Help me get a cheap bike

[Aereldor]

I'm a poor student in NYC who can't afford the subway. I don't know enough about bikes to navigate Craigslist and get a good deal. Reddit's bicycle communities are infested with snobs who only insult people looking for something cheap.

I don't want to spend more than $125. Ideally I'd spend $50 but there's no way that'll work.

Does anyone have recommendations for a cheap bike or can help me scour my local Craigslist for something promising?

[wasab]

Haha. I bike 30 minutes to and from my University campus. I saved bills and get good exercise at the same time. 

 

What are your budget? 

[Aereldor]

15 minutes ago, wasab said:

Haha. I bike 30 minutes to and from my University campus. I saved bills and get good exercise at the same time. 

 

What are your budget? 

$125. Sorry I didn't include it.

[vong]

32 minutes ago, Aereldor said:

I'm a poor student in NYC who can't afford the subway. I don't know enough about bikes to navigate Craigslist and get a good deal. Reddit's bicycle communities are infested with snobs who only insult people looking for something cheap.

I don't want to spend more than $125. Ideally I'd spend $50 but there's no way that'll work.

Does anyone have recommendations for a cheap bike or can help me scour my local Craigslist for something promising?

Honestly, just check some out on craigslist and go take them for a ride to see which rides better but don't get anything with wheels smaller than 24". Bicycles are easy to fix up but if you don't know what you're doing then just take it to a bike shop, not that expensive to grease bearings and change brake pads.

[Canada EH]

You could most likely find a bike for free that has been abandoned, like a gear derailer broken off.

Could even post up a sob story on an online classified website.

pinkbike.com

craigslist.com

 

 

Whatever you do, dont buy anything from Walmart or any department store, they are complete and utter junk!

Just look for an old brand name bicycle, Giant, Specialized, Trek, Kona, Scott, Santa Cruz, GT.

 

http://bikecoop.nyc/

 

https://www.bikecollectives.org/wiki/index.php?title=Community_Bicycle_Organizations

https://www.bikecollectives.org/wiki/index.php?title=Community_Bicycle_Organizations#New_York

[Aereldor]

On 6/6/2018 at 1:39 PM, Canada EH said:

You could most likely find a bike for free that has been abandoned, like a gear derailer broken off.

Could even post up a sob story on an online classified website.

pinkbike.com

craigslist.com

 

 

Whatever you do, dont buy anything from Walmart or any department store, they are complete and utter junk!

Just look for an old brand name bicycle, Giant, Specialized, Trek, Kona, Scott, Santa Cruz, GT.

 

http://bikecoop.nyc/

 

https://www.bikecollectives.org/wiki/index.php?title=Community_Bicycle_Organizations

https://www.bikecollectives.org/wiki/index.php?title=Community_Bicycle_Organizations#New_York

I ended up getting a pretty badass Schwinn Woodlands off the street for $90. Earlier Taiwanese Schwinn, Shimano 200GS shifters, brakes, and derailleurs, basically brand new. I ended up spending more on misc safety/expansion shit than the actual bike (helmet, lock, lights, bell, bottlerack, wet weather brakepads for the steel rims).

There's a couple of co-ops here now. I go to one in Williamsburg.

[Guest]

Thats really nice, Shimano is a great brand. Bikes are really quite an easy way to get around, all you need is CRC (WD-40) to fix and a good set of allan keys and a philips.

[Aereldor]

8 minutes ago, RorzNZ said:

Thats really nice, Shimano is a great brand. Bikes are really quite an easy way to get around, all you need is CRC (WD-40) to fix and a good set of allan keys and a philips.

Eh, and a wrench. And gloves to keep the grease off. And actual bike lube because WD-40 is a de-greaser. Expensive maintenance.

Shimano's a reliable brand but I feel I may have the tail end of their products with the older 200GS hardware on this thing. I'm having a hard time finding wet weather brake pads for it.

[Guest]

Just now, Aereldor said:

Eh, and a wrench. And gloves to keep the grease off. And actual bike lube because WD-40 is a de-greaser. Expensive maintenance.

Shimano's a reliable brand but I feel I may have the tail end of their products with the older 200GS hardware on this thing. I'm having a hard time finding wet weather brake pads for it.

Just going from my experience from my mountain bike. Never had to use a wrench or replace the actual bike lube. Gloves are also optional . Never really bothered to replace the brake pads either, just adjust them. I'm learning so much that I probably should be doing, but the bike still works great and goes off jumps and downhill like it should and along trails. 

[Canada EH]

7 hours ago, Aereldor said:

WD-40

you are right, never use for lube

 

I use it to clean stuff

I use it to clean my hands too