[chaosmachine]

dese manz hatin, on 09 February 2010 - 11:48 AM, said:

Serious advice m8

http://kuj.dk/images/mincykel/cube_ltd_4.jpg

Cube Ltd4. Real good bike, got it when it was barely a year old for only 800€ including Shimano XT and damn good suspension (of which I forgot the name) which is a pisstake basically. Great bike for cross-country, definitely above average on the road....11,5kg what uppppppppp.
Search for it, if you find it, it must be real cheap now.

that looks nice.

my advice: don't settle for anything less than shimano deore derailleurs and rapid-fire shifters. if it has twist-shifters, it's probably crap. and avoid disk brakes, they're an unreliable maintenance headache. vbrakes for life.

in Canada, you can get a good bike used for about $600, new will cost about twice as much.

[jefferoo]

Don't get a fixed gear bike please. They are for homos.

[Ron Manager]

I bought a Specialized Hard Rock on eBay for about £80 on eBay about 6 months ago. It's presumably a few years old but seemed practically brand new. One of my best purchases of the last couple years. Looks like this:

http://www.mrmartinweb.com/images/bike/sphardrock.jpg

Quality build, no suspension as I only ride it around Manchester. But it's perfect for that; I ride about 40-50 miles per week on average. Most of my friends have roadbikes but I don't think I'd like one because you can't really hop on-and-off the pavement with those, plus a lot of roads around here have terrible potholes. So to answer your question on how much to pay, I'd say it entirely depends on what you want to use it for. If you just need a no-frills bike to get around, I'd get something used because you can get a decent bike like this for cheap.

[Braintree]

I'm going to be buying one of these in a few weeks:

http://urbanvelo.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/torker.jpg

But replace the handlebars with bullhorn bars like these:

http://commutebybike.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/925.jpg

This post has been edited by Braintree: 09 February 2010 - 02:45 PM

[we_kill_soapscum]

i have a fucked up raleigh but the frame is aluminum and light...do bike stores let u trade in the frame for cash off a used bike?

This post has been edited by we_kill_soapscum: 09 February 2010 - 03:14 PM

[Kcinsu]

I just went into a bike shop today, to do some research on a new bike (mine was stolen last year).

There were 3000 dollar bikes! Who the fuck rides a 3000 dollar bike unless they are racers?

Even a good 300-400 dollar bike makes me uncomfortable... Seeing as my 150 dollar bike got stolen.

I guess I'll invest in really good locks, and never let anyone borrow my bike ever again (my roommate borrowed my bike, and he's the one who didn't lock it up... Hence being stolen)

I just want a good bike that works well on the streets of sf, decent on
a trail, and ugly enough that no one would even bother wanting to put any effort into stealing it.

This post has been edited by Kcinsu: 09 February 2010 - 03:23 PM

[we_kill_soapscum]

Kcinsu, on 09 February 2010 - 03:22 PM, said:

I just want a good bike that works well on the streets of sf, decent on
a trail, and ugly enough that no one would even bother wanting to put any effort into stealing it.

yes i think this is the amateur city dwelling bike riders dream

its nice but really cheap and looks like shit but its awesome. thats def what i want.

[chaosmachine]

Kcinsu, on 09 February 2010 - 06:22 PM, said:

I just went into a bike shop today, to do some research on a new bike (mine was stolen last year).

There were 3000 dollar bikes! Who the fuck rides a 3000 dollar bike unless they are racers?

Even a good 300-400 dollar bike makes me uncomfortable... Seeing as my 150 dollar bike got stolen.

I guess I'll invest in really good locks, and never let anyone borrow my bike ever again (my roommate borrowed my bike, and he's the one who didn't lock it up... Hence being stolen)

I just want a good bike that works well on the streets of sf, decent on
a trail, and ugly enough that no one would even bother wanting to put any effort into stealing it.

I've got a $1500 road bike. People pay 20x that for cars, so it seems reasonable to me.

[Kcinsu]

Tell me you have a 400 dollar lock on it, and I might understand...

[ojkewin]

okay i don't want to contribute to a possiblity, but if this becomes a fixie arguement, i swear to god. Fixies have legit purposes, one of them being to make hipsters hipsters.

Seriously though it depends on what you wanna do with it. Like mountain bikes are fun, because they can go anywhere, just maybe not as fast. Dunno how much you care about looks but the hybrid bike (mountain/street cross) basically always look awful, and usually are not built with the quality as a legit road bike or a legit mountain bike. And chaosmachine is kind of right. Disc brakes are powerful, but if you tend to get things even a little beat up, get v brakes. If you dent a disc, you have to replace the whole fucking thing. So i guess here my real advice. If your going to be lazy about it, get a steel frame, single speed, kickback brake cruiser bike. If you wanna be able to bounce across the sidewalks, streets, off curbs, and through puddles, get a mountain bike. If you wanna be intense about it, just get some cheap road bike, theyre fast. All these options should be able state-side for less than 500 for good quality, anything more and the quality really dosnt matter. 6000 dollars bikes break down just as fast. As far as accesories go, just get a good backpack. If your gonna be riding at night, get some little lights. Don't spend more than 10 bucks on lights or you're getting jammed in the pooper. As far a where to go, find some little bike shop. I wouldn't go to like a big store because its nice to be able to get your ride serviced at the same place. You can also go online. Like bikes direct is a good website. Or at least i know people who've had good experiences. hope this helps.

[Smettingham Rutherford IV]

Kcinsu, on 09 February 2010 - 03:22 PM, said:

I just went into a bike shop today, to do some research on a new bike (mine was stolen last year).

There were 3000 dollar bikes! Who the fuck rides a 3000 dollar bike unless they are racers?

Even a good 300-400 dollar bike makes me uncomfortable... Seeing as my 150 dollar bike got stolen.

I guess I'll invest in really good locks, and never let anyone borrow my bike ever again (my roommate borrowed my bike, and he's the one who didn't lock it up... Hence being stolen)

I just want a good bike that works well on the streets of sf, decent on
a trail, and ugly enough that no one would even bother wanting to put any effort into stealing it.

qft.

i dont think i could pay more than 300 for a bike either..

i used to have one that i used all the time in DC, it looked like an old ass 70s french racing bike...it was lovely.

[chaosmachine]

Kcinsu, on 09 February 2010 - 08:24 PM, said:

Tell me you have a 400 dollar lock on it, and I might understand...

http://imgur.com/XkxEq.png

Plus a Kryptonite cable. 30 bucks. It's the lightest thing I could find.

All bikes will get stolen or destroyed if you leave them in a bad location for any amount of time. Don't park your bike where you can't see it. Take it in your house when you get home.

[Hoodie]

ojkewin, on 09 February 2010 - 06:03 PM, said:

okay i don't want to contribute to a possiblity, but if this becomes a fixie arguement, i swear to god. Fixies have legit purposes, one of them being to make hipsters hipsters.

Seriously though it depends on what you wanna do with it. Like mountain bikes are fun, because they can go anywhere, just maybe not as fast. Dunno how much you care about looks but the hybrid bike (mountain/street cross) basically always look awful, and usually are not built with the quality as a legit road bike or a legit mountain bike. And chaosmachine is kind of right. Disc brakes are powerful, but if you tend to get things even a little beat up, get v brakes. If you dent a disc, you have to replace the whole fucking thing. So i guess here my real advice. If your going to be lazy about it, get a steel frame, single speed, kickback brake cruiser bike. If you wanna be able to bounce across the sidewalks, streets, off curbs, and through puddles, get a mountain bike. If you wanna be intense about it, just get some cheap road bike, theyre fast. All these options should be able state-side for less than 500 for good quality, anything more and the quality really dosnt matter. 6000 dollars bikes break down just as fast. As far as accesories go, just get a good backpack. If your gonna be riding at night, get some little lights. Don't spend more than 10 bucks on lights or you're getting jammed in the pooper. As far a where to go, find some little bike shop. I wouldn't go to like a big store because its nice to be able to get your ride serviced at the same place. You can also go online. Like bikes direct is a good website. Or at least i know people who've had good experiences. hope this helps.

you sound like you know what you're talking about.

[AcrossCanyons]

dese manz hatin, on 09 February 2010 - 11:48 AM, said:

Serious advice m8

http://kuj.dk/images/mincykel/cube_ltd_4.jpg

Cube Ltd4. Real good bike, got it when it was barely a year old for only 800€ including Shimano XT and damn good suspension (of which I forgot the name) which is a pisstake basically. Great bike for cross-country, definitely above average on the road....11,5kg what uppppppppp.
Search for it, if you find it, it must be real cheap now.

That looks super nice, but I checked online and it looks a bit pricey.

This post has been edited by AcrossCanyons: 10 February 2010 - 03:47 AM

[iep]

well geez, maybe just start with a 100$ second hand roadbike first?

just to see if you like it better than taking the bus

i still use my old 75$ Mercier as a backup bike from time to time for in the city where it's bound to take some damage
the nice thing is that they're so simple, there's very little stuff that cannot be fixed or replaced easily
and they're good rides if you just stay on asphalt

http://i45.tinypic.com/21eayyv.jpg

This post has been edited by iep: 10 February 2010 - 05:22 AM