cldwingnut

Ok I've read the X-mart sucks posts but heres the dilema. My family spents a week to a week and a half a year in Northern MN every summer at a Cabin that has been in her famlily for generations. There are a lot of gorgous trails up there but by the time the car is loaded with kids, pets, and all the stuff that goes with them for a vacation taking our bicycles (which are LBS bikes) is just not going to happen. So I was wondering are any of the $100 to $150 bikes at X-mart ok for a bicycle that can be left there? they would probaly be ridden 2 or 3 times a year on the trails while we are up there then hung up in the garage till the next year so a $400 bike is out of the question esp since they would be left through the winter with no one there.
I've seen the single speed cruisers for around $100 that may fit the bill since theres no gears to break or maintain.
Just interested in your thoughts and input. Thanks.

RonH

Why not look on craigslist for a good but cheap bike?
https://waterloo.craigslist.org/bik/

cldwingnut

I will try close to time to go, but it is a small window of oportunity, I will also go to the local bike shop to see if there is anything used but at that time of the year used bikes are rare and like I said hauling a bike up is kind of out of the question or I'd take our good bikes up with us. I'm asking if anyone knows of any of the bikes offered for around $100 would be good enough for this, I know they won't ride like my Trek but will they last long enough and ride well enough to enjoy the trails up there for like one or two rides a year. In other words these bikes will probaly not go more then 20 or 30 miles a year if that many as it is a theres lots of other activities there too I just miss my bike when there. Theres also the chance that if we buy anything too nice they won't be there when we get back up the next year. So like I said for this purpose will an x-mart single speed be ok, I'm not looking at the full suspension crap like what Next tries to pawn off just a basic functional bike to use for a week or two then put away for a year.

these or like these are examples of what I was thinking:
https://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...uct_id=9207779
https://www.walmart.com/Huffy-26-Ladi...ser/ip/5983270

or
https://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...ct_id=11019339
https://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...ndingMethod=rr

if not these are any that target or k-mart decent enough?
thanks

AndrewP

I think they will be quite adequate , provided you pack your bike tools to make sure the brakes, shifters, spokes and bearings are adjusted.

Velo Dog

You're never sure what you'll find at thrift shops like the Salvation Army or Good Will, but I walked through a couple of local places today and I was surprised at the number of decent bikes in the sub-$50 range.
I got in the habit of checking those places occasionally when my kids were in high school and liked to buy clothes there. They're in their 20s now, but I still drop by (got a Brooks B-17 saddle, new in the box, for $4.50 a year or so ago). Among the bikes I saw today were a Bridgestone MB-3 (decent '80s mountain bike), a Specialized Hard Rock with Blackburn rack, new tires and a Cateye computer and a Centurion Le Mans road bike, all for $39.95 or less. None needed more than a cursory tune-up. My wife's rain/commute bike is a Speclalized MB I bought for $10 two years ago. It didn't need anything but air in the tires and lube on the chain.
I sort of understand the appeal of a cheap, simple $100 cruiser, but those bikes really are pretty cheesy. They're hard to work on, you can't always get parts and the first time you have to have a repair done professionally, you'll double the price. For the same money or less, you can get a mountain bike that cost $400-$600 new, probably doesn't have many miles on it and that will work a lot better. If you're nervous about shifting, pick a gear you like and leave it there. Nobody says you HAVE to shift. My sister has had her Trek on the big ring/small cog combo for years. I've told her 25 times why that's a bad idea, but she doesn't care.