Dicks Sporting Goods. The one in Gaithersburg has a good selection you can try out & ride around the store, guessing that a location closer to you would have the same.

Anonymous wrote:Look for a used brand-name bike

+1 You should be able to get a nice used bike on FB marketplace for about $200. Kids outgrow bikes quickly so there is a pretty robust secondhand market.

I think some bike stores carry used bikes as well.

facebook marketplace. you'll find a lot in that area.

rei member sale is coming up. not sure if they allow the discount on the bike.

read reviews on walmart

I was going to suggest the REI house brand "Co-op Cycles" but then googled to see that their road-bike is now $650
WOW. I guess tariffs have impacted bikes.

Regardless, it's a nice bike. My freshman college student has had it for 4 years with no complaints.

walmart

We did some online research on quality and reviews and went with a Walmart bike. Works great for my son's needs.

Nextdoor. It should be free.

Priority bikes on Costco Next. They have full size for $479 and 26" bike for $399.
Low maintenance bike.

I would look for used on Facebook or at a bike store
Or REI has good bikes too, better than Target and Walmart but not the high end Trek/Cannondale etc.

Anonymous wrote:Costco

Nope. They only sell e-bikes now

Look for a used brand-name bike

Dick's Sporting Goods

REI (look at prices online to see if they have a lower end model)

Costco

Target, like a huffy or schwinn?

Our 12 year-old needs a new bike. We live in Fairfax and there’s a ton of bike stores around but they are all crazy expensive for kids (600 to over 1k) just to ride around the neighborhood. At the same time i admit we ordered a generic bike off of Amazon and it broke pretty frequently.
What is the middle of the road option available for families? We don’t need a fancy road bike. We just want a bike our kid can safely ride around the neighborhood and to friends homes that won’t fall apart.

Any recommendations?