Purchasing a bike

[garrus]

Hey! :)
I want to start cycling for belly-killing and money-saving purposes.

Any tips about buying one and bicycles in general?
Should i buy a used one?

[ВАЛТЕР]

Stick some cards into the spokes so it makes a cool engine sound.


Yeah, you can get a used one. Just make sure the breaks are functioning well, the speeds change properly, and that the chain isn't all rusty n stuff.

[Sasha]

What do you want to do with and what is your landscape/climate like?
The more bells and wistles the more that can break. If you live in flat part of the country with decent roads get a single or max 3 speed racing bike (if you can get your hands on a track bike you can later convert to fixed gear if you want so), if hilly or shitty roads consider an MTB, still no one needs 30 gears, shit will just break. even if you get an (say second hand) bike with lots of gears consider converting it to a singlespeed or a hubgear so you can do away with the many gears and dérailleur, you can even do this with an MTB or a racing bike with vertical dropouts if you replace the dérailleur with a simple chain tensioner)
Also, don't buy anything Chinese and while historical bikes look sweet lots of new parts wont fit so broken stuff is hard to replace.
If you live somewhere where they salt the roads in the winter you will have to clean and oil your bike after every use in that period, else your bike will be gone in a matter of weeks. Clean your chain anyways regularly, small effort and will last your parts a lot longer.
I have a single speed/fixed gear Kona paddywagon, good but reasonably affordable bike...

[Sasha]

last but not least, buy a decent lock, preferably a hardened chain with decent padlock and not an u-lock. always lock both frame and front wheel to something
like this http://sfcitizen.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/7J7C6441-copy.jpg

if you lock the bike not on to something they will just walk or drive away with your bike and open it somewhere private, if you lock only the wheel they will take out the wheel and make off with the frame, if you lock only the frame they will nick you wheels at best and at worst use the frame as a lever to crack the lock (hence why u-lock are shitty compared to chains) and make off with the whole bike

[Ele'ill]

if you're in the US maybe buy a $50-$150 walmart mountain bike to start out with, less to worry about getting broken/stolen gives you cheap practice for repairs and maintenance.

[Comrade Nasser]

I never learned or cared for riding a bike. But I can give you some excercise tips. It's simple really all I do is swim, treadmill, run, crunches, and lift weights, and don't eat to much junk food. If you do that and bike you'll be as thin as a gazelle, if that's what you're going for.

[ВАЛТЕР]

Listen to Psycho. He's from the Netherlands. They take bikes seriously there.

[skitty]

These forums were helpful to me:
http://forums.bicycling.com/eve?s=748105

I've got a road bike with 12-25 cassette that never gave me any trouble; but it was worth more than my car at the time. That should get you over most hills. Also built a fixed-gear bike for rail-trails. Try to do as little coasting as possible-fixed-gears are great because you can't:). I think if you're going to coast all over the place you may as well just stay on the couch!

[Os Cangaceiros]

I like coasting.

Bicycle riding was never about physical exercise for me, though. It was about getting from point A to point B when I didn't have a car.

[The Garbage Disposal Unit]

Community bike spaces are relatively common in cities, at least in Canada, or, failing that, universities often have something similar. If you can find one, you can often get used parts dirt-cheap and build/repair a bike with guidance from staff/volunteers. You end up saving money and you learn the things you need to know to keep your bike in more-or-less functional condition.

Other thoughts, in simplest terms posible:
The greater the diameter of the wheels, the easier it is to go fast.
Coaster breaks (where you pedel backward to stop) are the most fun, but in some places they don't "count" to the police, and you can get a ticket for not having breaks.
Reflectors! Another thing cops will hassle you about, depending on local laws.

[MarxArchist]

Community bikes



WHAT ARE YA? a COMMIE? ;)

[bcbm]

i ride a second hand single speed cobbled together from a bunch of stuff and take crap care of it and it still gets me around fine. and the tons of rust spots make it look like a piece of garbage so no one will ever want to steal it

[F9]

btw, this aint shit-chat once again, so before i start handing out warnings and become that evil bastard again, on serious questions answer seriously first, and then make your stupid remarks if you like as well.

with love:wub:

[garrus]

Thank you so much for the responses!

A little more info:
I can't afford to buy a single speed bike, since to get home i'm dealing with some really brutal uphill roads.I'm talking stairway to heaven angles.

A friend of mine gave me an ideal boomax to try out, with front suspension, street tires and disc brakes.

A relative of mine has another ideal , with full suspension that frickin glides , but is kinda heavy, and since it has MTB-ish tires, it kinda sticks to surfaced roads, and makes a sound like i'm driving an F1 car.

The money issue isn't such a problem, since i'm buying from a relative's friend , older model, etc so i get a sweet discount.

Now my dilemma is this:
should i buy a bike with full (rear & front) suspension, that will be heavier and a bit more tiring (as rear suspension "steals away" some pedaling through oscillation) but smooth and all-terain , or a lighter simpler one with only front suspension?

Whichever my choice, i think i''get trekking tires (uh, the medium once, neither street nor mountain), since i'm dealing with surfaced but poorly mantained roads.

Needless to say my butt hurts like hell from all this biking.

As far as the fitness goal's concerned, i'm planning to do bike my way to swimming and running places , so i'll aerobic exercise myself to skeletal size. :)

[Sasha]

Unless you plan to do some serious offroad freestyling I would never go for a softtail, trekking tires sound good, don't go for the widest posible keep it all medium, just pump them to their max in regular use and deflate them a bit if you go of the tarmac.

[Sasha]

And again, take the effort to clean and oil your bike reguarly, don't fuck arround with teflon shit, just regular chain cleaner, wipe with a cloth, regular chain oil, wipe excess with another clean cloth. Do this everytime your chain oil becomes non-see through. Make sure to clean your sprockets and derailleur too...

[garrus]

Unless you plan to do some serious offroad freestyling I would never go for a softtail, trekking tires sound good, don't go for the widest posible keep it all medium, just pump them to their max in regular use and deflate them a bit if you go of the tarmac.

Thanks!
You'd never go for a softtail because of the extra weight?

Also,i've been googling around for "trekking tires" but don't seem to find medium-thickness ones (which i assume is what trekking tires refer to).
There are thick MTB tires, and thin tires either slick or with an extruding pattern.
Are the latter ones the 'trekking tires'?

[Sasha]

Softtail makes your bike a lot slower, not the weight of it it self but the weight distribution, they are designed to make you stick to ground as much as posible which is good if you need to go round corners fast on gravel but will slow you down to much in regular use, the stiffer the frame the faster is a good rule of thumb if you mostly ride tarmac and if you learn to lift your bum before hitting a bump you just don't need it, tyres i would go for all weather streetprofile, deep grooves but no studs should be plenty and a far more comfertable ride..

[garrus]

Thanks psycho.One last thing:

The tires i have now completely drift off at surfaced roads with gravel, or with dirt.
There are the tires (quite eroded):
http://i40.tinypic.com/2ryn42t.jpg


http://i43.tinypic.com/110x191.jpg


Are these street/city tires, or are they the medium ones (between street and mtb tires) ?

[Sasha]

i dont know if its only wear but as you can see yourself the center of your tires, the piece normally in contact with the road is now essentially a slick, you have no thread what so ever so no wonder that you dont have grip.
i would look around for tires more like this:

http://www.rei.com/zoom/c/1064501.jpg/440

[garrus]

All right.Thanks for everything. :)

[garrus]

[nobody cares]
Well contrary to ALL advice i got a softtail, b-but because it was a used one,very good condition, very good bike and at a ridiculous price.

Biking is loads of fun.
My quadriceps hurt.
But i'm happy. :)
[/nobody cares]

[Nicolas_Cage]

I'd just go for the cheapest bike. I cycle regularly and I really don't respect this idea of buying high-budget bikes. All bikes break down so that can't be the reason for buying these insanely expensive bikes. I get that some people seek out lighter bikes but keep in mind: the harder it is to cycle, the more calories you're burning.

-NC

[Lina]

I have also purchase a bike. Even today i have make a final deal but the problem is that bike was another city and its too long and difficult to bring it with me.... HAve you any idea, what should i do?

[Ceallach_the_Witch]

I've been a fairly enthusiastic cyclist for a number of years now. Its great fun, great excercise and in my opinion, a great transport option. I've got two bikes at the moment, one of which I only got very recently. The older bike is just a generic city bike, six speeds on the back and three at the front (fairly common configuration here, I think.) It's pretty heavy and not very sophisticated, but it's sturdy and it's been well maintained. My other bike is a Trek 1.1, eight speeds at the back and two in the front. Aluminium frame and forks, skinny tyres and really fast. I can cruise pretty comfortably at around 20mph for hours. I use the lower gears quite a bit because I like going on long rides, so unfortunately I often encounter some pretty steep hills.

Both my bikes have pannier racks - again, it means I can carry maps, water, food, repairs and most importantly, a few beers.

[YaakaKhiladi]

I think it is a best option to purchase a used one..!
If you have any used option then must try it....!
It is quite effective to find a good stuff and also at a good price..