I don't know anything about bikes. I decided a week ago I want to start riding mine again and I have. My problem is that the bike I'm riding is a Huffy mountain bike I've had forever with the seat way up because I think it might not be made for me anymore. Also, the pedals seem to be plastic and the rest of the bike seems to follow suit with quality and whatnot. From what I've read, having an actual road bike will make things easier and more enjoyable. Here's my situation:

I don't really want to spend much money. I understand this might just not be an option so let me know. I've seen a bunch of bikes that look nice (to me, who knows nothing) on craigslist for 300-400 dollars but also 50-100. Does anything on here look like a deal? NH Craigslist bike page. $300+ is not doable right now, but $100- probably is.


[URL ='http://nh.craigslist.org/bik/812715977.html']This one in particular.

get an old ten speed road bike
like this one :
http://nh.craigslist.org/bik/813629582.html
or for a bit more dough
these two seem to be really good deals good gruppos and wheels etc.
http://nh.craigslist.org/bik/813629582.html http://nh.craigslist.org/bik/813502853.html
http://nh.craigslist.org/bik/813495622.html



you do not i repeat DO NOT need a mountain bike unless you are legit riding off road on a regular basis. i don't care if you "go off curbs" once in a while, as skinny as road tires are, as long as they are properly inflated, they are quite capable of being bashed around and will save you alot of energy that would otherwise be wasted pushing around redundant rubberhttp://nh.craigslist.org/bik/813629582.html http://nh.craigslist.org/bik/813502853.html http://nh.craigslist.org/bik/813495622.html

hmmm, something went wrong with that

Hmmm, what about this one and this one?

1. Allocate funds to purchase bicycle
2. Locate shop which sells bicycles
3. Travel to shop with allocated funds
4. Exchange funds for bicycle of your choosing

Do you post anymore? You came out of hiding for this?

i just started riding mine again. it's a mountain bike but it doest the trick for around town. the fucking chain keeps falling off though? mountain bike chains are different. you can't just pull the rear tire back to make the chain tighter. hmmmmm

there are a couple screws on the back derailer (should be one on the front too)they adjust how it sits left to right and how much it moves per change flip the bike upside-down and plays with them till it shifts smoothly while pedaling with your hand. You might have to loose a link but you need a special tool to press out the pins

I post an excellent set of instructions for procuring a bicycle and this is the greeting I get?

dont do this
i work at a bike shop
its a trap
buy used its a way better deal

Shhhh, keep the international bike shop conspiracy alive.

also, the nishiki you posted is good, any old japanese road bike in good condition will be sweet those things were built to last

I'm going to boston tomorrow to check out a recently tuned up 60s Schwinn Varsity. Dude wants $100. Sound good?

old bikes suck... they weigh too much.

This may be a dumb question, but how much more do they really weight and what does this actually mean for me?

Bike weight can be offset with speedholes

err i dunno about that speedhole thing but heavy bikes are annoying to carry at the least

Is this all? Does a heavier bike ride faster or slower? Harder to ride a heavier one up a hill?

I figure I won't need to carry my bike too much on account of being able to just ride it. Maybe I am missing something.

A heavier bike has the benefits of having a higher constitution and gets a +4 on all saving throws.

What?

get a harley. then ride it out the top floor window of a skyscraper. That'd be friggin SWEET.

I bought a new mountain bike recently. Now I want an even better one. Something along the lines of Giant Reign X or Specialized Pitch. Need to test ride them. These bikes are 2k+. I fail to help with your $100 budget.

In my opinion if you want to have fun get some sort of mountain bike with 2 wheelsets (or just 2 sets of tires which is cheaper but more time consuming to change over). One for road and one for trail. Riding on the road os boring as fuck.

Only ride on the rode if you are:

A. commuting to from work or whatever else cause you have no car
b. are a gay cycling elitist lance armstrong type
c. are one of those annoying downtown biker rat pack kids hanging out in front the local cumberland farms


Go down hills and trails and over rocks and roots really fast. Hurt yourself, it's ok.

as for the weight thing. heavier bikes can take more abuse. you will notice the weight on hills more than anything. And carrying up stairs if you have to. that being said crank length and gearing will have a role in how well a bike pedals uphill as well as your technique and the bikes geometry.

bike weights = these are ballpark figures

mountain xc = 22-25
" " trail = 25-30
all mountain = 30-35
DH/freeride = 35-45

im guessing a cheap road bike is 20-25 and a nice one is under 20

sweet, thanks for the advice. i'm going to drop it off at the bike shop today. hopefully i can make it there without a problem. the chain seems to only fall off when i change gears, so i'll probably just try to keep it in one gear the whole ride to the shop. the shop is about 4 or 5 miles away.

my bike is kind of old but it's very light. it's a Cannondale. i think Cannondales are the lightest mountain bike i've used.

After getting bored with some mission I couldn't beat that's all I did that in GTA:San Andreas

regarding bike weight, old road bikes are not that heavy if you get one with a quality lugged steel frame, look out for anything that says reynolds on it or VaLITE (if its a fuji). look for lugged frames, where the tubing is joined instead of welds you will see these bracket type things with designs on them, these hold the tubes together because quality steel tubing is too thin to weld properly. of course if the frame is aluminum, it will almost always be welded and the tubing will be very large diameter, like the above pictured cannondale. aluminum is good but your probably not gonna find anything in your price range.
OLD schwinns like the varsity are decent bikes, but they tended to have proprietary componentry which is not compatible with most parts. this could give you trouble when you need to have the thing fixed down the road
to sum it up, get an old japanese road bike with a lugged steel frame, if its too heavy, convert it to a single speed/fixed gear and youll be a trendy fucker as well as fast

I got a Motobecane from a craigslist dude today. It needs a little work (a little rust, one of the tires is corroded, both flat, front break rubber stopper dealy is missing), but I figure I got it for pretty cheap. One question I had, I took of the front wheel and tire and checked out the tube. It looks fine, but I can't blow it up because the air nozzle thing looks really weird. It's really small and doesnt fit anything I have. Is this just some wacky French shit?

I guess its a Nomade.

I had best be pleased when next I click on this thread.

pictures?

pictures of just who stole your bike

I do not understand.

I've got a bike
You can ride it if you like
It's got a basket
A bell that rings
And things to make it look good
I'd give it to you if I could
But I borrowed it

-- SYD BARRETT

New tubes and tires, soap and water, a bunch of Coke, and I think I have a pretty sweet bike for under 100 dollars.

LOL

?

1. Allocate funds for bike purchase.
2. Find friend who steals bikes from BU kids and re-sells them.
3. Dispense funds to friend for a bike worth way more than you paid for it because some rich asshole's parents bought it for them, but then left it out in the rain for a week unattended.
4. Enjoy the rest of your money, and awesome new bike.

and then cue "nigga stole my bike"

im getting one of these.....

road bikes are gay

The Faneuil Street Projects in Brighton are an excellent place to find such friends.

how?

hahahaha, french shit is indeed wacky, but motobecane only put the exclusive merde de francais on their higher end bikes, your nomade should have standard english thread and jap components
those little weird nozzle things are called presta valves and any good road bike will have them, you can buy an adapter which allows you to use a schrader style pump (the valves on car tires and most other bikes are called "schrader") we sell them at my shop for like a dollar fitty
if you live anywhere near allston, come to international bicycle center and ask for marcus ill hook you up

also, good choice!!, those old motobacons are pretty good shit and cheap

Yeah, I fixed everything up fine and figured out the adapter thing with the tubes, got new tires and took some coke to the rust. I'm pretty happy with it.

I rode 7 miles today and almost threw up.

7 miles on pavement is nothing. try 20+ on single track through the woods.

i did about 10 miles the other day. 50/50 pavement and trails. it was a blast until the sun started going down and i was on my last 2 mile stretch when i realized i'm just a fat drunk. wtf am i doing? i think i had a fever for the rest of the night.

i just got done riding a trail. it was good. i popped off a couple shots from my pellet pistol too. oooh oooooh