kids bike kent image
vargasdfw
I want to spend $200 to $300 on a street bicycle. Is there anything decent for that price range that you would recommend?
Answer
That price range is the tipping point: anything below $200 is going to be Walmart crap, anything over $300 starts to get into semi-decent territory...and escalates in price really fast. Bicycle manufacturers know this and structure their lines to draw you into crossing that magic $300 barrier.
However, that price will get you a very decent, nearly unused bike on Craigslist. Here's the scenario:
Joe says I need to get in shape.
-------------------------------------------------------
Joe says I remember bikes were fun when I was a kid, I'll buy one.
-------------------------------------------------------
Joe says "I'm a grown-up now, I can afford a 'real' bike" and spends $500-$600+ at the LBS
-------------------------------------------------------
Joe rides it once, loves it
-------------------------------------------------------
Joe rides it twice and notices his ass hurts but still likes it
-------------------------------------------------------
Joe reluctantly rides a third time and finds his ass is killing him, his legs are tired and he can't catch his breath.
-------------------------------------------------------
Joe puts it in the garage.
-------------------------------------------------------
Joe's wife makes him put it up for sale 2-3 years later.
-------------------------------------------------------
Joe either dumps it in shame for next to nothing or tries to get his money back, fails miserably and eventually sells the bike at a fire sale price on CL or gives it to his church to sell at the next fundraiser.
Look for one of these and avoid Joe before he gets educated about how much his bike is really worth. If you don't know much about bikes either find a friend who does or stick to the major quality brands: Trek, Cannondale, Specialized, etc. Ask for help on the mass-market brands: Schwinn, Raleigh, (Trek, too), Giant, Fuji -- some are excellent, some are fair to poor. Don't buy old department store brands for any reason: Murray, Huffy, Kent, AMF and stay away from vintage bikes, no matter how gorgeous, unless you have someone with you who really knows what they are doing.
Good luck!
That price range is the tipping point: anything below $200 is going to be Walmart crap, anything over $300 starts to get into semi-decent territory...and escalates in price really fast. Bicycle manufacturers know this and structure their lines to draw you into crossing that magic $300 barrier.
However, that price will get you a very decent, nearly unused bike on Craigslist. Here's the scenario:
Joe says I need to get in shape.
-------------------------------------------------------
Joe says I remember bikes were fun when I was a kid, I'll buy one.
-------------------------------------------------------
Joe says "I'm a grown-up now, I can afford a 'real' bike" and spends $500-$600+ at the LBS
-------------------------------------------------------
Joe rides it once, loves it
-------------------------------------------------------
Joe rides it twice and notices his ass hurts but still likes it
-------------------------------------------------------
Joe reluctantly rides a third time and finds his ass is killing him, his legs are tired and he can't catch his breath.
-------------------------------------------------------
Joe puts it in the garage.
-------------------------------------------------------
Joe's wife makes him put it up for sale 2-3 years later.
-------------------------------------------------------
Joe either dumps it in shame for next to nothing or tries to get his money back, fails miserably and eventually sells the bike at a fire sale price on CL or gives it to his church to sell at the next fundraiser.
Look for one of these and avoid Joe before he gets educated about how much his bike is really worth. If you don't know much about bikes either find a friend who does or stick to the major quality brands: Trek, Cannondale, Specialized, etc. Ask for help on the mass-market brands: Schwinn, Raleigh, (Trek, too), Giant, Fuji -- some are excellent, some are fair to poor. Don't buy old department store brands for any reason: Murray, Huffy, Kent, AMF and stay away from vintage bikes, no matter how gorgeous, unless you have someone with you who really knows what they are doing.
Good luck!
I wonder what this means if you compare bike shop bikes to department store bikes?
Shawn B
I remember over the past couple of years, I've been using a bicycle as my main method of transportation and I remember getting like this Next mountain bike, GMC Denali bicycle, and also a Kent mountain bike from Wal-Mart and within about 2 to 3 months, the crank barrens would go out, spokes would break, the gear sprocket would go out and so forth. So you would say it sure has some wear and tear on it, now for these 2 bicycles that I bought from the bike shop which is a Fuji Royal 27 speed and a Felt sixty nine 27 speed as far as wear and tear gose on them, I just don't know about those bicycles, I been having them so are for the past several months and so far may have got a little dirt on them, but have held up well, so I don't know about them as far as wear and tear gose. What do you think about the Fuji or Felt brand of bicycles compared to other brands like Schwinn, Mongoose, Next, Huffy, or Pacific bicycles. I know the brands of bicycles I have now, you can't find them at any Wal-Mart or K-mart or any Target store, but you can only find them at an independent bicycle shop.
Answer
People who buy bicycles at Wal Mart and Target are buying only by price. So Wal Mart and Target know they can foist off real crap on them, so long as they can beat the prices of bike shops. They're usually buying bikes for their kids, so they don't even really care.
Some manufacturers, like Schwinn, make two kinds of bikes! They make the cheap stuff for Wal Mart and they make a whole different line of good bikes for bike shops. So you can't really go by brand. Some famous old European brands are now made in China and are nothing like the bikes that made their reputation. Anyway it doesn't matter what brand a bike is, it matters what stuff it has on it--deraileurs, sprockets, cranks, shifters, etc.
Also if you look on Craigslist, you see a lot of people will buy a really nice bike, they ride it a few times and then the bike sits in the garage for years & years, and then they put it on Craigslist. You can get some 'vintage' bikes that are 30 years old and they still have the 'whiskers' on the original tires! If I was going to buy another bike, that would be the first place I'd look.
BTW Fuji and Felt both have very good reputations, also brands like Trek and Cannondale and Marin and so forth. Mongoose is a little cheaper. But again, what really matters is what stuff they have on them. And every time I look at bikes I see brands I never heard of! I always suspect they're just rebranded from the brands I know. It isn't hard to set up a new bicycle company because you buy everything outside--shifters, brakes, cranks & pedals, bearings, wheels, etc. etc. You might have a special design for your frame, or you might buy those in bulk from some factory in China that makes frames for everyone else.
People who buy bicycles at Wal Mart and Target are buying only by price. So Wal Mart and Target know they can foist off real crap on them, so long as they can beat the prices of bike shops. They're usually buying bikes for their kids, so they don't even really care.
Some manufacturers, like Schwinn, make two kinds of bikes! They make the cheap stuff for Wal Mart and they make a whole different line of good bikes for bike shops. So you can't really go by brand. Some famous old European brands are now made in China and are nothing like the bikes that made their reputation. Anyway it doesn't matter what brand a bike is, it matters what stuff it has on it--deraileurs, sprockets, cranks, shifters, etc.
Also if you look on Craigslist, you see a lot of people will buy a really nice bike, they ride it a few times and then the bike sits in the garage for years & years, and then they put it on Craigslist. You can get some 'vintage' bikes that are 30 years old and they still have the 'whiskers' on the original tires! If I was going to buy another bike, that would be the first place I'd look.
BTW Fuji and Felt both have very good reputations, also brands like Trek and Cannondale and Marin and so forth. Mongoose is a little cheaper. But again, what really matters is what stuff they have on them. And every time I look at bikes I see brands I never heard of! I always suspect they're just rebranded from the brands I know. It isn't hard to set up a new bicycle company because you buy everything outside--shifters, brakes, cranks & pedals, bearings, wheels, etc. etc. You might have a special design for your frame, or you might buy those in bulk from some factory in China that makes frames for everyone else.
Powered by Yahoo! Answers
Title Post: I want to spend $200 to 300 on a bike. Is there anything decent for that price range that you would recommend?
Rating: 94% based on 932 ratings. 4,1 user reviews.
Author: Unknown
Thanks For Coming To My Blog
Rating: 94% based on 932 ratings. 4,1 user reviews.
Author: Unknown
Thanks For Coming To My Blog
No comments:
Post a Comment