JadeAngel

Ok... so like most people I grew up bike riding (I lived in the country side, so I rode... A LOT)

But haven't in years as an adult and my husband and I wanted to get back into that. I got 1 bike, a blue roadmaster 26" from walmart, but the gears just would not work for anything. I went back, but NONE of the gears on any of their bikes worked properly. They would get too difficult to put on a higher or lower gear. When I adjusted tensions, limit screws and all that nothing helped. So I returned it and got a different mountain bike.

I don't know if links are allowed in this forum.... but what I got was a purple Mongoose 26in Spectra women's bike from kmart. Ok... full suspension is the problem here, I can't put a child's rear seat on the back (not entirely bad because my daughter will probably be too big for one within the year) but the same problem with the gears. No amount of adjusting them helps.

Then today my husband decided to spoil me and get me a 2nd bike, this 26in Huffy Panama Jack "pearl pink" women's cruiser bike. I've been in love with this bike since day 1, obviously because of the looks. Well, I test road it at home today, and then after road my mongoose spectra to compare. (by the way, the rack is welded on, so a child's rear seat is still out of the question, grrr)

The cruiser is obviously 10x more comfortable. I LOVE it! But..... you know how cruisers aren't great for hills? Does anyone here know the scranton/wilkes barre area of pennsylvania? Yeah, I live right between those 2 cities, and this part of pa is nothing BUT hills. Well, I actually didn't mind riding it up the slight hills on our roads tonight, but it still raises some questions, and I would love imput from people who know a lot more about bikes than myself!

You can look up Nay Aug park, and McDade park both in scranton, and those are the parks I frequent most often (there are photos of their trails and paths on google if you type them in). Then my husband and I want to take a trip down to Centralia Pennsylvania with the bikes to ride through the town (... the town that has coal permanently burning under it).

Those are my intentions to use the bike. I don't really think I'm fit enough to go up and down the rough trails I sometimes walk no matter what bike I have, but I do intend to go on trails that might be dirt and some gravel.

NONE of the stores in my area can put together a bike correctly. I have spent the last couple of months checking out the bike section in every store I venture into, and checking gears on their mountain bikes. They are all either way too loose, or the gears tighten up too much. I am obviously not capable of adjusting anything well enough, since I have failed to completey fix my mongoose. I am 5'7", 130 lbs, I have a soon to be 4 year old daughter and we are planning to have a 2nd child. I would love to be able to attach the rear childs seat if it's possible, but it just doesn't see so.

So, my husband is ok with me keeping the 2 bikes, but I'm having a major guilt problem about that!

Which one of the 2 bikes would you keep considering what I've just said? Or... I am VERY open to suggestions of another specific bike that you may feel would be more suited to my needs??? I'm looking for colors similar to either of the 2 I have now, and I can't spend more than $200.

So sorry for all the writing! You just have no idea how frustrating this simple bike hunting expedition has become over the last few weeks I just want something cute and comfortable that is practical and won't cost an arm and a leg with gears that actually work (if it has any).

A million thanks to anyone that has the patience to read through this and take the time to answer!!!

fietsbob

for $200 in todays market , see if there are some co ops that rebuild oldie but goodie bikes from the 90"s.

JadeAngel

There's nobody in my area that I know of that does stuff like that. My mother's boyfriend's brother buys excellent conditioned used bikes and resells them for good prices, but she went to get herself a bike there and couldn't find anything good. I also had kept an eye out on craigslist and the salvation armies within driving distance, and basically anything there is rusty and falling apart junk :/

more than half the adult bikes here are $190 or less, and we just can't afford more than that as they just started cutting hours at my husband's job... which is why I'm feeling so guilty about him buying me a 2nd bike. I feel like the silliest person, but I almost feel like... I should just return both bikes, buy back the original bike I bought (roadmaster 26in ladies mountain bike from walmart) and take it to a bicycle shop to have the gears fixed. But is it that ridiculous that not one store in my area can put a bike together so that the gears work smoothly? I guess I should look up small bike shops isntead of going to big stores, and trying my luck at that?

J.C. Koto

If you can, take back both bikes and then go to an actual bike shop. Sounds like that would be your best bet.

Nihilum

One thing to keep in mind, as with any athletic equipment, you get what you pay for. Back in the 90s Mongoose was a HUGE name when it came to bikes. They were up there with BMX, Redline, GT, and Dyno. Unfortunately, Mongoose sold out to a cheaper company, and their mountain bikes use generic cassettes and headsets.

There is hope though. I have the Mongoose MTB that I got at Wal-Mart last year for leisurely riding around the neighborhood with my wife and son. It took me several hours, but I was able to get the bike adjusted to shift properly. I doubt the bike was designed for use with a triple headset (crankset), as you can't adjust it enough to use the smallest chainring..it sits too close to the frame and the derailer can't move the chain far enough to the inside for it to catch on the chainring. But, using chainrings 2 and 3 are easy, and the shift is somewhat smooth.

If you just can't manage to get it adjusted, I'd return the bike and let them know that the bike will not shift correctly. Don't get discouraged, keep an eye on craigslist and ebay for the type of bike you're looking for. I regularly see old school 10 speeds on both sites quite often...usually for between $100 and $200.

fietsbob

Wall Mart kills the other business in towns they build outside of , driving up unemployment .

forcing people to work at what little wages and Benefits if any they offer ,

and leaving no choice but to buy Bad Bicycles, assembled by people who do not know what they are doing..

SolitaryRider

O-K, here's the problem: Department store bikes are.... Let's see, how can I say this nicely? Uh...less than optimal; Not well-suited for real riding. What I really mean is: They're JUNK[Sorry]

Those bikes are ridiculously heavy (Makes an especially big difference on hills) and the components just don't perform. Even once in proper adjustment, they're a pain to keep in adjustment. They weren't made for riding; They were made to be as cheap as possible- for people who'll buy them; ride 'em around the block a timne or two; and let them sit in the garage for the next 15 years.

If you were to ride a real road bike, you would see the vast difference. A real road bike is light and nimble; The components work flawlessly and smoothly and stay in tune for thousands of miles, and have a quality feel to them; and the bike just GLIDES along with little effort- almost like you are flying.

Try and sell both of those bikes for what you can get for them, and buy an older used road bike. The difference will be night and day.

meanwhile

An older road bike will normally have narrow tyres with relatively poor grip, a poor gear range, and a riding position that isn't great for for safety in traffic. (Depending somewhat on what you mean by "road bike" - it normally means "road RACING bike" in cycling, but you might mean "hybrid.") Also 700c wheels can be a poor fit for smaller to average women. Altogether, a bad combination for carrying a child.

I'd suggest eitehr:

1. A 90's mountain bike with a rigid fork like a Zaskar or a Lava Dome. $200 will get you a bike that's virtually identical to a modern boutique hardtail costing ten times as much (which would be another good option) the gears will winch you up the steepest hill, a 1.5" or 2" slick tyre won't throw you over the handlebars because it is has been trapped in a gutter grating or hit a pot hole - unlike a thin road bike tyre it will glide over them - and in an emergency it will the grip to out-turn and out-brake the best road bike ever built. It will weigh more, but the gears will more than compensate on hills - and a 25lb bike isn't actually noticeably heaviers than a 20lb when riding, because it is the weight of the rider plus bike that matters. I'd find an independent local bike mechanic and get him to choose the bike and to tweak it. Old GTs, Konas and Specialized are usually the safest buys and can last forever.

2. A modern suspensionless hybrid - say whatever Trek FX you can find used on ebay in your size. Again, find a local bike mechanic.

Of the two, the old MTB will actually be better for you - it can run cruiser tyres and so give a cruiser ride but has the gears to climb Everest, and 26" wheels will give a better fit to a typical female rider, more comfort, and much more braking power coming down hills. (This is the classic San Francisco messenger bike recipe.) But it will probably need more fiddling with - eg a higher stem fitting (5 minutes work with a hex key) and a pair of fat slick tyres - Big Apples will give the most cruiser like ride. You'd end up with something like this:



Or for ultimate cruiser feel and riding position, you could put BMX bars on the front - this is a war-scarred Lava Dome with about 50 years of life left in it (but with thinner tyres fitted than you want):



...Don't let people bully you into the "Your bike has to look as much like a Tour De France racer as possible, only without the scary dropbars" thing. It's purely fashion. If you want a bike that is a cruiser with gears, I think that is agreat choice for carrying a child up and down hills, and an old mtb with a few minutes tweaking will give you that.

Re. suspension bikes: any bike costing less than about $2000 with full suspension should be looked at as a scam until proved otherwise!

SolitaryRider

Very good advice, Meanwhile!

Although I do think the OP might be well served by a comfort/endurance-style road bike (Not a racing bike) or even a CX bike- but I think the one thing we can definitely agree on, is that she needs something of better quality than a department-store bike.

Wilfred Laurier

i just looked up the panama jack
and it looks like a pretty cool bike
but completely inappropriate
for how you will be riding

you need something with multiple gears
especially if you plan on toting child carriers
and stuff
up any hills

if the panama jack had miltiple gears
then a set of higher pressure narrower tires
and a flat handlebar
woudl make the bike 1000 times more useful
but without multiple gears
it it useless
sorry

you really need to keep trolling craigslist
and garage sales

an old 10 speed
once the tires and cables and handelbar tape
are replaced
could be a much better choice

meanwhile

I think your ideas are good, but tricky for the OP. If she likes the position on a cruiser she is unlikely to want a bike with drops - it will at least be a big risk. And finding a triple ring CX bike - which is what she'd need for towing a child uphill, rather than the average twin ring CX that assumes the rider will run up the hill with the bike on his shoulder - that fits an average to petite (I'm guessing) woman, for a reasonable price in an area low on used bikes... Ouch. Ditto for a tourer or other endurance bike; good used tourers/audaxes to fit women are like gold dust. You could probably make it work for her in your area, with you there to help buy, and lots of time to look. But on her own, where she is, much harder. An mtb is much easier because there are a hundred times more of them, and they're designed with big standovers for offroading, which means that a small mtb can be used as an extra small road bike with the right stem.

The OP could also try looking at bikedirect.com and getting the cheapest mtb there that has front suspension only and a ***lockout*** on the fork. Or maybe one of these "town" bikes MIGHT have enough gearing...

https://www.bikesdirect.com/products/...ensington8.htm

...but again, I'd much rather have fat 26 inch tyres with a child onboard, especially coming down a hill. There's just no substitute for suspension and traction. So maybe this:

https://www.bikesdirect.com/products/...ht_new_xii.htm

- Lock the fork, fit slicks. The Tektro disc brakes should be great on hills.

Important: Whatever the OP buys, she needs to check whether it will mount a child seat!!! It's just a shame that no one seems to make a cruiser styled bike with a full MTB gear range. Maybe there is such thing???