I want to ride my bicycle

[gridlore]

OK, here's the situation.

To get to and from the job I hope to have soon (El Paseo limo, for those not keeping track) I'm going to need a bicycle. Luckily, my sister had a bike that she rode perhaps three times. Bad news, it had been stored outside, and was a rusted hunk of metal. Chain, gears, even the seat post were almost fused. Not worth paying to fix, since the rust was obviously into the frame.

So, I'm now pricing bikes. CostCo had a couple of good ones for around $160. Since I'm not paying for this, I'm trying to see if I can get a better deal somewhere. Onward to Target's website!

Addition at 1855 I think I found a good one. Could the bicycle literate tell me what they think of this:

http://www.kmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=979080&cp=887571.887567&parentPage=family

Comments

[chris-sapyta.livejournal.com]

the best bikes that I have gotten have been refurbished mountain bikes from reputable bike stores. People trade them in when they buy a more expensive one out here. Several nice stores near Stanford in Palo Alto. We _are_ in the land that invented Mtn bikes after all. You will _definitely_ want to get city road tires as this model has, as mtn tires squirm on pavement and increase your effort. I prefer to get a higher quality second hand bike for pothole and inclement weather riding, better welds mean longer lasting bike. It is worth at least a few phone calls to local stores to see if they have something similar with a front shock system.
I had a huffy once that I bent the pedal axle(I don't know the technical name of it) in the first week; you may need a better pedal kit. Also, when it rains, you will need to have a rear fender to keep mudstains from splattering up your back like explosive diarrhea. A front fender also a good idea for similar splatter issues, but not as critical. I have a good bike helmet (purple) that you can have if you don't have one right now.
Overall I think this one would be OK for your purposes.

[blackfyr.livejournal.com]

We have one that you can use for the cost of getting the tires checked out and refilled.

[johno.livejournal.com]

Huffy is a decent basic brand of bike.

It will not last you forever in daily use. Maybe a year or so, less if you ride it hard.

If you got the $$ now, get it. After a few months of working, get a better on for $200 or more.

You gets what you pays for

[zyxwvut.livejournal.com]

I commute by bicycle, by dint of which I certify myself qualified to give
my opinion.

I would caution against buying a discount department store bike. A
cow-orker of mine bought a K-Mart ("K-Mart sucks.") bike a couple of
years ago, and was having some trouble, asked me to look at it. They
had routed the front derailleur cable *into the chain*. I learned a
valuable (vicarious) lesson about buying a bike that has been assembled
by someone who does not ride (i.e., "get") bicycles.

Also, department store bikes frequently have substandard brakes for use
in traffic, and that's bad bad bad bad bad.

I understand that money's tight. If you can't afford a low-end bike
shop bike, I recommend purchasing a used, "real-brand" bicycle.

Much valuable advice, from a friend-of-a-friend (I met him once, at the
friend's ex-husband's wedding.) here (http://www.csua.berkeley.edu/~tom/advice.html); most relevant to you is this (http://www.csua.berkeley.edu/~tom/advice/buying).

Z

P.S.: I otherwise agree with most of what was said above, especially in
the first comment. I flat-out disagree with the "Huffy is a good brand"
statement (sorry, johno). They are better than average, among
the Toys R Us/Target/Wal-Mart ::react here approximately as gridlore
does to the word "Dodgers":: /KMart lines... but that's not saying
much.

P.P.S.: A helmet is worth the extra $25-30. Your head's kind of an
important accessory to your body. (Don't buy a used helmet.)

[(Anonymous)]

Hit a bike store near a college or university. Look for a used bike made by a company like Giant, Specialized, Cannondale etc. You can probably find a decent used MTN bike made of chrome-moly or aluminium for that price, and they'll weigh a LOT less than a Huffy or Dept. store bike (Huffys are make out of lead... okay, maybe not lead, but cheap tensile steel).

For commuting, you should ditch the MTN bike's knobby tires and get City Slickers - they've got a kevlar belt and that'll help prevent flats.

Get a helmet and use it. When I was a bike messenger, I was jumped by three guys once, and believe it or not, the helmet actually helped me from getting my protect me from a couple of punches - hell, I heard they are even good if you get into accidents too...

Good luck amigo.

-Tom