New Bike for Commute/Exercise - WHEN to buy?

[Anonymous]

Didn't want to start a black friday thread so early but was wondering if that would be the best time to find good deals. I started riding a couple of months ago for exercise and now for trips to/from metro. On average I ride about 20+ miles four/five times a week, but only when it's not raining. Right now i'm riding my 12-yo's mountain bike () but hoping to get my own soon. don't have a big budget and don't want to spend more than $200, as i could just continue to ride my kid's bike...

[Anonymous]

Hudson's is going out of business. Get your bike now.

[Anonymous]

If you want to buy a new bike for under $200, just watch the Sunday circulars for a sale at Target/Walmart etc. The price point is way below what a local bike shop will offer. I would strongly consider looking for a better quality used bike on Craigslist rather than a an inexpensive new recreational bike if you're going to commute that much.

[Anonymous]

is this a good buy?

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/bid/5232343008.html

[Anonymous]

It is fine buy if the sizing is right for you

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:is this a good buy?

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/bid/5232343008.html

Yes, for what it is. $120 is not bad. Giant is a good American-made brand. The components are probably pretty basic, but that's OK.

[Anonymous]

Giant is a Taiwan brand:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Bicycles

But I agree that it is known to be a good brand.

That bike posted is probably really old. I would guess its at least from the 90s and the seller does say its vintage (not like some other sellers that ask for a crazy amount of money for their 20 year old bike).

Up to you if you want to spend the money on it. It would probably suit your purposes if you're just doing easy riding around town. But I don't think it's an incredible deal.

Also how tall are you? I'm not sure about that style of bike but for more recent mountain bikes with 26" wheels, I would guess that a 19" frame bike would fit someone from 5'10 to 6'1.

Here are two more links that might help you research prices on bikes:
http://www.bikepedia.com/ - this to try to determine the year and model of bike

http://www.bicyclebluebook.com/ - to try to get a general price range of the bike

Although when we were shopping for used bikes several years ago, most of the asking prices were way higher than the second link above. Which to be fair they don't provide pricing by area.

Good luck in the search! They say this is around the time of year to start shopping for bikes with the end of season coming.

If you don't find something by then you might be able to check out the bike swap:
http://www.stopswapandsave.com/

Also I would avoid the Black Friday bike deals. We started off looking for those types of deals but as we looked it into it more decided to spend a little bit more.

The more you look into it, the easier it is to keep upping your budget. So watch out for that. And the real good deals on Craigslist goes by fast.

Also here's one link that you can check out for used bikes but they may be higher end up bikes:
http://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/


One more link. If you're okay with a no name bike, people have mentioned this site to be decent:

http://bikesdirect.com/

You'd have to assemble the bike yourself and I may consider getting a bike from there in the future.

[Anonymous]

Assuming it's legit, this is the type of deal you want to try to find:

https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/bik/5274028498.html

The bike sounds like it's probably already sold. In case the post gets taken down, it's a 2008 Trek 3700 with a 13" frame for $100

And if you want to just go cheap maybe something like this:
https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/doc/bik/5274486550.html

With the really old bikes, be careful that it might be hard to replace the parts but I kind of like the simplicity to them.

If you're leaving your bike outdoors like at the metro or something you probably don't want a real nice bike that someone might take. But it sounds like you're not looking for an expensive bike anyways.

Bikes should be getting more discounted towards the end of the year before next year's models come out.

Try to get a general idea of your sizing and style of bike you want. I would check out multiple stores/shops, as I've had different shops give contradicting recommendations on sizing. So make sure to go with your own instincts as well on what you think would be comfortable for you.