Help with choosing a used Bicycle

[TSXCman]

Hey guys,

I am in Ontario for university and have been looking for a bike to use for school and getting groceries. So far I have purchased a crappy hybrid bike that lasted me for a mmonth before I blew the rear tire on a curb. I actually liked the tire size on the hybrid since it was easy to hit top speeds. Now I need a replacement for as much of the year as posssible, including some winter days. I have a bike on trial, and a potential offer that I am considering so far in my pricerange of $50.

1) Reebok Avalanche Bike. I cannot find a single bit of information on this bike except for the link the poster put in his ad, which has lost its source for information too, he says its an adults 26inch bike but the link he added is for a boys bike. This guy wants 120$, i offered 50$ and he jumped on it immediately, shoulda asked lower I suppose. A problem I find with used bikes is that I can never google any records of the bike name/brands to see what any retailers sell it for or customer reviews. Has anyone heard of this HT24?

http://london.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-se...AdIdZ242398408

2) I recently met and bought a $50 road bike from a guy with a clause that I get 3 days to try it out and decide if i'll keep it.
The pictures were sent to my email so I will have to host them to get them up, this was my offer:

"I have a road bike you can have for fifty.
It is an old sears Pro Tour steel road bike. 1979 aprox
I have used it for three or four years. I just spent 50.00 for a tune up. It rides and shifts perfect. Brakes shimmy a little. The bike has a luggage rack on back.
The crank for the pedals is new last year. The bike has been painted a couple times over the years by some one. I sanded off some paint to see if it might be a valuable old vintage bike. It is not. The bike looks rough so nobody will steal it from you.They are more likely to offer you a hand out when they see it
Tires are three years old.
At fifty dollars I am giving away. It has been a spare bike and I have two other very exspensive road bikes and a Giant mountain bike which I am going to sell for 150.00.
Anyway the old road bike is a perfect size for you and you will like riding it. I have a road bike you can have for fifty.
It is an old sears Pro Tour steel road bike. 1979 aprox
I have used it for three or four years. I just spent 50.00 for a tune up. It rides and shifts perfect. Brakes shimmy a little. The bike has a luggage rack on back.
The crank for the pedals is new last year. The bike has been painted a couple times over the years by some one. I sanded off some paint to see if it might be a valuable old vintage bike. It is not. The bike looks rough so nobody will steal it from you.They are more likely to offer you a hand out when they see it
Tires are three years old.
At fifty dollars I am giving away. It has been a spare bike and I have two other very exspensive road bikes and a Giant mountain bike which I am going to sell for 150.00. "

My experience with the roadbike so far is that it does shimmy, I don't feel too confident in the breaking, the handlebars are so narrow that I feel that I would not have control to make quick accurate turns if needed, I can't drink and ride (going to friends house on weekends). The shifting works well (shifter on frame of bike), the speed is nice, and it has a nice luggage rack if I can get some simple tiedowns.

[MacDaddy77]

I would think for $50 as long as it has a seat, tires and a chain you should be good with anything.

[sclitheroe]

Bike #1. The dual suspension bikes will be hard to put racks on, it makes the bike look more theftable, and it’s crap suspension at that price point anyways.

I would talk bike #1 seller down to 50-60 bucks, and delight in your decidedly retro mountain bike.

[ricosuave]

If I were you, Id check out some of the bike shops, sports chek, etc and other retailers.

They will likely be blowing the prices out on their stock this time of year.

Or see if the local police do a bike auction?

[schteve_d]

Forget the dual suspension bike for what it sounds like you will be using it for. Alot of energy is wasted in the cycling of the rear suspension, particularily when pedalling up hill. A hardtail bike is also typically lighter. All else being equal and for the same money, you will also get a better hardtail bike (no $ spent on rear suspension).

I'd recommend different if you wanted to start taking mountain trails, but for work/school and back, groceries, that kind of thing I would write off rear suspension right away.

[worth]

I agree with the posters above. Stick with a hardtail bike. You don't need dual suspension unless you are going to be doing major trails. For anything in the City/Town, riding to school and the grocery store, dual suspension is totally unnecessary and completley inefficient.

Even if you wanted to mountain bike, you can do most trails with a hardtail anyway, just takes a little more effort. I take my hardtail to Canmore and Kaninaskis with no real problems.

[afc wimbledon]

Unless you absolutely can't afford any more I would try to scrape more than 50 bucks together for a bike, a 50 buck bike will be likely cheap heavy and falling apart, therefore you will not use it that much, spend a couple of hundred and get yourself something you will enjoy riding and will keep and take care of.

I would tend to look for a road bike, maybe an older Miele or the like, you can have a bike shop put striaght bars on it if you like.

[bossy22]

Do you cycle up any hills?
The reason I ask is because any $50 bike, is going to have crap components that will become a real headache. I would consider a singlespeed bike. No maintenance required really.

[Northendzone]

Originally Posted by afc wimbledon

I would tend to look for a road bike, maybe an older Miele or the like, you can have a bike shop put striaght bars on it if you like.

based on the OP's purpose for buying the bike (grocery/getting around) i'd would suggest that a road bike is not a good choice - he would be better off with a hybrid bike (beefier than a roadie, but not as heavy as a mtn bike).

out of those bikes #1 seems like an ok choice - i would not recommend a full suspensioon bike unless you are willing to spend $1,500.

be warned that those folks in charge of roads on ontario like to use salt, bikes do not like salt. learn how to take care of your ride to ensure that it is not a rusty mess by christmas...

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

based on the OP's purpose for buying the bike (grocery/getting around) i'd would suggest that a road bike is not a good choice - he would be better off with a hybrid bike (beefier than a roadie, but not as heavy as a mtn bike).

out of those bikes #1 seems like an ok choice - i would not recommend a full suspensioon bike unless you are willing to spend $1,500.

be warned that those folks in charge of roads on ontario like to use salt, bikes do not like salt. learn how to take care of your ride to ensure that it is not a rusty mess by christmas...

If he is just riding around town an older cro moly roadie with a couple of panniers on the back would be my choice.

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by bossy22

Do you cycle up any hills?
The reason I ask is because any $50 bike, is going to have crap components that will become a real headache. I would consider a singlespeed bike. No maintenance required really.

Actually, the first bike pictured is likely to have non-indexed shifting, which means it will shift to, and hold a gear, better than a poorly adjusted or cheap indexed shifter once you get used to using an old school thumbshifter.

I love non-indexed (or good quality) thumbshifters - they are simple, reliable, and much more tolerant of lower end derailleurs, stretched or worn cables, mud and snow, etc.

[J epworth]

You going to UWO as well? what side of campus are you living on? Because if your going to be biking up UC hill everyday your not going to want to have a cheap heavy bike, I think the first choice is the best option.

[TSXCman]

hey guys, great input so far. im scrapping the dual suspension ones. they werent of much interest in the first place. the first one does seem best if i can get him down to 50$ maybe. I also found someone selling this:

http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brows....jsp?locale=en

for 100 something, I talked down to 75$. new this year.


@kendal. I live in one of the apartments near the western gates, so the east side, and UC hill will be ridden up daily.

[schteve_d]

Originally Posted by TSXCman

hey guys, great input so far. im scrapping the dual suspension ones. they werent of much interest in the first place. the first one does seem best if i can get him down to 50$ maybe. I also found someone selling this:

http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brows....jsp?locale=en

for 100 something, I talked down to 75$. new this year.


@kendal. I live in one of the apartments near the western gates, so the east side, and UC hill will be ridden up daily.

It's hard to get too nit-picky in the price range you are looking at, but if you will be riding up a hill everyday you should take into account that this particular bike is a steel frame!

I mention it as it appears to be a LARGE steel frame!

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by schteve_d

It's hard to get too nit-picky in the price range you are looking at, but if you will be riding up a hill everyday you should take into account that this particular bike is a steel frame!

I mention it as it appears to be a LARGE steel frame!

Seriously, in this situation, the difference in weight between a $50 clunker and a $1000 bike is likely about 2 textbooks.

Frame weight is a tiny percentage of overall bike weight, and when you factor in rider+bike+cargo, its almost inconsequential. This isn't the Tour de France.

[TSXCman]

Im awaiting some responses for offers now. Thanks for all the input guys, I love how diverse the CalPuck community is. It is really helpful for everything

[Northendzone]

Originally Posted by afc wimbledon

If he is just riding around town an older cro moly roadie with a couple of panniers on the back would be my choice.

i can see where you are going, but why not select something with beefier tires?

[sclitheroe]

All bicycles weigh fifty pounds. A thirty-pound bicycle needs a twenty-pound lock. A forty-pound bicycle needs a ten-pound lock. A fifty-pound bicycle doesn't need a lock. ~Author Unknown

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

i can see where you are going, but why not select something with beefier tires?

The beefier the tires the higher the road resistance, assuming road use only 25cm 90 psi road tires are immeasurably easier to roll than 27 inch mountain tires.

A road bike will always be faster and easier (physically) to ride, and lends itself to distance better.

[TSXCman]

I am still waiting for a reply from bike owner #1, I'll need to see it in person but it seems good