Hi guys,
I have decided to buy Bicycle for weekend and casual riding so don't be anything fancy or expensive. I have no experience in bike purchasing and came across following ad on gumtree. Can someone advise which one is better. I'm 172cm. Budget is around ~$100 per bike.
http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/clayton/bicycles/various-bike…
Do this bikes look and handle better than Kmart bikes which are selling around $100.
I will need two bikes , one for me and another for wifey.
Thanks…
I'd suggest looking at what are called "urban" or "flat bar road" bikes, but as 28Degrees says "hybrid" may also work in a search.
These have a few features that are good for first timers on bike paths and back roads. The first big benefit is a more upright sitting position which your lower back will thank you for, they have a t-bar handle bar - not dropped like on racing or road bikes. They don't have shocks. They are lightweight in aluminium alloy and sometimes carbon fibre front forks in lieu of aluminium.
To give you an idea of new versions of what you are looking for second hand and a few years old, these links will assist:
Giant has their "cross city" bike here: https://www.giant-bicycles.com/au/bikes-cross-city
Trek has their FX range in Men's and Women's:
Men's http://www.trekbikes.com/au/en_AU/bikes/city-bikes/fitness-b…
Women's http://www.trekbikes.com/au/en_AU/bikes/city-bikes/fitness-b…
Stick to main stream brands for servicing and parts such as:
Giant
Trek
Apollo
Avanti
Merida
Specialised
Check out this site for local bike shops, specials and some second hand ads https://www.bikeexchange.com.au Ebay also has second hand bikes too.
At $100 per bike they are going to be terrible unless you score a decent second hand deal. My advice is to buy whatever you find the most comfortable to ride and don't worry about specs. What's important is actually riding whatever you get, and you won't ride something that's uncomfortable.
This in a nutshell. I've had a Big W bike which lasted me well over 5 years with good maintenance and care. Currently I have a road bike and it's a much smoother ride compared to the road bike. Really what you should be looking for is how comfortable it is to ride. No point in getting a bike which handles great but is very uncomfortable to ride.
Also make sure that the components are in fair condition.
e.g minimal rusting on the chain, screws, bolts, brakes, derailleurs
brake shoes are not too thinned out and don't need to be replaced
few or not too many scratches on the frame
tire treads are not worn
cranks are not bent and pedals are in good condition
You can easily adjust the brakes if they're not tight and tune the derailleur if gear shifting is awkward. If the parts are all worn out, then it's no good.
Efron your link there are a bunch of Kmart bikes in there and then the wheeler and shogun, but they are priced accordingly.
Get folding bikes. Heaps more fun when you can place 2 in the car boot and take em out on the weekend for riding fun
except not as much fun to ride.
Where could you possibly have riding fun with a folding bike? Get a thule roof carrier and take your real bike out for riding fun!
It's not for hardcore bike riders but casual riders. You gain the ability to carry bikes easily on camps/picnics. You know, places you don't usually explore often.adventure for city people
Fair enough, but you aren't going to get a folding bike that is good to ride with a small budget. The cheap ones tend to ride very poorly.
@Euphemistic: not too sure because I don't have anything else to compare to other than 2 of the Aldi ones on clearance for $60 each.
My big w mountain bike rides better because it's got larger wheels
@supnigs: it's all relative. Go and ride a decent bike and compare it with you Aldi folder or bigw MTB and you'll probably find out what you are missing out on. Larger wheels are an obvious difference with a non folding bike.
Most of those bikes are very old and most are kmart bikes. Suggest you fork out a lottke more and get a better bike thats rolls better
Seriously, $100 a bike is a ridiculous budget. Im not a bike rider, but I'd be starting at 10 times that.
$100 for a second hand bike is low, but adding a little more for maintenance will get you a good serviceable bike. My current commuter bike was bought for $70. I put some new tyres on it, new brake pads and repaired the gear shifters and it will be a solid bike for years to come - I knew I was buying a decent bike, but with some issues. Different story if you can't tell a k-mart bike from a Colnago.
$200 is a reasonable budget for a decent second hand bike. No need to spend $1k if you don't have it.
My first bike was a 2007 Avanti Blade 2 that I paid $270 for second hand. It has lasted for three years and still functions very well with minimal maintenance. I strongly agree with the above recommendations to go with a flat bar road bike or possibly a hybrid. Buying a really cheap bike may be false economy as it may need more to be done to it in order to make it usable and safe. Very slow and heavy bikes are also less fun to ride.
$100 doesn't go very far in the bike world. I currently pay around that for each tyre for one of my road bikes (Schwalbe One Pro tubeless!). If the $100 is a hard limit and you are reasonably handy with an allen key, buy a Second hand bike off Gumtree. Flat Bar roadbike/hybrid is probably the way to go as mentioned. In your price bracket you are hitting the absolute bottom of the market for brand new, you might get a BSO (Bike Shaped Object - Bike Snob joke about cheap bikes) from Ananconda.
If you buy a second hand bike from Gumtree you will probably need to do some maintenance yourself. Going to a bikeshop will probably see you spend more on maintenance than you spent on the bike. For your height of 172mm, and without knowing your inner leg measurement, arm length, torso length or even bike geometry, I would be thinking of a frame (Bike Size) in the 50 - 52 or size Small, not sure in MountainBike sizing, maybe a 16 inch? At the $100 mark I'm thinking that crank length, gear ratios etc are probably only going to overly complicate things!
Are you forgetting the casual riding bit?
Obviously youhave a different idea of casual to what i do. I went on a casual 80 km ride in the Dandenongs this morning, would have been beyond painful if I was riding the wrong size bike!
Thank you everyone for suggestions. I m still searching gumtree to find something suitable.
eBay has some cheap auctions. How about Aliexpress?
Dear god, please just NO. If you do buy one though, get a length of chain too and chuck it overboard to hold you boat from floating away.
It might look flash, but you'd be much better served paying the same money from Kmart for something without gears or suspension. The gears will be hard to adjust to keep working and the suspension will be useless and just make the bike heavier.
Again, please just don't encourage Kmart to keep making this complete rubbish buy buying one and then having to upgrade after 2 rides.
Oh are Kmart bikes really that bad? I searched for Kmart and bicycle and bike and nothing bad came up. I really would like reasons why the $120 Kmart bike is bad?
@lovepeoplenotmoney: think about that a bike shop bike starts at about $350, then consider how much stuff they have to take out to get it down to $120.
The one you linked is possibly the worst design for a modern bike, and when combined with the cheapest components will not be strong, nor effective. The bearings will likely have little or no grease and not be adjusted well. The suspension is just for show, it will not be effective and if it does provide suspension it will suck energy out of your pedalling. The gears will be flimsy and will not maintain their adjustment making it hard to enjoy your ride. If the bearings are not adjusted well it won't roll easily.
Kmart bikes are often known as BSOs by cyclists. Bicycle shaped objects, becuase while they look like a bike are not built well at all. They are bought by people who do not understand what they are buying (they all look shiny in store) and mostly only get ridden a few times and then dumped because 'bikes aren't fun' or the owner quickly realises they should have bought a proper bike.
As I said before if you want a new bike and only want to pay $120 or buy at Kmart do not get one with gears and do not get one with suspension if you want it to work or last.
I have several bike and do my own maintenance. I also pick up kerbside bikes put out for hard rubbish to fix and sell or donate, but I've given up picking up anything from Kmart/big w etc as the parts are not worth salvaging and they are too hard to fix to be reliable.
Having said that I did buy a big w fat bike 2nd hand, but I have the skills to fix it and knowledge to know its limitations. It is a single speed and no suspension. I bought it for a fun toy, not a reliable bike.
I have a Granite & it is excellent value. The Claris group set is occasionally an issue due to the jump in the number of teeth between a couple of the rings. This can be rectified by changing to a different 8 speed cassette with a lower top end. The front end cabling is pretty messy, but can be tidied up with shorter cables. I changed the tyres as the originals attracted punctures. I also changed the pedals.
Had the Vantage been around, I would have seriously considered it for the 105 set, with its better look, smoother cassette spread, and better shifting. The biggest turn off for me is maximum tyre width of 28 - I run 35 on the Granite. I'm also not sure how well the Vantage would handle offroad - the Granite has been worked pretty hard off road with zero issues.
By riding casually, I am guessing you mean on roads and paved bike paths, so I would recommend a hybrid bike as mountain bikes have a heavier tread which means more rolling resistance on the road.
I know you are probably thinking it isn't a big deal but if you have tried both then you will notice.
You don't really need shocks either, it just adds extra weight.
Also a lot of the brands in the ad I have never heard of and they look pretty cheap. The Shogun is a good brand.
Steer clear of Kmart bikes and the like, they are a waste of money.
Second hand is the way to go though if you want to get the best value. Just Google "best bike brands" if you want to know what to look out for.
I have a 2 mountain bikes - Giant & Apollo. 2 road bikes - Polygon & Shogun.
This Trek is the sort of thing I would recommend.