hello, i wanted to try and get starting with cycling. i currently own a roadmaster 26' bike from walmart but am considering getting a schwinn to commute to my work with. would appreciate any recommendations on schwinn bikes or if i should just start using my roadmaster to commute with. thanks all

Welcome to Bike Forums.

Welcome! I don't feel qualified to make commuting bicycle recommendations but the Commuting or General section may be of help.

Hope you find a great hobby in cycling and a new home here.

Welcome to bikeforums! Any bicycle can be used for commuting. As you bike commute, you will discover what your bike commuting goals and needs are. Some people value utility. Some value speed; others seek comfort or safety, some reliability, low maintenance or frugality.

Your goal will determine what style bicycle and accesories will best help you achieve your goals.

For now, just ride, and ride smartly and safely. After a while you will get a better idea of what you want and need.

If you are worried that you don't have the right bicycle...don't fret. One thing you will learn here on bike forums is no matter what bicycle you ride, or how much you paid for it, there will always be somebody telling you you're wrong.

Ignore them and "ride your ride".

So welcome, use the search function, ask questions and pay no mind to the haters.

You can do this.

IMO, use what you have for now. The more you ride, the more you will know what you really need/want in a bike.
FWIW, Schwinn made today is not what it was in the 70s. They're now made in China. They're probably a step or two above Walmart bikes, but they're still kind of cheap.
Learn how to find out if a bike fits you, and keep your eye out for garage sales. You might get lucky.

Personally, all I ever find at garage sales are rusty heaps that were junk when they were new, priced at $75+, but some people apparently live in better cycling areas and find great finds. I'm still waiting to find a Trek 520 for $25

Hi there!

Where in the southwest are you? I'm in San Diego.

Yes, go ahead and get started on your Roadmaster. As said above, a new-bought schwinn probably won't be significantly better.

One of the common recommendations to get started commuting is to search your local craigslist for 90's era rigid fork mountainbikes, and put city tires on it instead of knobbies. Those bikes are bombproof, plentiful and cheap on craigslist in most areas, they usually have mount points for racks, etc.

Search your local CL, see if you can find any bikes that look interesting to you, and post links here, we love to look at bikes and give opinions!

The thing about CL though is that you have to be prepared to possibly either put in some elbow grease of your own, or pay for a shop to tune up an old bike. If that doesn't sound like something you want to do then maybe you want to buy a new bike from a local bike shop.

Or a middle ground would be a new bike from online, which you would have to minimally assemble. bikesdirect.com is pretty popular. You might take a look at city bikes, or maybe a cheaper mountain bike (hardtail, not full-suspension, and again, you'll want to change to smoother tires)

Just "ride your ride" as people have suggested and let it teach you things.

Pay attention to things that pop into your head about the bike that start with "I love the way this bike..." or "I wish I could..." or "This seems wrong..." or "This is way harder than it should be..."

This can save you lots of time, effort, money, and aggravation later on.


If your butt gets the least bit sore, or uncomfortable, or feels odd, get a new saddle IMMEDIATELY. Whenever you get a new bike, that's always something that might have to be swapped out. Don't put up with butt pain. Believe me on this. Even if you have a cheap bike, a (somewhat more) expensive saddle is worth it. You might be able to keep that new saddle and put it on another bike that you purchase later.

Other than saddle, just tubes, tires, brake pads, cables and adjustments should keep you going for now.

I disagree. If you haven't been riding regularly, it is not unusual to have a few days of adjustment before you get used to sitting in a saddle. If it persists though, definitely start looking for a new saddle, or at least see if you can adjust your existing saddle better (if you're sliding forward or back, change the tilt, if you're riding the nose or tail, slide it fore/aft, etc)

I'll buy that.

Let's just say that it is something that needs to be addressed sooner rather than later. After I posted, I started thinking about the minor adjustments. That is certainly the place to start.

I ended up with Bike Saddle Neuropathy after trying to get my OEM saddle to work for too long. Swapped the saddle out for one with a cut-out and a bit more padding and everything is groovy.

Yes, there is a certain amount of toughness of the skin that needs to be built up, but it shouldn't take long. If nerves are getting pinched or soft tissue compressed or blood flow getting cut off, that kind of problem should not be tolerated, it can lead to serious damage.

On the subject of saddles, avoid super padded ones. When your sit bones sink into the padding/gel, it puts pressure on your perineum and can cut off blood flow.

Proper saddles support you at your sit bones without a lot of give. Different people have different widths there so you need to shop accordingly.

If you're feeling pressure even though the wing width seems correct, it could be that the saddle adjustment is wrong. If it's too far back or tilted forward, it could tend to make you slide forward onto the horn where you'll be back to riding on your perineum again.

Thanks for all the replies. I am thinking about just riding the roadmaster for now after reading these replies. Problem is the seat is really uncomfortable, so i am thinking about changing that out. still trying to get into the swing of riding a bike but as the weather gets nicer it will be easier to. my work is about 5 miles away, do you suggest trying it one morning or trying smaller trips first hand? and what bike lock do you recommend?

Yes, you should definitely make time for a weekend practice commute before going live. You never know what you might not have thought of (if you knew what you didn't think of, you thought of it!).

For bike locks, what you need depends on the security of your location. If you have a bike rack within a gated compound and 24/7 security like I do, you might not need to lock at all (sometimes I don't, usually I use a pretty cheap cable lock). If you are in downtown manhattan and have to lock your bike right on the sidewalk, you probably need more locks than the weight of your bike. Except for a Roadmaster, no experienced bike thief would touch it. A jonesing meth-head on the other hand...