check out bikesdirect.com good bikes at discount prices and I have bought two thru them. I would look at steel frames in your price range.
What is the best bike for your buck?
(62 posts)
(30 voices)
| Category | Topics |
|---|---|
| RAGBRAI XL | 436 |
| RAGBRAI XXXIX | 1,849 |
| Clubs, Teams & Charters | 206 |
| Gatherings & Meetings | 16 |
| Training | 31 |
| Miscellaneous | 263 |
I’ve mentioned I’m partial to the LeMond bikes from just after the millenium began. Here is one on eBay that is still low – not bad for a bike that sold for $4949 brand new! This is a 2003 model – not a 2008 as the ad mentions.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330689978879
I don’t know the size – but it is light and has nice components.
SSC1.
Guy,
You should seriously consider a USED road bike for your first. You can get alot more quality components for the kind of money you are going to spend. Buy name brand for sure. Enlist the help of someone who knows something about bikes and the parts that go on them, which make up what is called the “component group”. A good quality bike will last a long time and be relatively trouble free. Ride it a couple of years and then drop the coin for new if you’re “for sure” hooked on cycling. My honest opinion is, really good quality starts at $1000 for new.
I get asked about how much to spend on a bike a lot and the answer is how much are you really going to bike other than RAGBRAI? If you’re not into bicycling as a sport or hobby or to commute and you’re only going to ride once in a while then go with a cheap bike. You can get an entry level bike at a bike shop at a reasonable price. Or a good used bike if you look around. I’ve picked up some good used bikes from the trash and given them away. Check out a bike club web site too for used bikes or advertise on one (it’s free with our club to all members). Or borrow a bike for RAGBRAI. I’ve taken bike club members who did not last but one day on their first RAGBRAI (long story but they did not like it and left) so you really do not know if you’ll like the event until you actually ride it. And then you may never want to sit on a bike again (hope this is not the case but could happen). I send people new to biking to Dick’s and Toys R Us to buy a good bike cheap. Retail stores carry a pretty good new bike for less than $200 that you can ride on RAGBRAI. Seriously.
It’s my experience that many people spend way more than they should for a bike because they want a light-weight bike to go up hills. And then they try it and find out bicycling is a lot of work (for them). What I like doing … bicycling for hours on end and climbing mountains and traveling is a lot of fun for me but others see it as drudgery. My wife is a good example. She humored me when the kids were young and we went on bike trips on the C&O Canal but one day she admitted she really hated every single minute spent on a bike. Well, we miss her when biking but that’s life and fortunately she encourages me to bike despite the misfortunes like accidents. Lots of people buy bikes and spend a lot of money on the equipment and then ride it a few times or maybe for a year or two and then for one reason or another it sits in the garage gathering rust and dust. Make sure you really like cycling before spending more than you can afford. And its the same with exercise equipment … gets used for a short time and then becomes a clothes rack.
I will reiterate visit bike shops. Try them out. Find what fits you. Let them know you are looking for something used. Even chain stores carry used ones (you have to ask…and they usually are very familiar with the bike). I got lucky on my bike and love the fact I spent more than I had planned and got a super deal. Make friends with the bike guys and don’t buy anything you haven’t ridden.
steve: You send people new to biking to Dick’s and Toys R Us to buy a good bike cheap?..surely you jest..
I agree. That is misinformation, plain & simple. But not to worry; Most ppl couldn’t even lift one of those big box store babies down from their display rack without major back strain, leave alone trying to hurd one over the hills of IA in 90 deg F. heat.
Obviously you’ve never looked at the bikes in Toys R Us or Dick’s … good quality bikes for $200 or less, perfectly suitable for the novice biker and will last for the short time most newbies are going to spend biking and then give it away. And these bikes are not any heavier than the average multi-speed bike in a bike shop. Most serious bikers would not consider buying a cheap bike but for the person who is not going to bike more than a few times a year it makes sense. You really do not need to spend $500 or more for a new or used bike to ride and enjoy a week on RAGBRAI.
I do not jest and it is not “misinformation” to suggest affordable alternatives to people new to biking.
I wouldn’t get one of those throw away bikes for something like RAGBRAI. Maybe for a kid to ride around the neighborhood or to school. About the time it breaks down they will probably have outgrown it. And I call it a throw away bike because the first time something on it breaks, if it can be fixed, it will probably cost more than the bike was worth. And do the people in the big box stores really know anything about the bikes they sell or even how to put them together?
and now that Dick’s has been mentioned, wasn’t it last year there was a group wearing that attire that was being very true to the name? in a BIG way?
Now wait a minute… McPartla may be on to something here. Instead of spending $500 on a good quality used bike from the LBS, you spend $150 on a BSO (Bicycle Shaped Object) at Wal Mart.
Since you only ride “A few times a year” you really have no chance in riding all the across Iowa anyway. Your probably just there for the hedonistic party that you think RAGBRAI is.
SO you have $350 dollars you saved by buying a BSO. (That will buy a lot of beer!) And you secretly planned on SAGing your way across iowa anyway and now have the excuse of a POS bike to blame it on!
I’m thinking this is an excellent plan! Better cancel my order for a new Felt F65X…
Michrider: How about the $10 bikes at Goodwill? At least they would be easier to “throw away”!!!!!
Hey, don’t dis the $10 Goodwill bikes !! That’s what I’ve got in the basement on my trainer (Centurian with a 1976 city registration on it, so at least that old). Works as well as a $3000 bike for that purpose.
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