Hello all!

I'm new to the forum, newish to biking, and looking to expand my bike fitness (light off-road (paths), on-road, bike trail, etc). I have a Giant Sedona DX that's a 2005 (I bought it used), I think. The front wheel is slightly warped (I can see a wiggle, but it's not hitting the brakes). The gears skip at times (not sure of the precise term, but they seem to slip while shifting). The frame isn't warped or damaged, there's some spotting in the paint, but it's not severe. The grips and seat are wearing so that they stain hands and clothes black.

So, it seems like I would need to replace some (all?) parts, such as drive train and brakes. That looks like a couple hundred-dollar expense (or more) for decent parts. Or, alternatively, since the frame seems in good condition, I could sell it for what I could get and buy a $500 - $700 bike. I'm looking at commuter-hybrid bikes and the brands with which I am familiar (Giant, Cannondale, etc) seem to have road bikes (esp. last years, closeouts, etc) in that price range.

Thoughts?

I don’t think you’ll need to replace a whole lot of parts; the front wheel will probably need to be trued; a shop should be able to do that for a nominal fee. Having nice, true wheels will make it easier to get your brakes dialed in.

The ‘slipping’ gears are probably due to a derailleur being slightly out of adjustment, rather than being ‘worn out’, and maybe a worn chain. Chains wear faster than you’d think, and can make a significant difference, especially on 9-sp+ indexed drivetrains.

Grips and saddles are are a very personal part of your bike, and also the things I’m most likely to change on s used bike. Fortunately they’re also pretty inexpensive; $40-50 should get you good serviceable replacements.

Like the guy above me said, your wheel most likely just needs to be trued. If you have patience and you're good with your hands you can watch videos on Youtube on how to do that. You need a simple tool to do that, though.

Also, make sure your chain doesn't have rusty links. They too can cause your chain to skip. Inspect them one by one to make sure they all move freely and not stuck. I once had a bike that used to skip and I thought it was a shifting problem but turned out there were a couple of links that were stuck due to rust. Cleaning and lubing them took care of the problem.

I think that you should repair the wheel, there are specialists who do this, or you can do it yourself by watching videos on YouTube.

Have a bike shop do an inspection of your bike. Then you will know what needs to be done. My guess is that it will be far more cost effective to just take care of the problems rather than buying a new bike.

Try reading this before you make the adjustment on your rear derailleur. https://www.sheldonbrown.com/derailer-adjustment.html The only tool you need to make adjustments on a rear derailleur are a Philips head screwdriver and the proper size hex wrench if you need to adjust the length of the derailleur cable beyond what you can do with the adjustment at the end of the cable where it enters the rear derailleur.

See above. Some items could be done yourself with no or minimal special bike tools YMMV

Like everyone else before me I would go for fixing it up. I learned a lot myself about bicycle maintenance in the past years. From adjusting derailleurs, over truing and building wheels to taking internal gear hubs apart. All not rocket science if you have some technical skills. There are tons of videos out there on youtube.
Derailleurs can be adjusted. All you need is an Allen wrench and a Philips screw driver. And you have to find a way to get your rear wheel in the air. For wheel truing you just need a spoke wrench. They only cost a few dollars. For a quick truing you don't even have to remove the wheel. You can adjust the wheel using the rim brakes as a "scale". Seats and grips are not expensive either.
The other two problem you will be facing right now:
1. Bike shortage. Bike stores and big box stores are out of bikes with bikes on back order for months. Our largest bike store in the area will not even take orders for bikes under $1,200 right now. Meaning if you want a new bike at a reasonable price you won't find one. And if you a buy a used one you still have to tune it,
2. Services appointments can take weeks right now. Many bikes store are currently booked out for the next 4-6 weeks.

Good advice above. Bicycle repair doesn't require that you be a Rhodes Scholar. Just read sheldon brown or check utube and do it yourself. My LBS has a four-week wait for service (where it used to be a couple of days at the most).

What you're describing is well withing what I'd consider normal maintenance. Get things adjusted, replace grips/seat, and make it yours!

So to recap, for now you should purchase the correct size spoke wrench, a chain checker and if you don't already have metric size allen wrenches, consider getting a bicycle tire air pump, dry chain lube, metric wrenches, bicycle chain breaker. Given the bike's age should replace the brake pads and once you get it shifting properly, replace the shifter cables and brake cables. A couple or three spare innertubes is nice to have.