I want to take up bicycling--nothing serious, just for leasure. A simple bike for cruising down the boardwalk, but ready for a workout if needed. I life in SF so there're a plenty of hills. Nothing too expensive, hopefully below $150. Should I go with those racing bikes with the ram-horn shaped handles, or the straight bar on mountain bikes? or whatever else. Please help out a newbie.
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What kind of bicycle should I buy?
- Thread starter Jackpot
- Start date
A
aznfatnerd
Guest
I agree with the other reviewer that $150 is a pretty low budget for a bike. But if you only have $150, a cheap bike is still better than no bike. Since you are riding mostly roads, it should hold up for a while. Just don't expect it to hold on mountain bike trails.
Either go to a department store or search for used bikes (craigslist has a lot). I doubt bike shops carry bikes that cheap. I would use craigslist because you will get a better bike for the money. When choosing a bike, do not even consider full suspension, which lowers the quality of the bike. Front suspension is very common now, but if you can find a fully rigid bike it would be nice since suspension is only needed on dirt trails, not roads in SF. A rigid bike with no suspension would have better parts than a bike with suspension. Also, bikes this cheap usually come with suspension that does not work very well. I'm not sure if you can get an old road bike (I assume that's what you mean by racing bike) for the price, but it would be nice. Otherwise, try to get a hybrid. If you can't find a hybrid either, then get a mountain bike. Make sure the bike has gears, unless you want to climb the steep hills in SF singlespeed. Most importantly, test ride the bike before you buy it so that you are sure nothing is broken and that it is working correctly.
Good luck
Either go to a department store or search for used bikes (craigslist has a lot). I doubt bike shops carry bikes that cheap. I would use craigslist because you will get a better bike for the money. When choosing a bike, do not even consider full suspension, which lowers the quality of the bike. Front suspension is very common now, but if you can find a fully rigid bike it would be nice since suspension is only needed on dirt trails, not roads in SF. A rigid bike with no suspension would have better parts than a bike with suspension. Also, bikes this cheap usually come with suspension that does not work very well. I'm not sure if you can get an old road bike (I assume that's what you mean by racing bike) for the price, but it would be nice. Otherwise, try to get a hybrid. If you can't find a hybrid either, then get a mountain bike. Make sure the bike has gears, unless you want to climb the steep hills in SF singlespeed. Most importantly, test ride the bike before you buy it so that you are sure nothing is broken and that it is working correctly.
Good luck
I dont know where people like you come from but $150 for a bike? I guess you are looking at used bikes or walmart bikes. Even for used bikes for $150 you wont get much. You need to test ride the bikes. Also make sure you know your proper frame size because the bike shop workers will try to sell that frame they have. For example, being 5'9" if I walked into a store they would try to sell me the 54cm road frame or the 56cm road frame when the 56cm is TOO BIG FOR ME!! I know that my proper frame size is around 52cm based on the lemond equation. So dont expect these bike shop workers to tell you the truth. Another thing, most decent bikes will cost atleast $400 these days. And atleast $1,000 if you are purchasing a road bike. That $150 price range wont get you any decent ride. You dont even need to ask this question for that price range. Anything you buy will be utterly worthless.