Need help choosing a bike

[eatatmidnight]

DS is off to college in a couple of weeks. I am not sure if we can swing it, but he would like to have a bike on campus. It would mainly be used on campus, but also to bike on trails in the area. The new ones seem to be around $600-$1000. For us, that is quite a bit of money to spend on a bike that will be kept outside on a college campus. We have looked at Trek and Schwinn. We would consider used if the size, condition and price of the bike were good.

Do any of you have any bike suggestions? Have any of you had experience purchasing a used bike? Thanks

 

[amez]

I have a Giant Sedona that I think was less then $300--it is considered a street bike, but depending on the trails it works well for that too. I only ride mine on flat wide trails (no mountain biking for me any more) I love my bike! I've had it for seven years now and have used it to pull kids in a bike trailer as well. It rides just as nice as it did when I first purchased it.

hth a little bit. I would not want to take a really expensive bike to college because I know sometimes (even locked up) they can be stolen.

 

[Beavers5]

I would not want to take a really expensive bike to college because I know sometimes (even locked up) they can be stolen.

^That was my first thought too^

I am hard on bikes. I mountain bike trails and have been known to snap a frame or two. After breaking an expensive bike, I stick to cheap-o bikes from Wal-Mart, so that I'm not too disappointed when I break them.

 

[GraysMom]

DH rides mountain, road and cyclocross bikes, so I asked him for his opinion. If your DS is living in a dorm, most of them have bike storage in their basements so the bike can stay out of the elements when not in use. I would have him check into the storage options that he has before deciding how much money to spend. DH said most of the bikes under $600ish won't haved sealed parts (bearings, etc) so they won't weather the elements very well (could start to have issues in as soon as a few weeks if it's in the elements full time).

What kind of trail riding does your DS do? Is it mountain biking or riding rail trails? Finding an inexpensive single speed rigid bike with disc brakes will have the least maintenence and parts to worry about. Try to buy the bike from a shop in the town where he is going to college so that they are familiar with him and his bike. He's more likely to get better service when he takes his bike in for service than if he bought it from another dealer. Do you know anyone who bikes and could go with him to buy the bike? It's gotten to the point where buying a bike can be intimidating with all of the options that are availble.

If you go to nashbar.com they have a single speed 29 in mtn bike for $379, which would work well for trails and riding around campus.

Giant Rincon is a geared mountain bike w/disc bikes and it's around $500.

The Haro Flightline series w/disc brakes is around $400.

DH suggested seeing if there is a bicycle coop in your area. They might have refurbished bikes for sale. Or even drop a note to any area cycling clubs to see if someone has a used bike in their basement they'd be willing to sell.

 

[shortbun]

We just shopped bikes for DS's birthday and we saw several below $500 in bike stores that were hybrids-both for street and trails. One style was called a Cypress and another Specialized. Both had sales marking them down about $50 and three categories that had levels of upgrades. We ended up with a Schwin with fenders/rack/horn/derailer cover for about $500 tax included. For college kids around here(we live very close to Ohio State) the rage is old/used bikes. There are a couple used bike stores that thrive and my Goddaughter was just here with her friends who had adapted several old bikes and were riding them with quite a bit of pride. I would not be worried about an older bike as long as it's been updated with good brakes, new derailer and was fairly light. These kids had stripped down old heavier bikes.

 

[eatatmidnight]

DH rides mountain, road and cyclocross bikes, so I asked him for his opinion. If your DS is living in a dorm, most of them have bike storage in their basements so the bike can stay out of the elements when not in use. I would have him check into the storage options that he has before deciding how much money to spend. DH said most of the bikes under $600ish won't haved sealed parts (bearings, etc) so they won't weather the elements very well (could start to have issues in as soon as a few weeks if it's in the elements full time).

What kind of trail riding does your DS do? Is it mountain biking or riding rail trails? Finding an inexpensive single speed rigid bike with disc brakes will have the least maintenence and parts to worry about. Try to buy the bike from a shop in the town where he is going to college so that they are familiar with him and his bike. He's more likely to get better service when he takes his bike in for service than if he bought it from another dealer. Do you know anyone who bikes and could go with him to buy the bike? It's gotten to the point where buying a bike can be intimidating with all of the options that are availble.

If you go to nashbar.com they have a single speed 29 in mtn bike for $379, which would work well for trails and riding around campus.

Giant Rincon is a geared mountain bike w/disc bikes and it's around $500.

The Haro Flightline series w/disc brakes is around $400.

DH suggested seeing if there is a bicycle coop in your area. They might have refurbished bikes for sale. Or even drop a note to any area cycling clubs to see if someone has a used bike in their basement they'd be willing to sell.

That is great information. I will see if there is a bike shop in town. There is no storage inside the dorm, so it will need to be a good quality bike. He usually rides inside area parks, not the Katy trail (rail). We will be checking in to all those options. Many thanks.

 

[4mickey2]

we own cannondales and love them. they are hybrids so, we can ride trails or roads. they are light too.

if you know what you are looking for you should really check craigslist. you might come across a good deal.

 

[PinkRhombus]

There are probably a LOT of people that bought these expensive bikes with good intentions and never followed through. You could probably pick up a barely used one for next to nothing.