Need to buy a bike for my son’s 18th birthday. He has made do with hand me down bikes from neighbors, but we don’t live in a bike friendly area. Now that he’s headed to college I think I new bike is a good gift.
I don’t really know where to start or what is a reasonable amount of money to spend or what kinds of upselling to avoid or what features are valuable.
I don’t expect him to be going on long rides in the country, just tooling from class to class a little faster than walking will get him.
Local bike shop. Walmart, Target, etc. are junk bikes. I think 3-400 will get you a good, basic bike new or a better quality bike used.
Fit is critical, even for short rides. It’s more pleasant and he may wind up riding farther.
This is always the advice for bike-buying. There’s plenty of threads about it.
Any decent bike shop can work within the budget you want and get you a better deal than buying something from a big box store, and also (as running coach said, how the bike fits your son is critical. A too-big or too-small bike will be miserable regardless of how great the bike is.
I would usually advise against the bike-shaped object (things from the big box retailers), but this might actually be in order here. Do you expect him to migrate to being a serious biker, or is he pretty much going to go only from the dorm to class to class?
What’s the incidence of bicycle theft on campus and the community?
I hate myself for saying this, but a sub $200 bike might be just the thing. On the other hand, you might pick up a decent used bike on Craigs List for that price, and have a better bike.
I agree, and was going to say the same thing. A campus bike should not be a nice looking, new ride, lest it attract thieves, especially if it has to be kept outside at night and in the elements. Agree on being a good fit, tho. The bike charity I volunteer with usually sells a few campus bikes to students at the local U for around $100 each fall, and each early summer you will find some of those same students getting rid of their bike for cheap. As long as it fits well and runs good, you can go with a cheap, used ride in this case - if something happens to it - no biggee.
Personally, for a campus bike, I think a cheap, used mountain bike is the way to go. Get the local bike shop to tune it up for $100 (cassette, chain, gear adjustment, cables) and you’ll have a ride that is perfect for most campuses.
Around here is a major university and every single part of a bike will get stolen. Seats, lights, wheels, etc. A new bike would just be replacing new parts and get expensive. Get a good lock.
You might want to consider if a bike is really worth the hassle on a campus. Some campuses are sprawling and if he lives off campus getting to/from classes on a bike is great. Other campuses are a little closer knit and a bike would just be slower going from class to class because of time needed to lock and unlock. Also, dealing with a bike in the rain/snow/adverse weather conditions is another hassle. It might even require special riding gear (water proof pants, shoe booties, fenders, etc.) If school is somewhere sunny and warm, no problem. Montana in the winter is not a place I’d want to be biking.
If it’s for riding to class, what he needs is a commuter bike or “city bike.” These would have fenders (very important if he ever bikes to class on rainy days or when the streets are wet) and luggage rack; better ones will have internal gear hubs and dynamo hubs.
What he wants may be something less practical and more “cool.”
You might consider a folding bike – easy to fold up and carry into a dorm room or tiny apartment so it doesn’t get stolen. I have a Dahon D7HG which I often choose to ride instead of my full size bike just because it is fun to ride.
Another vote for a visit to a local bike specialty shop although this post makes a LOT of sense to me as well. Especially if we’re talking a college town (say Bloomsburg) as opposed to a city college such as Pitt.
All bikes are shipped disassembled, in a box.
So, it boils down to–how good is the guy putting it together?
At a bike shop, you get a trained/experienced bike mechanic, who has all the right tools.
At a Big Box store, you get a 78-year-old woman named Gert.
City bikes with upright riding positions work great for their intended purpose - i.e. short to moderate distance rides while carrying stuff, without need for special clothing (e.g. padded gloves). Don’t criticize them because they don’t suit YOUR riding style.