# 7 speed bicycle **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 13, 2014, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-speed-bicycle/688357 "2014-05-13T15:46:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2014, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-speed-bicycle/688357/1 "2014-05-13T15:46:56Z")
Is $150 a reasonable price for such a bike. It looks like its in excellent shape. I’ve heard that 7 speed internal hub bikes are usually very expensive and this seems like a pretty good deal. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2014, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-speed-bicycle/688357/2 "2014-05-13T16:00:34Z")
Brand, age, condition? ETA: Bike shop, private sale, Craigslist? ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2014, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-speed-bicycle/688357/3 "2014-05-13T16:13:12Z")
craigslist [http://madison.craigslist.org/bik/4465059822.html](http://madison.craigslist.org/bik/4465059822.html) New ones are $600 at the cheapest without all the bells ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2014, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-speed-bicycle/688357/4 "2014-05-13T16:25:33Z")
FWIW, the hub assembly itself is about $150 new, so it probably isn’t a terrible deal. The bike looks homemade, so can’t really vouch for the quality of everything else on it. Everything else looks a little flimsier than what normally comes on a the kind of slightly upmarket cruisers you normally see the 7-speed hubs on, so I’m not sure comparing it to a $600 bike is accurate. I could be wrong about that though, it’s hard to tell from the pictures. Do give it a careful test ride, though. The gearshift hubs are maintenance-free and generally pretty reliable, but they do sometimes go bad and are expensive to fix. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2014, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-speed-bicycle/688357/5 "2014-05-13T16:43:08Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2014, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-speed-bicycle/688357/6 "2014-05-14T14:07:56Z")
My around town cruiser has a Shimano Nexus 7 speed hub. When it works, it’s the greatest thing ever. Once it starts to go funky, it’s a mother fuck. Granted, it lasted for probably 10 years before its demise. i spent a couple of years futzing around with new cables and housings until I gave up the ghost. Ultimately, I replaced the wheel set with the cheapest pair I could find for about $230. i could not find a reasonably priced roller brake version and am now stuck with a coaster brake. That said, the internal hub Shimano is a thing of beauty. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2014, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-speed-bicycle/688357/7 "2014-05-14T14:15:02Z")
bought it for what I think is a nice deal. It cost me exactly 1/2 what I spent on fixing my multispeed bike from this brutal winter crud. Its now my new winter beater bike; I’ll bring it out next winter…in a couple of months.