Mrs. Homie has a pretty basic, utlitarian, nothing special, run-of-the-mill bicycle, not much unlike this one. It has sat neglected in a garage for 6 years, and we’d like to dust it off and get it out onto the streets.
The bike has two flat tires; the rear brakes don’t respond, and the wire that leads from the gear-changing gizmo (sorry, I don’t know what it’s called) is drooping to the point that it could get tangled up in the pedals. Oh, and the gears and chain are covered in rust (nothing a little Rust-oleum won’t help, I think).
Anyone familiar with the cost of bicylce repair? I’d be interested in knowing how much this refurbishment is going to cost me, in light of the fact that I can buy her a whole new bike for $150ish.
What brand of bicycle is it? If it is a big box El-cheapo special it probably isn’t worth fixing. If on the other hand, it is a good quality bike even if you spend a $150 dollars to fix it, you will be better off than if you bought a brand new $150 bike from Wal-Mart.
If you decide to get her a new bike, don’t go to Wal-Mart or another big box store to buy it. Go to a local bike shop and buy there. You will get a much better quality bike for either the same price, or just a few dollars more.
Most definately. Bikes from those big box retailers are pretty much disposable when they wear out and aren’t worth fixing.
A decent brand bike from a local bike shop however will last forever. I’ve got a couple of Treks up in the attic right now that haven’t been touched in 5 years that could be street ready with a tune up for less than $40.
I had a bike in similar shape a few years ago. If you’re at all mechanically inclined, you can probably fix just about everything just by taking it apart and cleaning everything, followed by a good oiling. You may need to replace a few things: brake pads, cables, chain, tire and innertubes. This’ll probably cost around $50 if everything else is fixable.
That’s getting close to the price of a new cheap bike. Probably not worth it unless you have more time than money or you enjoy fiddling with this sort of thing.
Around here, there’s a huge variation in how much you can pay for bike repairs. I’ve taken my bike into two places, and one charged five times as much as the other. Nor is it a matter of quality of service: The cheaper place around me is the one that does the better job. You definitely want to get advice from other bikers in your hometown.
For what you describe, I could see it running anywhere from $50 to $200, or more if there are some less obvious things wrong with it. A good business would give you an honest estimate of the costs, and tell you whether it was worth just getting a new one. A lousy business would give you an estimate, then fix half a dozen things they didn’t include in the estimate, for an inflated price, and then after you paid the bill, tell you that you should buy a new one.
Unless you just like tinkering, toss it. It’s going to be more time, money, and trouble than it’s worth. (My SO would take it off your hands, but he does things like take bikes out of the trash, chop them up, and weld them together again in a different configuration; he’s a bit weird like that.)
Go to your local bike shop for the next one. Not only will it be much lighter and more comfortable, it will last a lot longer and be much safer (I’ve looked at the construction on those box-store bikes :eek: ). AND the bike shops usually throw in some free maintenance to keep it running well.
Ask them about used bikes - most bike shops keep “trade-ins” to sell to people just getting started biking. They’ll have already done the tuneup work on those. It’s a great way to get a good bike at a discount price.
If you want to try to do the work yourself, from what you’ve said it probably needs new tubes in the tires, new cables*, possibly new brake pads, new chain, and maybe new cassette** and/or chainrings*** (depending on condition).
You’d want to take everything apart and clean it (NO RUSTOLEUM ON THE GEARS!!), lube it, and put it back together with the new parts as needed.
I’d recommend getting a really good bike maintenance manual. I like this one, but there are others.
*the wires that run from the handlebar brake handles or gear changers to the actual gizmos.)
**the gears on the back wheel, they generally come all as one piece
***the gears where the pedals are
The problem with just trying to tinker on a big box bike is that they often use non-standard parts that are just unavailable.
so you could face the problem that you are 75% done with a repair, and there is one part you must have, and it is unavailable. :smack:
Yeah, what Rick said: get a decent used bike, instead of a Wal-Mart cheapo. In the long run a much better deal.
Also, I always recommend brushing up on technique: Bicycling Street Smarts - Table of Contents
