My Turn: I Want A Bike

[Shafpocalypse Now]

There are knock offs that do ok for the yak

[Turdacious]

To be honest, the only reason I went with the Thule was out of necessity-- it's the only rack that fits on my bike and doesn't interfere with the folding mechanism.

And Baff-- a cheap bike is fine; cheap lights and a cheap lock are not.

[baffled]

That bike is 22 years old. I figure, but obviously have no idea, that it's cheap due to age. As long as it's not cracked, I don't really care since it's selling for so cheap.

Still waiting to hear back from this dude.

Taking a look at some low-cost/cheap cyclocross bikes.

Anyone have a rec? I may make my way over to a bike shop tomorrow or Friday.

edit: I'm fairly mechanically inclined and reckon I could probably handle souping something up over time on my own, other than dealing with gears.

I'm definitely open to real minimal setups that can be improved upon over time.

All assuming I can't score the bike I posted a pic of earlier.

[D'Aquisto]

These guys built me a great cross bike for a steal. Frames made in Taiwan in the same factories everybody gets frames built it, but Planet X goes direct to consumer so no bike shop markup bullshit.

Their mtbs and fat bikes, not to mention commuters are excellent.

You can get a cross frame, MTB 29er wheel set, flat or drop bars etc...set it up however you want.

I have their 29r wheels et on my cross bike so it takes road tires in the summer, fatter tires when I ride trails.

http://www.planet-x-usa.com/

[baffled]

I may not be looking in the right place, but it looks like most of those bikes would be well outside of a reasonable price range given where I'm at.

I'm guessing it's my fault and I'm missing something real obvious.

[Blaidd Drwg]

you're not. shit is just expensive.

your goal is doable. start with a frame that fits, set up as one speed, go from there.

Feel free to post up some of the things you're running across. You've got my email as well.

[baffled]

Will do.

I don't seem to be able to find a single speed that fits what I'm looking for. I either find something that's "cross-like", but 24 speed... or a single speed that's not quite what I'm looking for.

Wondering what I'll find in-shop that's not listed online.

[Bedlam 0-0-0]

There are knock offs that do ok for the yak

Yep. I wouldn't buy one new. How about these?

[Fuzzy Dunlop]

Will do.

I don't seem to be able to find a single speed that fits what I'm looking for. I either find something that's "cross-like", but 24 speed... or a single speed that's not quite what I'm looking for.

Wondering what I'll find in-shop that's not listed online.

You can get a Purefix flip hub for $325 brand new. My old neighbor also had this Takara that is like 200 bucks on Amazon, he rode it every day to work. Had some fatter tires than a typical road bike.

I bought a Trek Earl recently, it was like $450

[Turdacious]

Consider a bike co-op. A lot of times they have decent classes on bike repair and maintenance, and sometimes they'll let you use their tools.
http://www.bikeforums.net/northern-cali ... -area.html

[Mickey O'neil]

Will do.

I don't seem to be able to find a single speed that fits what I'm looking for. I either find something that's "cross-like", but 24 speed... or a single speed that's not quite what I'm looking for.

Wondering what I'll find in-shop that's not listed online.

You can get a Purefix flip hub for $325 brand new. My old neighbor also had this Takara that is like 200 bucks on Amazon, he rode it every day to work. Had some fatter tires than a typical road bike.

I bought a Trek Earl recently, it was like $450

I was looking at one of those Purefixes just to cruise around on, run to the store, etc.

[Andy83]

Kmart has a bunch of beautiful mountain bikes from $69.95 to $89.95. I didn't look but I think they're Chinese.

[nafod]

Kmart has a bunch of beautiful mountain bikes from $69.95 to $89.95. I didn't look but I think they're Chinese.

Heh...as I stood there in the woods watching my friend repeatedly raise his cheapo mountain bike over his head and hurl it to the ground, I flashed back to him standing in front the bike rack in the Walmart and saying, "This one looks like a good enough."

Buy quality and you only cry once.

[Grandpa's Spells]

I use thewirecutter/thesweethome for any purchase research these days. This may be worth a look.

http://thesweethome.com/reviews/best-hy ... uter-bike/

[baffled]

Kmart has a bunch of beautiful mountain bikes from $69.95 to $89.95. I didn't look but I think they're Chinese.

Heh...as I stood there in the woods watching my friend repeatedly raise his cheapo mountain bike over his head and hurl it to the ground, I flashed back to him standing in front the bike rack in the Walmart and saying, "This one looks like a good enough."

Buy quality and you only cry once.

And that's the kicker. With some of the earlier suggestions, and other research online, I'm leaning towards expanding the budget a bit. If I end up unhappy, I can look to sell it and at least recoup part of my costs.

I'm also looking around for bikes from previous years. Found a Masi CX SS (2013) for $599 that's selling at $899 or higher most everywhere else online that I've seen so far.

At this point, I'm kind of set on a cyclocross bike, but I've still got wiggle room on that til I actually buy something.

[Blaidd Drwg]

Quality on bikes is so relative now. Frankly even bottom end shit is quite decent. Stick to 9 or fewer speeds and most parts last a long while. As for QC, chinabike has this shit dialed. Every bike I was sponsored to ride came out of the same factory regardless of brand. Most decent scandium frames were less than 50bux off the boat unpainted. paint and stickers cost more than the unit itself.

When it comes to full suspension stuff cheap crap is crappy. when it comes to cheap carbon...well..just don't..but most road and rigid MTB's are quite decent.

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/mot ... sc_xiv.htm
http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/mot ... _rival.htm
http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/mot ... -red-6.jpg

oh look here. crap components on a likely decent frame. ride the piss out of it and upgrade the wheels later. bike fit is way more important than parts quality.

[Turdacious]

I use thewirecutter/thesweethome for any purchase research these days. This may be worth a look.

http://thesweethome.com/reviews/best-hy ... uter-bike/

Like the site and the recommendations, and have checked it out several times since you recommended it. I'd pull the trigger on that Work 2 for a commuter in a heartbeat if I didn't have a mixed commute.

[Turdacious]

Friend of mine is looking to get into bike commuting, and I happened to be in a local bike shop yesterday to get a new rear light. They have a basic Giant 21 speed hybrid with 700x32 tires that they're selling for $350 that will take fenders. Not sure the model (Cypress DX maybe,Phaedrus posted a picture of it earlier), but it looked solid and didn't look fancy enough to steal. Per the guy at the store, $350 was not a sale price.

Not sure how great it is, but it looked good.