New commuter questions
 

I am shopping for a bike to start commuting to work and class, my one way trip will be just over 5 miles, around campus and work probably less than a mile, and back home again. So we'll say about 11 miles per day of use. I can't really afford an expensive top brand. What I've been looking at are the Schwinn and GMC bikes at Wal-Mart. May not be the ideal place to shop for one, but I'm not experienced in what to look for... I suppose what I'm looking for is something under $200 and at absolute maximum of $250 that can handle a daily commute of 11 miles, anywhere from 1-2 days per week, up to 5 at the maximum. I'm 6' tall, and a little over 200 lbs. Any suggestions would be great! Thanks!

Hi,

Welcome to the the club. A lot of people around here will give you advice about not buying from Wally World, but I know that needs must and all that. I think the only 2 cents I would put in at this point is avoid anything with suspension in that price range, it will be very heavy, probably not adjustable/lockable, and all around miserable. Trust me been there.

You don't need to spend a fortune on a bike, just buy carefully, also take a look at Craigslist in your area, sometimes a deal is to be had. you could always post back here if you find something for more advice, we don't charge for that, yet ;)

Consider how you're going to ride the bike...If you're going to be on asphalt a road bike might be more efficient, but if you're going to be on other less regular surfaces, you may want something that was built for rough terrain.

Do you live in an area with an active Craigslist site? Because that would honestly be my first suggestion. If you're willing to hold off on buying for two weeks and comb the Craigslist site daily, you will likely find a quality used bike that could last you longer than most new bikes from a big box store.

On the other hand, my ride is a target-issue Schwinn hybrid that I paid $200 for. I like it a lot and it suits my needs, but there are definitely some things about it that I'm not in love with, particularly, its weight and the (cheap) grip-shift system.

But by and large, any bike will do the job.

I know a ton of people will bash the low end bikes and they do it for a reason, you get what you pay for. You might be better off getting and older bike from Craigslist but since you said you have no experience with bikes you might end up with a bike that needs a lot of work. Do you know anyone that has some experience with bikes that could help you buy an older used bike?

I have twin boys and one has a nice Trek 1500 that he puts a lot of miles on and it is a great bike. I have an older Trek 2300 that I bought for $200 and had to replace the shifters/brakes for $250 so I ended up with $450 in an older but very nice bike.

My other son is a poor college student and he bought one of the Target Schwinn bikes, a Prelude I believe. He rides it a fair amount probably as much as you would or more, yes I had to do some work on it for him, tape the inside of the rims so he would not constantly get flats, do some adjusting of the brakes, shifters etc. but overall it has worked well for him. He bought it slightly use for $125.00 so I think he did ok for what he needed.

My first bike came from a pawn shop for 75 dollars. My wife picked up a nice Univega at a Goodwill store. When I bought my first bike I knew nothing at all about them.
I lucked out: my pawn shop bike fit me like it was custom made for me and turned out to be a decent quality bike. I rode that bike for six years. My wife had the advantage of my experience.

I would repeat the craigslist advice offered above. I would also check out lawn, tag, porch, garage or whatever sales that they may have in your area. Most importantly make sure that it fits you. You can change almost anything but the frame. Make sure it fits.

Walking through KMart a couple of weeks ago, I was surprised to see what looked like a reasonable utility bike.

Mongoose XCom 700c Men's Bike for $150. Looked pretty straight forward with 7 speeds, water bottle holder and a rear rack. No suspension. The front chainwheel looks a bit small though.

Where do you live? Do you have a bicycle co-op in the area? Check with them to get a good reliable work horse.

I understand the idea of getting a Wally World bike. Mine is from Target, but after just 18 months, I'd say I've changed at least half the components on the bike. The cost of that adds up over time, too. That's one of the reasons why you'll be advised to steer clear.

+1 on Craigslist. We BF members will usually gladly evaluate CL bikes you're looking at as best we can if you post a link here.

I also advise avoiding suspension forks if you get a new bike from the dept. store. I have one. It's cheap, heavy, and can't be locked out. hate it. One of my next projects with my bike is to spend $ to replace the suspension fork w/ a rigid fork.

Other ideas:
*Is there a bike co-op in your area? They may have rehabilitated bikes for sale cheaper than you could get at a dept. store.
*Some for-profit bike shops also carry used bikes and may be able to help you find something inside your price range on a used bike they have kicking around...

All the more reason not to shop there. A bike shop or co-op will be able to give you advice, answer questions, etc., etc. You won't find that at X-Mart. You also won't get $hit for after-purchase service.

Some of the bikes at Target, etc., have a few halfway decent components. My Schwinn, e.g., came w/ Shimano shifters and rear derailleur. There are occasionally diamonds in the rough there, but if you don't know what to look for you're playing with fire.

Awesome! Thank you all for the replies, very helpful. As for my area, all riding will be either sidewalk or asphalt. Very rare instance where I may need to cross a landscaped grassy area.

EDIT: I also forgot to mention, I have several bicycle specialty shops within a couple of miles of my apartment. I've not been to them yet, but I'm also not sure what I need to look for or ask about when I go. That's why I mentioned brands, everyone has a favorite sure, but there is always a few that stand out in quality no matter what kind of product you're looking for.

One of the main reasons to avoid X-mart bikes is that they generally only come in one size. For someone like me who is 5'9" that's not an issue at all. For someone like you who is 6' it's starting to become a concern but you may be able to get away with it. For very tall or very short riders it's a big problem. Build quality is another problem that is hit or miss. Otherwise, a bike like that would be OK for your use.

Generally, you can pick up used X-mart bikes on Craigslist for under $50 and often they are as un-used as the day they left the store.

My current CL favorite are late 80's/early 90's mountain bikes. They can generally be had for about $120-$150 in this area. Look for something that seems not to have been ridden much and doesn't have any rust.

I would strongly recommend you at least visit one or two local bike shops. The real issue with buying bikes from a department store is not the bike itself (since you can find "name brands" there now sometimes), but the quality of the build. Bikes need to be put together, and what I've seen at dept stores is downright scary. A real bike store might be $50 more, but that gets you a certain guarantee that they know how to put together a bike well, and that they will stand behind that bike and address any problems you may have.

I'll be that you may well find a suitable bike in your price range, and that the bike shop will give you good advice as to the most suitable bike for your purpose.

Is there any Bike Performance store in your area? Sometimes they have great sale on bike which you can get for $250. During a holiday, like July 4th, they have special deals. I would rather get a $250 bike on sale from them rather than from Walmart.

I got my Diamondback Insight RS from Performance on sale for $199. Had to immediately replace the saddle and pedals as they were nothing but junk. Six weeks after I bought it I started popping rear spokes (I'm a clydesdale.) So I spent another $150 on some stronger Mavic wheels. Since then I haven't had any problems with it.

I didn't have a Performance store anywhere near me, so I did have to buy it online and assemble it myself.

Good suggestion! I always forget about Performance. You're absolutely right, I'd much prefer them wrenching a new bike, (any bike for that matter), than the the "technicians" at Wally World.

Other people have already chimed in with lots of great advice, so I'll try to approach this from a different direction.

First, a five mile ride is very easy. Don't think of it so much as an 11 hour day, because you'll get very long breaks in between your rides. Depending on how hilly the terrain is, a 5 mile ride will probably take you somewhere in the 20 minute range; maybe 30 mins if it's difficult and you get a slow bike. My commute is almost (but not quite) all up hill, 4.7 miles, and takes 25 minutes; going home is a little faster than 20 mins for me.

Also, I'm 6'1", and by the fitting numbers I need a 57.3 cm frame in a road or cross bike. So you'll probably do well on a 56 cm.

You mentioned that you will be on a campus. Most campus environments are bike thief magnets. I would never ride a bike that I loved to a college/university campus; it will end up gone. Find something of good functional quality, but is ugly. Thiefs will ignore it.

I like the idea of bike shops, I need to stop in a couple of them this week. @Seattle Forest, the ride is very slightly up and down, nothing too difficult, but there is a lack of sidewalk or a bike lane for most of the trip, that is my biggest concern, I think it's two lanes (one direction, 4 total) most of the way, and the morning rush can be scary. @Kojak, our particular campus is fairly secure, we have tons of concrete reinforced bike racks and campus police running around. Not to mention I have the huge cable lock and key from a previous cheapo bike I rode around campus, that broke. BUT I do however agree with you, I don't want attention from would be thieves.