Tips on First time bike purchase

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  • kcjchang
    kcjchang Posts: 709 Member
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    You're better off buying a second hand bike. Pricing are pretty competitive and at the end you are just paying for looks and a few bucks for the advertisement and brand. I would stay away from suspension at the lower price range as they are more trouble than gain, a gimmick, and maintenance nightmare. Same goes with disc brakes. Markups are typical 2/3 to 1x so your $600 really cost the LBS $3-400 and much less for the manufacturers. What you get is $100 or less of junk.

    If you are handy, you can try online (e.g. bikes direct, bike shop warehouse, & bike island) and find local org/TMA/club where you can borrow tools. It pretty simple as they come nearly 80-90% assembled; you just need to adjust the seat, mount the bars, index the gearing, and true, round and mount the wheels. YouTube is your friend; GCN and Art's Cyclery are my tops. It's less than an hour of work if pressed. You'll need to do basically the same for second hand. Read up on basic fitting and you'll be in the ball park (Google Steve Hogg, Sheldon Brown, John Allen, & Keith Bontrager). Your LBS will probably give you a very basic fit for $600 bike (adjust the seat height, level, and fore positioning and perhaps adjust the stem height) and probably based of KOPS (run away, it's garbage). Get it from LBS if you don't want to do any work.

    As to bicycle types, they each have their strength and weaknesses. I'm partial to road and race geometry (road here also) so here is my bias: ditch the flat bar and get the widest tire that can fit the frame. If your plans don't include fast pace and long rides, get a hybrid and circle around the neighborhood. If you anticipate going mostly in the dirt and loose gravel, get a CX bike. If you are going to take on single trails, get a mountain bike. If it mostly paved, stay with road bike and start with one that have a more relaxed geometry.

    Save room in your budget to get a helmet, road kit, and a good pair of shorts. Once you find that cycling is your sport, you'll be pouring in the $$$.
  • beemerphile1
    beemerphile1 Posts: 1,710 Member
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    I have a Trek 7.2FX about 3 feet away from me right now in my office. It is the bike I ride most frequently. I love the bike.

    My Trek Madone is reserved for longer road rides and club rides unless the wife is along and then it is the Burley Duet tandem.
  • Old_Tymer
    Old_Tymer Posts: 1 Member
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    Take it for what it's worth - A good fitting regardless of hybrid, mountain, or road goes a long way. Happy riding :)

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