dibbb
join:2003-09-19
 ·Time Warner VOIP
| Need advice buying a bike
So I taught my kid how to ride a bike without training wheels this weekend, and now I need a bike to keep up with them.
I don't want a fancy expensive bike, but something less than $500.
Any suggestions? Or if I found a nice used one from Craigslist what should I look for?
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mityfowl
join:2000-11-06
Dallas, TX | $500 !!!
Are you crazy?
You need to think $150 or less for a 1st time rider and irresponsible kid.
My daughters 1st bike was $50. |
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dibbb
join:2003-09-19 | This is a bike for ME. |
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ct_mike
join:2006-09-29
Hamden, CT
clubs:
| reply to dibbb
It is for the OP, not for the child.
I would find a local bicycle shop and look at the lower end models they have. With a budget of $500 you can get a decent bike, that will be world's better than any of the chain store bikes.
I have had both a trek and giant mountain bikes in this price range. Both served me very well.
ct_mike |
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mityfowl
join:2000-11-06
Dallas, TX
1 edit | reply to dibbb
Never mind 
Need more coffee. |
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dibbb
join:2003-09-19 | It's OK, you're new here, we all misread sometimes.  |
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LittlePiggie
Premium
join:2009-09-11
1 edit | reply to dibbb
Walmart! $75 -$125
If you're not going to be a racer or go for 25 mile tracts then Walmart will do. |
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Loco
Premium
join:2002-11-09
So Cal | reply to dibbb
I don't know how much my bike cost.....my wife bought it for me a few years back.
It's a "GIANT" brand name mountain bike.
I doubt it cost more than $500.00 |
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Warzau
Premium
join:2000-10-26
Naperville, IL
clubs:
| reply to dibbb
Go to a few local bike store, skip walmart. Those are cheap, made entirely of steel, and cheapest components and weight a ton, when you ride you will know it. Tell the bike store reps what you are going to do and won't do. You will get a feel for the ones who listen to you and those who just want to sell you the most expensive bike.
Get something that will last. Of course something you can afford, 500 is def a good ceiling. I purchased a great Schwinn all aluminum Moab ( before the brand was sold, resold, and resold) nearly 10 years ago. With yearly maintenace the bike still works great today. All I had to replace was chain, cables and tires and inner tubes. |
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r81984
Fair and Balanced
Premium
join:2001-11-14
St John'S, NL
·magicjack.com
 ·Cox HSI
·Insight Communicat..
 ·AT&T Midwest
3 edits | reply to dibbb
I bought a GMC Denali Aluminum Bike for Walmart for like $150 a year ago.
$139 - »www.walmart.com/catalog/product.···=3663046
$158 - »www.walmart.com/catalog/product.···12080282
I have the $139 one.
Then I paid just under $10 for new in line brake levers (installed myself) and then $10 for a bike shop to adjust and lube everything since the walmart assembly is subpar.
I installed these Nashbar inline brake levers. They are more epensive now, but they were on clearance for under $10 when I bought them.
»www.nashbar.com/bikes/ProductDis···ralID=NA
It is a great, very light bike with hybrid tires.
It survived a year of hard riding in Louisiana.
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Democrats are not Socialists any more than Republicans are. |
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Matt
Take me down to the paradise city
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC
·North State Commun..
| reply to dibbb
I wouldn't go to Wal-Mart or Target, but for $200-$300 you can get a bike that will last forever. Look for a hybrid bike. You can put street tires or mountain bike tires on it, or tires that do okay with both. We looked at REI a few weeks ago and found some great deals. Giant is a good brand for lower end bikes. I wouldn't go any lower than that or you start getting into cheap stuff that will rust and fall apart after a few years. |
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PCInTech
In another place and time.
Premium
join:2004-06-07
Massena, NY
clubs:
·VoicePulse
·RoadRunner Cable
| Go to a bike shop. You'll get a quality bike with components that will last for a very long time and it'll be sized and setup properly. In that price range, you have a lot to choose from. Raleigh, Trek, Fuji, Giant, the list goes on. AVOID the cheap department store bikes like the Plague! |
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LittlePiggie
Premium
join:2009-09-11
| reply to Warzau
said by Warzau  :Tell the bike store reps what you are going to do and won't do. He is going to ride along side his kid, how far do you think the kid is going to go?
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PCInTech
In another place and time.
Premium
join:2004-06-07
Massena, NY
clubs:
·VoicePulse
·RoadRunner Cable
1 edit | Dad may also want to do some recreational riding on his own, too, though. This is a good thing. 
So, he might as well get a good bike and not a piece of crap that's going to be in a landfill in a year. |
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Warzau
Premium
join:2000-10-26
Naperville, IL
clubs: | reply to LittlePiggie
As far as they want to. My 8 yo can easily do 8 miles on our local trail.
They point is get something that he will like and last. |
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Warzau
Premium
join:2000-10-26
Naperville, IL
clubs:
| reply to PCInTech
said by PCInTech :Dad may also want to do some recreational riding on his own, too, though. This is a good thing. So, he might as well get a good bike and not a piece of crap that's going to be in a landfill in a year. thank you someone who understands. |
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DannyZ
Gentoo Fanboy
Premium
join:2003-01-29
Erie, PA
| reply to r81984
If you thrash your rear wheel, good luck finding a rear hanger or a bolt-on 700c rim that costs less than the bike itself. Seriously.
Friends don't let friends buy Walmart bikes.
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Out the 10BaseT, through the modem, down the co-ax, over the fiber, across the backhaul, past the edge router, off the network...nothing but net |
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Ken
Premium,MVM
join:2003-06-16
Brownsburg, IN
| reply to dibbb
My wife and I bought two cheapo $150 Schwinn bikes from Target about 5 years ago. We occasionally ride around the neighborhood maybe 1-2 miles. The bikes lasted for years just fine, then this summer a friend wanted me to start riding with him. We were riding 5-10 miles at a time, and on the third time my bike completely destroyed itself. What I subsequently found out is that Schwinn makes decent bikes that they sell in local bike shops, and they make replacement parts for those bikes. Schwinn also makes a lower class of bikes that they sell in the big box stores like Walmart, Target, Kmart, Toys-R-Us, that they don't make replacement parts for. They consider those cheaper bikes just throwaway bikes.
So consider carefully how long you really want the bike to last, and what you are going to be doing with it. Those cheapo $150 Walmart bikes might be fine for you, or they might not. |
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r81984
Fair and Balanced
Premium
join:2001-11-14
St John'S, NL
·magicjack.com
·Cox HSI
·Insight Communicat..
·AT&T Midwest
| reply to DannyZ
said by DannyZ :If you thrash your rear wheel, good luck finding a rear hanger or a bolt-on 700c rim that costs less than the bike itself. Seriously. Friends don't let friends buy Walmart bikes. I would normally agree, but they actually made a good bike when it comes to the Denali bike.
Any other walmart bike I had fell apart in less than a year.
This bike is cheap, durable, and good value.
You can search all over the internet and read the good reviews. »www.amazon.com/GMC-Denali-Road-B···points=1
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Democrats are not Socialists any more than Republicans are. |
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DannyZ
Gentoo Fanboy
Premium
join:2003-01-29
Erie, PA
| I have the $400 model that Walmart sold a few years ago, so I am aware of the quality of the bike.
Again, try finding a replacement rear hanger at all for that bike, or a reasonably priced 700c bolt on rear wheel.
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Out the 10BaseT, through the modem, down the co-ax, over the fiber, across the backhaul, past the edge router, off the network...nothing but net |
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