Bike Forums - triax canyon

Good is relative, of course. It's just that, as in many other areas of life, you tend to get what you pay for. For people on this site, who are into serious biking for the most part, anything a whole lot less than about $1000 (or some nearby number) is not all that "serious". You can ride any bike, of course, as long as it has two wheels, handlebars, etc. but for a bike that's comfortable riding for years and for long miles and will last and stay mechanically sound and work smoothly, there is no substitute for money. It's the difference between buying a Toyota, even a Corolla or some other mid-level model, and the old-style Yugo (or maybe a Trabant) which was shaped like a car and had four wheels but didn't necessarily belong in the same class as a well-designed, well-engineered, reliable Japanese car. If all you can afford is the $110 bike, that might be the right bike for you, in that you can ride it and might get more enjoyment out of it than not having a bike at all. But most people on here wouldn't find the ride satisfying since they're already accustomed to the superior engineering of a more expensive bike.

The other thing to think about is you might get a lot more bang for your buck buying a used bike (that was more expensive originally) but has now descended into your price range. My very first "real" road bike was a Gitane that I bought used for $90 (a couple of decades ago now). I bought it simply for transportation to get to a temporary job I had. Quite unexpectedly, it led me to falling in love with biking and it wasn't long before I was riding it more for fun than for transportation. It also led me to learn the rudiments of bicycle mechanics because it was in worse shape than I realized when I bought it. But that was as much fun for me as the riding was. Before I was done I had disassembled practically every part on the bike piece by piece and cleaned and reassembled it. I was so new (and poor) I didn't even realize I "should have" bought new parts to replace some of the ones I cleaned. I disassembled both hubs and repacked them, using the original ball bearings. I thoroughly cleaned the chain, link by link (it needed it). I even disassembled the freewheel and cleaned and regreased it and got all the little ball bearings and pawls back in place and had it working again like new, or close enough. I didn't even have the right freewheel tools, but somehow I managed to get the job done (partly with an awl, of all things). When I rode the bike again it was like floating on a cloud, it was so smooth and quiet.

Anyway, that was the beginning of my "serious" biking career and it didn't cost me near as much money as it could have. But in my case, even with the work I had to do, I think buying the used bike was a better deal, because it got me a better bike for my money (plus my sweat equity). And it sparked my long-term interest in cycling.