i_am_your_daddy

Hey everyone,
I know nothing about bikes at all; I have purchased my former bikes at department stores and, well, that pretty much sums up my lack of knowledge regarding bikes. Nevertheless, over the past few months, I have gotten very fond of biking and I am looking for a quality road bike around $300-$400.

I have spent hours on Craigslist looking for some bikes and I just do not know if they are worth it or not. I just want a road bike to ride for fun; not looking for racing or anything.

If anyone can recommend me brands to look for or avoid with my bike quest or give me any additional tips on purchasing bikes from Craigslist, that would be really helpful.

Meanwhile, here are some I have found so far and I appreciate your opinions on these.

Peugeot vintage road bike made in France

Panasonic Dx-2000 Road Bike

Single Speed Road Bike (Large)

Thank you!

EDIT: I am 6ft male btw

Bunyanderman

22lbs Only 54cm Aluminum Road Bike Racing Bicycle Cycling 21 Speed Shimano Black | eBay
Incredibly light for the price.

Raiden

Those are a couple of really old road bikes, and one new very low-end singlespeed. TBH, I'd get one of the old road bikes before a new cheap singlespeed. How tall are you?

Homebrew01

The Peugeot and Panasonic are ok, but priced double what I would pay.

i_am_your_daddy

6 ft

MRT2

My advice is to look for something a little more modern. Though nothing wrong with very old 70s or 80s road bikes, but no guarantee they won't need some, maybe a lot of work. The thing is, a lot of these bikes aren't road bikes as we think of them today as light sleek machines for people looking to ride very fast. A lot of these bikes were sport or recreational models sold to students or adults during the bike boom of the 70s. They could weight in excess of 30 lbs and in some cases, close to 40 lbs. And that is a tank by modern standards where even a basic hybrid these days weights in the 25 to 27 lb range, entry level road bikes weigh about 22 to 23 lbs, and mid priced road bikes often weight 20 lbs or less.

Frankly, I would not pay more than $100 for either the Panasonic or the Peugeot as I would expect you would need to put at least another $100 into parts and/or repairs, and even then you basically have "road bike" that is heavier than most modern mountain bikes.

About 8 years ago, I bought a mid 80s Schwinn LeTour Luxe Touring model, for $60. It had Columbus Tenax tubing, Weinmann touring wheels, Suntour components. All in all, a decent, though very old bike. Took it to the bike shop and bought new tires, new brake pads, new bar tape, new chain, and new free wheel and cassette. That and labor for a complete tuneup was in the $150 range. So for a little over $200, I did OK. Rode it without incident for 3 or 4 years before selling it in favor of something else.

Do not pay $200 or more for a high tensile steel bike that might cost another $100 to $200 to tune up and refurbish. If you go the used route, look for a bike that is ten years old or newer. Anyhow, that is my suggestion, FWIW.

Homebrew01

This is much nicer as far as old bikes go. But only worth $250 in my mind. It might be a tad small for you though.

Vintage Faggin Road Bike

Not much to choose from in your price & size. CraigsList bikes often seem priced about double what they are worth, especially at the lower end. Maybe more gullible buyers at the range ?

You can also check Ebay. Put in your zip code to bring up local results. Then you should be able to go look at it, and avoid shipping costs.

goenrdoug

run and get this one, $400-$450 cash in hand:
An excellent Bicycle for sale


If it's already gone, try for one of these:
2002 58cm trek 1000 witth of upgrades. 400 wheelset
Road bike ,old Specialized Allez

Once the Cannondale is yours, bank on soon buying some new tires and tubes, maybe brake pads (all of this will run about $100-$150) and a pair of shorts with butt-padding, some clip-in pedals and shoes, etc.

Welcome to the addiction.

goenrdoug

also, when looking at CL, you might want to use the search feature to look for "58cm" bikes. That'll narrow your results to bikes that will probably fit you. Then, find the decently modern ones (with brake/shifters (brifters) and not down-tube shifters) and sift through them, cross-referencing Home - Used Bicycles for Sale - BicycleBlueBook.com for pricing.

Homebrew01

^^ I don't think CraigsList posters are reliable or accurate enough in their posts to get good search results. You might accidentally omit some good ones.

kv501

Bikesdirect.com

Surprised no one's mentioned it yet.

rms13

You could probably do a lot worse for sub $400 than than this:

Save Up to 60% Off Road Bikes - Windsor Wellington 3.0 Web Sale Prices

Save Up to 60% Off Road Bikes - Motobecane Mirage S

Save Up to 60% Off Road Bikes - DawesLightning1000

Save Up to 60% Off Road Bikes - Windsor Wellington 3.0 Web Sale Prices

But that is assuming OP can set up the bike themselves and make adjustments and has tools. If not, add $50-75 to have LBS do the work.


I'd still much rather have the CAAD

An excellent Bicycle for sale

Raiden

Because youre not figuring the extra $100 for a shop in OC to build it.

MrCoffee

MRT2 is definitely correct. Leave the old stuff to the classic/vintage buffs, collectors, and flippers. Even a free bike can become a $200.00 one in a matter of weeks, depending on the repairs needed. Most definitely get something that's 10 years or newer. If you can delay gratification for a while, then a local dealer may even be able to set you up with something new, well made, and an enjoyable ride for around $800.00, with free tuneups and no maintenance for the foreseeable future.

rms13

I will say you can find some good deals on older used bikes especially in socal where there are a lot of riders, a lot of bikes and they are not subject to bad whether that causes rust and corrosion for the most part. I got my Ironman last may for $300 and it was in really nice shape and rideable without doing anything. It's 25 years old but it's still a nice and light frame as far as steel goes. I agree that vintage 60s and 70s bikes may not be a great choice but 80s steel frames and components still stand up well to this day. And beyond that I have seen a lot of bikes alum bikes in the 10-15 year old range in great shape with nice components on CL in the $400 range. If your patient you will find something.

StephenH

My advice is ask around locally, find out what a good shop is, go down there and pay a $1,000 or so for a new bike. If you're not in a hurry, wait until after Christmas for a better deal.
That way, you don't have to wonder if that shifter is supposed to work that way, or that spoke is supposed to be that loose, don't have to start adding new tires and new cables, etc. Ideally, you'd be a bike expert to buy a used bike.

RoadGuy

Don't get discouraged, you're probably posting in the wrong Forum to ask about $300-$400 road bikes.

Posting in the Classic and Vintage Forum will get you more positive and helpful advice and comments.

Newer bikes will be more expensive, and probably more stiff and lighter (less comfortable). A newer/older bike like the orange color Trek that someone posted the link to can be had more like in the $400 range if you shop Craigslist and are willing to drive a distance. I think there are a couple of orange Trek 1000s (Trek usually changes the color schemes year to year and only makes each model in one or two colors max, so you can figure out what the model year is pretty easily) that have been advertised in the San Diego Area for a couple of months in the $375 asking range.

The Peugeot is probably a mid to late 80s model, and it looks like it's in pretty nice shape. You should go look at it, if you're interested in a vintage road bike. You'll want to try it on, because the fit is everything.

bigdo13

that blue Peugeot is a cherry... looks like it's been well cared for ... I'd roll with that... offer him $135 and see what he says....

rms13

Most people looking to spend $300-400 are not in a position to spend $1000. Even if he can spend or finance a $1000, I would say it's a horrible idea since OP sounds like someone who wants a bike to ride casually and see if they even like road bike so the $1000 entry level bike may sit unused and be sold for half the price in six months.

MrCoffee

That is, unless a flipper gets there first. But with a high-tensile steel frame, extension levers, and stem shifters, the price is a little high, but not necessarily excessive. Even if it is at market value, it looks pretty good in the photos.

mcours2006

I am far from a bike expert, but after spending some time doing research, which includes coming on this forum and doing more reading than posting, I have learned so much about bikes. If the OP is patient and has got time to do so I would suggest that he do some reading and learning about bike if he intends to purchase a used bike. Even go into the LBS and talk to the guys there. And who knows, he might even find a good deal on a new bike there.

RoadGuy

Here's a 95 Trek 1220 with an asking price of $200.

Trek 1220 bike

It has a bonded aluminum frame with a chromoly fork, 21-speed triple crank, RSX STI group. Looks like it's a 56cm or a 58cm.

roccobike

OP, As a former flipper I've had many vintage road bikes pass through my hands. The nicest older steel bikes have one attribute in common, chromoly steel frames, preferably double butted. Neither of the two you listed have that type of steel and would be lower level in the respective line-ups. If you go vintage, older steel bikes, insist on chromoly (chromium molybdenum) aka, chro-mo, steel preferably double butted. However I'd agree with others here, that a newer used bike is probably what you want. The 1220 Trek posted by RoadGuy might work. Stay with the name brand bikes and be careful of Schwinn brand. Some of their newer offerings are actually big box store bikes of lower quality usually sold used at inflated prices.