor is intersected with paths and the moon is at the full."
Genesis 49:16-17
"Well, well!" said Holmes, impatiently. "A good cyclist does not need a high road. The moor is intersected with paths and the moon is at the full."
#9
Senior Member




Joined: Apr 2012
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From: Middle Earth (aka IA)
Bikes: A bunch of old bikes and a few new ones
You can buy a used vintage mountain bike for less and it will be a higher quality bike. I just bought for my daughter a vintage specialized rockhopper (nice bike) for $50. She likes it a lot.
#10
Banned
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From: NW,Oregon Coast
Bikes: 8
#11
multimodal commuter
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 19,810
Likes: 597
From: NJ, NYC, LI
Bikes: 1940s Fothergill, 1959 Allegro Special, 1963? Claud Butler Olympic Sprint, Lambert 'Clubman', 1974 Fuji "the Ace", 1976 Holdsworth 650b conversion rando bike, 1983 Trek 720 tourer, 1984 Counterpoint Opus II, 1993 Basso Gap, 2010 Downtube 8h, and...
Searching out a decent used bike for cheap is not necessarily everyone's idea of a good time. I understand that. But you don't need to buy the first one you see, or any of them. And no matter what you find, you are going to have to decide whether you're going to do all the work on it yourself or have a bike shop do it. And you have to face the fact that many bike shops will be less than thrilled at working on an older bike.
Buying a cheap new bike is a little different. You can find one right away; no time is wasted trying to find the right one. Then you have to decide whether you're going to do all the work on it yourself or have a bike shop do it. And you have to face the fact that no bike shop will be thrilled at working on a really cheap bike.
As for reliability, it's a gamble either way, and if you don't know about bikes you're going to have to learn a lot either way. A good old bike may have worn out parts that are hard to replace; and cheap new one is built entirely of junk parts that require constant attention and probably have to be replaced pretty soon. In general, I think you're better off going with a used bike.
Buying a cheap new bike is a little different. You can find one right away; no time is wasted trying to find the right one. Then you have to decide whether you're going to do all the work on it yourself or have a bike shop do it. And you have to face the fact that no bike shop will be thrilled at working on a really cheap bike.
As for reliability, it's a gamble either way, and if you don't know about bikes you're going to have to learn a lot either way. A good old bike may have worn out parts that are hard to replace; and cheap new one is built entirely of junk parts that require constant attention and probably have to be replaced pretty soon. In general, I think you're better off going with a used bike.
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#12
Senior Member

Joined: Aug 2011
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From: CID
Bikes: 1991 Bianchi Eros, 1964 Armstrong, 1988 Diamondback Ascent, 1988 Bianchi Premio, 1987 Bianchi Sport SX, 1980s Raleigh mixte (hers), All-City Space Horse (hers)
#13
aka Tom Reingold




Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 44,180
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From: New York, NY, and High Falls, NY, USA
Bikes: 1962 Rudge Sports, 1971 Raleigh Super Course, 1971 Raleigh Pro Track, 1974 Raleigh International, 1975 Viscount Fixie, 1982 McLean, 1996 Lemond (Ti), 2002 Burley Zydeco tandem
Some Huffys ride OK if the tires are decent. Be sure the brakes work. Some cheap bikes have brakes that are so bad that they can't work with any amount of work put into them.
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Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
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“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
#14
Disco Infiltrator




Joined: May 2013
Posts: 15,328
Likes: 3,519
From: Folsom CA
Bikes: Stormchaser, Paramount, Tilt, Samba tandem
But they don't have those at Safeway.
__________________
Genesis 49:16-17
"Well, well!" said Holmes, impatiently. "A good cyclist does not need a high road. The moor is intersected with paths and the moon is at the full."
Genesis 49:16-17
"Well, well!" said Holmes, impatiently. "A good cyclist does not need a high road. The moor is intersected with paths and the moon is at the full."
#15
Member
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 36
Likes: 0
From: SW Ontario
Bikes: 1991 & 1999/2000 Spec Hardrock
Hiya all, may as well make this my first proper reply as a newbie to the forums (looks good so far).
Huffy challenge huh, my experience with them......well, let's say i got to bring out the tools lol
We got our lad a Huffy Bmx from Wally world as someone " heads hang in shame
" split the steerer tube on his bike the week before & couldn't get a replacement fork in time for following weekend. Anyway, mom brought said bike home with lad, lad was chuffed and off he went out with a smile. Me, being the doting dad, told him that we would strip it down at end of fall as it was needing a bit of tlc. Could tell straight away that the BB was a tad rough lets say. Opened it up and to my amazement (well, not really too amazed) to notice that no grease what so ever had been applied to the BB, stripped the Headset and yup....you guessed it...no grease! I was quite flabbergasted to find the wheel bearings had been greased lol
Anyway, rebuilt bike and now good to go. and yes, of course i went to the shop. Only to be told to bring it back as was under warranty but could take up to a month. Well of course i told them where they could go and just said quietly that they were lucky my kid come to no harm through an unsafe bike.
I personally wouldn't blame the build quality of Huffy and similar store bikes, but more how they are assembled (my 6yr old could do a better job).
And no idea, what the OP was after but hey, that's my Huffy experience
As for a cheap commuter, i not long purchased (as winter bike) a '91 Spec Hardrock $50 (bottom end components as in GS200). But bike is all original, excluding the seat and really quite good condition overall.
I could of got a season or two out of original pads & cables but replaced them straight away as i do with most 2nd hand bikes. I did give it a complete strip down & rebuild but only because i like to tinker.
Phew, first post/reply and what a long one eh guys & dolls....apologies
Huffy challenge huh, my experience with them......well, let's say i got to bring out the tools lol
We got our lad a Huffy Bmx from Wally world as someone " heads hang in shame
" split the steerer tube on his bike the week before & couldn't get a replacement fork in time for following weekend. Anyway, mom brought said bike home with lad, lad was chuffed and off he went out with a smile. Me, being the doting dad, told him that we would strip it down at end of fall as it was needing a bit of tlc. Could tell straight away that the BB was a tad rough lets say. Opened it up and to my amazement (well, not really too amazed) to notice that no grease what so ever had been applied to the BB, stripped the Headset and yup....you guessed it...no grease! I was quite flabbergasted to find the wheel bearings had been greased lolAnyway, rebuilt bike and now good to go. and yes, of course i went to the shop. Only to be told to bring it back as was under warranty but could take up to a month. Well of course i told them where they could go and just said quietly that they were lucky my kid come to no harm through an unsafe bike.
I personally wouldn't blame the build quality of Huffy and similar store bikes, but more how they are assembled (my 6yr old could do a better job).
And no idea, what the OP was after but hey, that's my Huffy experience

As for a cheap commuter, i not long purchased (as winter bike) a '91 Spec Hardrock $50 (bottom end components as in GS200). But bike is all original, excluding the seat and really quite good condition overall.
I could of got a season or two out of original pads & cables but replaced them straight away as i do with most 2nd hand bikes. I did give it a complete strip down & rebuild but only because i like to tinker.
Phew, first post/reply and what a long one eh guys & dolls....apologies
#16
Check out the Velo Cheapo 2016 Contest.
https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...po-2016-a.html
https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...-makeover.html
It is pretty open ended. Just the idea is to build up a bike and ride it. A Huffy might even be allowed.
https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...po-2016-a.html
https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...-makeover.html
It is pretty open ended. Just the idea is to build up a bike and ride it. A Huffy might even be allowed.
#17
Day trip lover
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 813
Likes: 0
From: capital city of iowa
Bikes: '16 Giant Escape 3 (fair weather ride), Giant Quasar (work in progress), 2002 saturn vue (crap weather ride)
Or we could start a huffy (or other big box store brand) specific one here in the commuting forum... just figured I would point that out. It could be called "The box bike build challenge" or something...
Last edited by mr geeker; 01-23-16 at 09:58 AM.
#18
Day trip lover
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 813
Likes: 0
From: capital city of iowa
Bikes: '16 Giant Escape 3 (fair weather ride), Giant Quasar (work in progress), 2002 saturn vue (crap weather ride)
Just replaced my old peddles with a new pair from Wally world (Bell Kicks 300), cheapest pair they had. My old right peddle was clicky, not sure how old they were so I replaced both to be safe.






