OK, so last August I was laid off and since then I have been walking for 45-60 minutes each day. Now I’m thinking about getting a bike to mix-up the exercise a little - something to make it more interesting.
I plan on only using it on the rail-trail, for up to an hour each day.
I went to a bike shop and explained that I was a novice and the above parameters.
He immediately took me to the $550 - $650 bikes. About double what I was expecting. When I asked about entry-level bikes he said that they were much too heavy and I should *start *with these mid-level bikes.
Now I understand the serious racers are looking to take every last ounce off a bike.
But I just want a little exercise. Do I really have to spend $650 to get a bike to ride on a (mostly) flat surface, or will I get away with an entry-level bike? Are the entry level bikes going to fall apart? Are they *that *much heavier that a novice will notice?
If you’re staying on smooth trails, the cheapies shouldn’t fall apart, but there are a few features about the cheapest of bikes that makes them no fun to ride, which will result in them collecting dust.
Heavy rims & tires - most cheap bikes have chromed steel rims. More mass at the rims = more energy required to accelerate the bike. Any decent bike will have much lighter alloy rims that will give a bike a completely different character. Even though the energy required to maintain a speed is the same, the difference in acceleration makes the bike with lighter wheels feel much, much faster.
Derailleurs that barely work - most cheap bikes have a flat parallelogram rear derailleur. Any decent bike will have a slant parallelogram. The difference is the angle at which the derailleur moves the gear cage back and forth across the freewheel sprockets. As a flat parallelogram unit moves out to the smaller gears, the cage gets further from the freewheel and shifting accuracy suffers greatly. I don’t understand why these are even made, since putting the parallelogram at an angle isn’t exactly costly.
Moving between these price ranges will also likely take you from a carbon steel frame to a chrome-molybdenum (chromoly) frame, saving a couple pounds. And numerous other components will be manufactured to better specs, resulting in better braking, shift accuracy, durability etc.
All that said, you certainly can ride on a cheaper bike, and if you end up not using it much it will collect dust at a much better $/mote rate than the more expensive one.
I say no. I am still riding my $250, 6.5 year old bike. Plus, if I hadn’t taken to riding it often, I wouldn’t have felt a bad wasting only $250. As it is, I love riding it and despite being able to trade up and purchase a more expensive bike, I’m still enjoying mine and feel no need to buy a new one yet. I get it tuned up for around $120 every few years, but a more expensive bike also needs this.
I got mine at a bike shop so it isn’t like it was a wal mart special.
If you’re careful, and you shop around, you can find a decent compromise. I got last year’s model of the Kona Smoke for commuting – it cost $350. It’s probably heavier than it has to be, but it does the job well, and has decent quality components.
That said, I think there’s way too much hate for the cheapie bikes out there. A $150 mountain bike lasted me through college just fine. It did need a lot of constant tweaking and maintenance though, especially after a year or so.
I do want to say that my current bike is a huge improvement over my shitty but functional old mountain bike. Part of that is having a bike designed for how I want to use it (smooth tires and fenders and great pedals for city riding), and part is having decent quality components that don’t require constant adjustment.
I spent 650$ on my Giant Sedona. It’s a commuter bike, the best part about it is my Ass isn’t ridiculosly numb like it was on my old bike. Feels more solid. If you use it to bike to work I’d reccomend something in the 500$ range.
Have you taken them out for a ride yet? Any good bike shop will let you take it out. See what you think. Also my Bike shop gave me free service for a year. I trust bike shops more then I would say Wal Mart.
Is buying used an option? You can get some good deals on Craigslist if you’ve got someone who knows what they’re doing. What about a used sports store? Maybe one of the bike shops has some used bikes in stock? For some light exercise riding, a bike that 30 or more years old should work just fine if it’s been kept in fairly good shape.
For reference, I bought my '81 Miyata touring bike for $65 on Craigslist, and it works just about as well as any new bike.
If you do end up with a $200-$300 level bike, please find yourself a comfortable new saddle to go with it. I didn’t, and I’ve been in a lot of pain because of that.
Don’t mistake cushion for comfort. If you’re planning to spend more than five minutes on the thing, squishiness causes more problems than it solves. Shape is what is important.
My vote is a used bike for $200 to $300 dollars max. You can get a decent bike that will not require a lot of maintenance. More money buys you lighter components so you can go faster. You’re riding for exercise, not to win races. You can still race against your own time so you can track improvement. If you start riding with groups, and if they have better bikes AND you’re not keeping up, you can get a better bike. If you’re keeping up on a cheaper bike, smile and keep riding.
Go for the more expensive bike. It will be worth it.
Back in the early 90’s, I need to save money, and I was tired of risking my life on a motorbike, so I decided to save on gym fees, bike registration and insurance in one hit. I purchased a cheap all-round (MTB style frame, no shocks) bike - steel frame, basic gearing, steel rims. My ride was 15km each way, so a pretty significant ride every single day. I did get fit, but I also developed a really sore knee. I also replaced the crank bearings every 2-3 months and the rear axle twice.
After a year (and a visit to an orthopedic surgeon) I revisited the bike shop, and got a much better (lighter alloy frame, alloy wheels, better shifters etc) bike. Within a month my knee was better, I was getting to work faster, and I had fewer repair costs. I was much happier, and dragged that bike half way round the world to the UK. It is in great nick, and I still ride it regularly - in fact, it is in the boot of my car now, and I’ll go for a ride sometime this week. All I want now is a second set of wheels with a smaller cluster and smooth tyres for road touring.
The more expensive bikes really are worth it - and $550 - $650 really is entry level these days, believe it or not-- unless you want to deal with heavy everything, shitty brakes, shitty derailleur, shitty tires, shitty pedals, etc. You would absolutely not believe how much difference weight - especially rotating weight - makes on a bicycle. Last time I bought new tires I sprung for the ones that were 100 grams (about 3 ounces, I think) lighter, and the difference was drastic. I was able to easily go up a hill in 1-4 that I usually struggled on in 1-1.
The good news is that delusional couch potatoes buy bikes all the time and sell them for half or less once they come to their senses and want the extra garage space back. A used shop believe it or not won’t be much cheaper than a new shop but keep an eye on Craigslist, and be patient. Look every day for a couple weeks if you have to.
We talking road tires here? A 100g difference in road tires means you pretty much went from boat anchors to handmade race-specific ultra lights.
Rotating weight is pretty much the only thing to worry about in acceleration, and light tires certainly make a difference here, but in a sustained effort (such as any significant hill climb) 200g is 200g no matter where it’s placed. I expect your gearing change is more due to enthusiasm than anything else.
Not to undersell the advantages of buying the better bike, on the low end (under a grand) you’ll make significant advances in quality for very little additional money. It’s worth the investment up front for increased performance (and I don’t just mean speed), reliability and maintainability.
There’s definitely a big difference between a $80 Walmart bike and a $550 bike. Everything will feel more solid and move smoothly, and the parts will be better quality, properly aligned, easier to adjust, easier to replace, etc. I’m not sure how good a $250 bike is these days, however.
In any case, it sounds to me like the bike shop didn’t let you test ride different bikes to see for yourself. Either they didn’t have a less expensive bike to show you, or they were just trying to push you towards a more expensive bike. It may be worth your time to visit other bike shops in the area and try to test-ride different bikes. (I’m sorry to say that good bike shops are very hard to find - try to find one where the owner/salesperson doesn’t make you feel intimidated, and don’t keep you waiting endlessly while they chat with their regulars.)
The bike shop is on a very busy highway. I don’t know if they allow test rides or not, but I would be a little hesitant on that highway. IMO, it is not always safe for cars…
I appreciate the input from everyone.
I am not willing to spend 500+ on something I might end up not enjoying, but it seems the ones in my range may not give me a good idea on whether I enjoy it or not.
I like the idea of buying used and am willing to watch craigslist. I’m in no real hurry.
Can you guys give me an idea of the brand and model I should be looking for? I’m comfortable spending a few hundred dollars, but wouldn’t know what a good deal is.
Ha! It’s not just delusional couch potatoes, either. I bought a $1100 bike brand new last summer, and am considering selling it on Craigslist for something around $700. Why? I am looking at a new $3000 bike.
It’s probably not useful to give specific recommendations, as there are so many bike brands and so many models from each brand. And bikes are like PCs - they are made up of largely standardized parts, most of which are sourced from other companies.
But you can get some idea of the bike’s grade by looking at the components. The derailleur and shifters are the most obvious, because they’re mostly made by Shimano or SRAM. For MTBs (and “hybrid” bikes), Shimano Alivio is a budget grade; next grade is Dore, then Deore-LX, XT, and XTR in that order. For road bikes, Sora is the budget grade, Tiagra is next up, then 105, Ultegra, and Dura-Ace. Even Alivio and Sora are decent, noticeably better than the no-name components found on Walmart bikes, but Sora and Tiagra class bikes are usually a better bet. For SRAM, the grades go something like 3.0, 5.0, 7.0, 9.0, X.O. I find 5.0 and up are pretty decent.
Definitely look for 8-speed or 9-speed bikes, as it is becoming difficult to find good 6- and 7-speed replacement parts. That refers to the number of speeds at the rear; it’s usually combined with 2 or 3 gears in the front, to give you up to 3x9=27 gear combinations.
I think you should give yourself a budget, then go to 3 or 4 or 5 bike shops in your vicinity. See what they have in your price range, and take a test ride. Don’t buy a bike unless you can take a test ride! You need to have the fit set up for your comfort BEFORE you take it home.
See what the shops have to offer in way of service–can they give you a quick minor repair while you wait, or do you have to give the bike to them for a week? Some places will set you up with a small toolkit, pump, etc. as part of your purchase.
As far as the $500 price tag goes, you should be able to find a decent ride for that. Trouble is, if you like riding THAT bike, you’ll wish you had spend “just a little bit” more.
Used lugged steel frame bikes can be had for $150 or so via bike shops or ebay, or $20 from thrift stores, etc. IMO they ride much nicer than mid-range bikes which are usually aluminum framed and have to be very stiff to avoid early fatigue failure…to make them ride as nice as a steel frame they need a suspension fork and/or a pogo-stick seatpost, which negates any weight advantage.
The catch is that you have to know how to spot a good quality frame, spot any damage, and know how to fix the component problems that the really good deals will surely have…paying a mechanic to do it is a losing proposition, and a lot of the kids that work in bike stores won’t know how/be willing to deal with the older bikes.
Are there any bike co-ops near you? College towns, or even big citys with a college or two (like Boston for example) usually have something along those lines…at least a used bike store if nothing else.
