Which of these 3 bikes would you pick?
 

Hello all,

I'm starting a local cleaning service where I will be commuting to and from homes within 2-3 miles on my bike and with a small kids trailer to haul my vacuum and a few other cleaning supplies. I live in San Diego so the terrain may be hilly at times.

I am 6' tall.

Anyways, I'm shopping Craigslist and not sure what to hunt for. Mountain bike perhaps?

Here are my choices today within my price range:

Which would you suggest?

1) Nishiki Alamosa Bike

2) Giant Boulder 19.5" Frame

3) And lastly a 2012 Fuji Crosstown 4.0: 2012 Fuji cross town 4.0

Thanks in advance,

- Mike

The main concern with Craigslist bikes is that they often need a lot of maintenance. If you can do it yourself it doesn't cost much, but if you have to pay a shop to do a lot of repairs it can get expensive. That last Fuji bike looks nice if it really doesn't need any repairs. The front suspensions on the other two aren't very helpful, and are just one more place something can go wrong. Just be careful that you don't buy a bike now because it's $50 cheaper, and then find out it costs more money (and headaches) to keep running in the future!

Hey thanks a bunch for the advice, I really appreciate it!

So you think I can get a new or perhaps a refurbished bike for around $150 that would suite my needs to travel each day with a light trailer to my cleaning jobs?

Do you have any recommendations? I've seen new bike prices but they all seem to be in the hundreds to the thousands, yikes! :twitchy:

I'm on a shoestring budget.

Regards,

Mike

I had a kids trailer that I haul for the better part of 5 years, with 3 kids. At the time I had a mountain bike and a touring bike with narrow tires. I preferred the touring bike to haul them, quicker and less effort than the mountain. What I did have on both bikes was the triple chainring in the front, giving me plenty of low gearing for climbs.

The first two bikes are wide tires with suspension in the front (not ideal for pavement riding, less efficient). However, they have the triple crank in the front, giving you plenty of low gears for climbs (believe me you're going to need them with a full heavy trailer). The last one, the Fuji, would be my first choice, however, it doesn't have triple crank on the front, and it could be in the smaller side for you, but not nessesarely ,have to see how much safe travel the seat post have to fit your height.

So my choice would be the Giant, but it wouldn't be my ideal choice. It would fit you, looks nice and it looks like it has better brakes than the nishiki.

Your best bet is used. You can tell if a bike is in good working order by riding it. Take it for a spin, go thru all the gears, front and back, try to stop as hard as you can from a relative fast speed. Take a look at the gears, make sure all the teeth look the same (some cogs, have two or three alike in a row with a different one every so often). You could change a chain and tires if not in good order).

Hi, bikingit1973, I also live in San Diego (up in Poway).

PennyTheDog is correct that of course used bikes require more maintenance than new, but all three of the bikes you posted look to be in very good condition, and at their posted prices I would consider any of the three a good deal and potentially suitable for your situation.

The biggest difference I can see between the three is that the Fuji has a rigid fork. If you only ever plan to ride on roads, then that's the way to go; when struggling up San Diego hills, a suspended fork will start to bounce, which wastes the energy you're trying to put into the drivetrain (unless the fork has "lockout", which they almost certainly would not at this price point).

And a mountain bike with a rigid fork is I think the right way to go for you, since if you're hauling a load, the lower gearing of a mtb will be helpful (unless you're super strong).

If, however, you also plan to take the bike out onto rough and rocky trails, then you might benefit from a front suspension. But it's not really that important. Even that Fuji with the rigid fork would do fine on most easy/smoother trails.

Another plus for the Fuji is that it looks like it already has smooth-rolling "city" tires, while the other two have knobby tires. Depending on how smooth the tread is in the center (where you contact when riding straight forward), those knobby tires could also significantly slow you down on the road. If you go with those bikes, I would recommend spending $30-40 on a pair of tires (which brings all three prices pretty closely in line with each other).

But more important than what I can see, is what you can feel. The most important aspect is Fit. You have to try yourself. You say you're 6', that's how tall I am too, and I ride a mtb with a 20" frame, so a 19 or 19.5 should be within the size that you can fit well just by adjusting the seat height. The Nishiki doesn't say size, but fortunately it's the same seller as the Giant, so if you go there you can try both out in only one trip.

Thank you for the tips. Although simple advice, it helped a lot!

I went with the Fuji by the way, and I love it!

Yep I went with the Fuji and am very happy! My load will not be heavy at all as I carry minimum items.

Plus the bike seems to be a lot of fun to ride for pleasure too.

I think I might get on this "bike kick" and since I live in Ocean Beach there are many beaches to travel to on my new Fuji.

Thanks everyone for helping!!!

- Mike

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=420986

:twitchy:

Hello there, not sure what you are trying to say, please advise, thanks!

- Mike

Congrats! You should get on the bike kick, OB is a great place to get around by cycle. Don't forget you can take the OB bike path from dog beach and get a good ways inland.

I wanted to see a picture of the bike you chose, but it's a link. To a url...that will go away and future generations will never know what was behind link number 3. *sigh*

BTW - Welcome to Bikeforums. Enjoy the ride. :thumb:

bikingit, you should take a picture of your "new" steed. People around here like pictures. There's a saying, "pics, or it didn't happen!" so as far as we're concerned, you haven't actually bought a bike yet...

Also, you could post it on the long-running Commuter Bicycle Pics thread.

Especially it would be cool to have some pics with the loaded trailer attached!

Good pick. Any decent hybrid or mountain bike should fit the bill as long as it's in good working order.

Here's info about the bike in question...

Good choice, that's my pick for no trailer. If you can pull it, the better! If you like the bike and it fits you, you can always add a triple chainring and derailure at minimal cost. Invest in good puncture resistance tires for now.

Oh, well the guy took the offer down after I bought it.

It's a 2012 Fuji Crosstown 4.0 - good condition.

- Mike

Will Do!

I'll get a picture up this weekend with my trailer and supplies.

I need a new seat though, something bout the seat makes my butt a little uncomfortable.

- Mike

Mine is 2012, if that makes any difference I have no idea - just getting into the bike scene now :)

- Mike