This is aimed at the New bike rider trying to get into riding and is my own view although other may also agree.

I have always steered clear of any of the department store bikes and am a firm believer that the local bike shop will give you a better bike that will give a better ride. But that first bike is often chosen on cost rather than any other factor. Makes sense as the rider is probably new to cycling and doesn't want to spend a fortune on something that could be sitting in the shed for the next few years as they don't like cycling. It may not be that cycling is for them but their first experience on a bike that doesn't work as it should has put them off.

To that end-I have been looking at the type of bike that will be suitable for a beginner. Not from a "Novice" point of view but from the suitability of bike for a beginner. First of all I will say that any form of suspension is out. The quality of suspension on a cheap bike is not going to be good and will cause problems. Then the type of bike--I have yet to see a road bike in the Cheap range so you probably won't find one and the majority will be Mountain Bikes. Most of these will have front suspension because that is what Mountain bikes have but forget them for the quality again. Far better to go with the rigid bike as it will work- even offroad. However unless you are going to ride offroad- is a Mountain bike the right bike? Riding on Roads and a bike with slick tyres will work better. In fact at this price- the only difference between an MTB (Mountain bike) and a hybrid will be the tyres. The MTB may have lower gearing but from what I have seen the tyres are often the only difference.

Components on those "Cheap" bikes are not going to be of a good quality but providing it has wheels- brakes-gears and it can be ridden- then the bike will work. In fact considering the cost- Some of these bikes work remarkably well so I am not going to knock any one for buying the cheapest bike that they can get away with. What I am going to knock though are the stores selling these bikes. All the sales staff seem to be interested in is getting a bike out of the door. Suitability for the rider and the use it will be put to is very low down on the list. So buyer beware on getting a bike that will not cause any problems and also on the advice given from the sales staff when you ask for some guidance on choosing that first bike.

Next stage up the chain of bikes comes in two ways. End of the season-from September onwards- and there are some special deals to be had from the Local bike shops in shifting last years stock. Last year I saw a basic hybrid bike listed at £225 being sold for £150 so a few bargains can be found at the right time of year. The other way is something like Bikes Direct. (Insert any other discount supplier here) They seem to offer a well specced bike at a far lower price than the main manufacturers and on the face of it are a very good deal. One drawback is that it will be shipped to you partly assembled leaving you to fit the wheels and bars- set up the brakes and gears and does require some mechanical knowledge. Not a great deal but if your tool kit is a set of pliers and a hammer you may have a problem

The other problem is are you getting what you think you are? An Ultegra equipped bike at half the cost of the main suppliers sounds great but it is the bike as a whole you are buying and not a groupset. Look at the components and it is easy to spot the downgrades and that C.F.Frame may be made in the same factory in the Far East as some of big manufacturers- But it is not the same as a Trek Madone or a Giant Defy and it won't ride like one either.

Reason for writing this is that I have just had the first Online bike purchase of the year turn up in my shed. Full suspension MTB that is too large for the rider- and I have advised him to send it back. The rear suspension is of such cheap quality and the swinging arm is bent. If he rides that bike- I will not be finding another rider to our group as he will give up riding never to do it again.

Once something breaks or needs service on the BSO, the owner, who knows little or nothing about bike maintenance takes it to the friendly LBS and learns a bitter lesson. If the bike can be repaired at all, it may cost more to fix than it cost originally.

It's all about marketing (or more precisely, the "target market" of any particular business).

My take on department store bikes is that they are primarily designed for the average person who only rides a bicycle a dozen or so times a year (if that). The manufacturers of these BSOs strive to meet the needs of this broad "target market" (i.e. people looking for an inexpensive bicycle for limited use). The success of this business strategy is clearly proven by the many on-line and individual box/department store retailers that sell bicycles in numbers, and over-all profit margins, that many local bike shops and bike shop chains, have little hope of matching.

Sure, these bikes might leave "a lot to be desired" by those of us who ride on a regular basis. However, if the buyer follows the setup and adjustment instructions found in most "modern" owner's manuals they'll probably do OK with them. This is not mention that many "BSO" buyers are actually more than capable of doing and/or learning how to perform all but the most "difficult" bicycle maintenance and repairs. The problem is that many people lose interest in biking at about the same time that their bike needs maintenance and/or breaks down (manufacturers are, of course, well aware of this phenomenon).

Meanwhile, those who have or, better yet, are considering the purchase of such bikes from said retailers could gain some valuable knowledge if they spent some time researching bicycles types, bicycle fit, and general bicycle maintenance. This would do much to remedy the lack of a knowledgeable sale staff that exists at most box/department stores. The sad fact is that most box/department stores that sell inexpensive bikes (or anything else) are unwilling, or (less likely) unable, to pay a salary that's capable of supporting a knowledgeable sales staff (regardless of product). People that patronize such stores want everything to be as cheap as possible (this, unfortunately, limits sales staff salaries). Besides, many "cheap" consumers don't listen to much of what a sales person has to say (no matter how well you say it).

And contrary to what some of you seem to think, a fair number of these people work with objects that are often far more complicated than most, if not all, bicycles (this includes engineers, machinists, electricians, carpenters, plumbers, IT professionals, hospital equipment technicians, auto, farm, big rig, and earth moving equipment mechanics, factory workers, appliance, restaurant and office equipment repairmen, etc, etc). Such people are often more than able to do and/or learn how to perform bicycle maintenance and repair. Many of these people actually know more about and/or have more experience in working with general mechanics than many of us in here.

There are documented cases of people having very nice experiences with BSOs. But I'm willing to bet this is more the exception than the rule. In addition to the problem you mentioned (repair costs/tune up greatly increasing the cost of the bike), I think there are a lot of people who think they don't like riding a bike when in reality, they don't like riding a crappy BSO.

To the OP: I understand and applaud your motivation. I'm just not convinced that this tact will lead to a better experience for people. That being said, I don't really have an alternatives either (buying a used bike if you don't know anything about bikes is hard; getting the right size on an internet bike is problematic if you have no experience).

In 2008 we hit the "bottom", finance wise, totally broke, jobless and once I found a part time job, we "rented" a room from my sister-in-law. I went to Wal-Mart bought a $70 Roadmaster Mt. Sport hardtail, took it to a local LBS and had them, tune it up and put better brake pads on it and I used that BSO, while pulling a off craigslist, $25.00 kid hauler trailer for the next "YEAR", it ran GREAT, even using it on the local dirt path MUPS!! Because this LBS NEVER gave me any CRAP about having to RIDE a BSO, in early 2010 with our tax refund we bought two new entry-level hardtail MTB's from them. We've bought several other bikes since then and LOTS of accessiories and service work since. Pls. be kind to the poor souls that HAVE to ride a BSO, they may end up spending a LOT of money over time in YOUR shop~! JMHO, YMMV.

Go behind any restaurant around Orange County be it McDonald's or the poshest of the posh. You will see a few BSOs locked up outside. These are the bikes the real bike commuters ride. Not because they want to, but because that's the only choice they have. I've seen the same dreadful Huffy MTB with steel caliper brakes for years at the local pizza emporium. It has a floor pump duct-taped to the frame and bald and cracked tires. It's served as a faithful commuter.

It seems the weakest spots on these bottom-feeder bikes are the wheels, shifters and suspension. Most everything else will function decently.

I've had a few friends ask me to help them get a bike (cheap) to get back into riding. In each case I've helped them buy reasonable quality bikes second-hand, which I've set up properly for them. Always a better bet than BSOs and if they don't take to cycling they can sell them at virtually no loss.

It is probably doubtful that LBS owners ever get a dime from these bicyclists. It may explain the ire raised by some at the presence/existence of these bikes, or perhaps their owners.

As I said- "Some" Of the cheaper bikes will work. But $ for $- you will get a better bike the less complicated it is. Suspension MTB's don't work in this category and a bike at the same price without the "Bling" of suspension and you have a chance of getting a reasonable bike.

My first bike was a used Apollo 12 speed MTB. Brakes were made out of thin gauge plate but they worked (Sometimes) Gear changers were the basic Friction shifter and never gave a problem. Wheels stayed true for about 3 bike rides so I learnt how to straighten them out very early on and the gearing was 52/42 and 6 speed freewheel with 14/26 gears. Tyres were basic Chensin knobblies that were slow on the road and didn't work on loose stuff- but the bike worked

But my LBS will not work on BSO's. The labour charge alone is more than the bike cost in the first place and that is without the parts that have to be changed.

IMO, the simpler the better , cheaper steel tubes are thicker wall, so to make that bike lighter ,
just dont attach much... 1 speed , freewheel Or Coaster Brake + hand brakes, and Mudguards.

The shop 1 mile down the road from me refused big box bikes, I did not. Made a fair profit from the repairs and sold many new bikes along the way. A bike is a bike, and our job was to keep them running.

I guess I think about bikes in the same way I've learned to think about musical instruments. A person learning to play is much more likely to stay with an instrument if it plays easily and has a good sound. Too many times I've seen someone purchase an inexpensive guitar because they "were just starting" and it sounded bad and did not play well at all. I've seen the same thing with bicycles. The good news is, however, that today you can get an inexpensive bicycle or guitar that sounds much better than those of two or three decades ago. And, that takes me to the one thing in Stapfam's post that seemed most salient. The bike was too big. Fit, fit, fit. It can make a lesser bike more bearable than a better one that doesn't fit.

That's an attitude that I wish more shops had. Lets face it, there's a lot of folks out there that find paying out even $100 for a bike to be a lot of money. The bikes at Wally World look good, and the price is right. Good bike? Not the best, but it gets them back and forth to work so why complain?

The smart bike shops will do what mine does, which is sell used bikes that were traded in and work on the big box bikes. There's at least one shop around that also sells bikes 'on consignment'. Way too many bikes are far too costly for a lot of folks to afford these days. I was thumbing through a copy of 'Bicycling' magazine at the store last night...'159 models rated' was the tag line on the front. Thumbing through the magazine, of those 159, I recall only seeing 2 that were at or under 1,000 dollars. The rest were $2,000 to over $10,000. I make darn good money and I'd have a hard time paying out $2,000 for a bike! Sheesh, I wish there were a magazine out there for the everyday cyclist that's just making ends meet.

For some new riders the price of a good entry level bike is less than what they often spend on an evening's entertainment. In this situation I'm with stapfam.

For others a good low end bike represents a week or two of food for the family. This is a reminder that I really should resume volunteering at the local bike coop.

I find it difficult to really define where a bso begins and a reliable bike ends. Thing is I generally modify any bike that passes through my hands so the weaker parts get replaced. I've ridden two bsos into the ground but it took 3 years of me and my kids riding together to do so. I think they can and are useful as.long as you realize that they will need maintance. Two of my current fleet of three began life as bsos. I simply replaced parts as they broke with better ones.

I used to teach the Boy Scouts' cycling merit badge every summer; about half the kids would be riding department store BSOs. I saw twist-grip shifters with fake barrel adjusters molded in to the shifter body - I thought "are you kidding me?" One kid's brand new bike suffered a broken crankarm on our first ride. Poor casting quality caused it to snap off at the pedal threads. V brakes were often unbalanced; occasionally I'd find one where the balancing screws didn't actually contact the springs. Teaching kids bike maintenance on bikes that cannot be adjusted... that was a challenge. Aside from the broken crankarm though, we always found a way to make the bikes rideable but holy crap.

I would agree with the OP that suspension on these things is just, essentially a boat anchor. Unfortunately they've also cost reduced every other component to where I would not trust even a single speed coaster brake BSO.

The BSO that are sold as bicycles now are just reasons to quit riding bicycles to me. I know it sounds like the old curmudgeon guy now, but my first "real 10-speed" bicycle was a Sears branded Puch in 1971, it was gas pipe and had the notorious Simplex Delrin plastic derailleurs but it held up, shifted well after I got a lesson on setting the system up from the owner of one of our LBS. I got it delivered, as Sears catalogs were for back then, and assembled it myself with the manual they included. I rode that bike all day, every day for a year when I got the money for a Bottecchia. Now these BSO are cheaply built and poorly designed. The stores don't have "salesmen" they have a clerk that wants to get his/her shift over with.

If they are all a person can get I understand that, and I'll spend as many hours as needed to help them get the bike safe, at least. To me the current bike offerings are sad. Maybe it is just me and growing old.

Bill

Glad to hear the Simplex held up for you. I was on a bike that was so equipped when the derailleur broke and tacoed the rear wheel, sending me over the bars. I was the second member of my family to be injured by that bike, and that was the end of it.

FF,
I'm beginning to think that I am the only person in the bicycling world that actually had a Simplex Delrin that worked for more than 2 weeks. I ended up replacing it when I got the Bottecchia as I sold the Sears to friend going off to college and I didn't want that thing breaking on my conscience. Now I understand that collectors actually search for them in restorations. Not me.

Bill

This is absolutely the way to go in my opinion - get a good second hand bike. The world is full of good used bikes. A knowledgeable friend like Gerryattrick will be very useful in selecting the right type of bike that fits properly and is a good value.

I agree that this is a great way to go (and always on my list of things I recommend), but this only works if the individual has a near-by friend to help them out.