Originally Posted by
eugchen
hello, so for some more clarification.....
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we plan on riding casually in LA with our two kids age 10 and 12, so we arent serious riders. just want to get the tires up and going to ride casually.
thanks again.
Welcome to the Bike Forums/net and bicycling in general.
Most of us here are deep into our bikes and we put on literally 1000s of miles per year, Speaking just for me and I'm a piker in this hobby but I'm going to hit the 4000 mile mark for year 2020 in about a week. Like most here I carry the tools, supplies and knowledge to fix flat tires on the road. Ride bikes...get flats. It's as simple as that.
Still getting a flat is a huge hassle and so again speaking for me I do many things to avoid the hassle of fixing a flat on a ride. The easiest way to avoid flats in my opinion is to make sure my tires are in good shape to begin with. If someone gave me a bike the very first thing I would do is replace the tires and tubes. Even with good tires you need to pump them up every week or so so you need a tire pump.
I wouldn't stop at just the tires, I would go over everything, replacing the brake and shifter cables, replace the brake pads, service the drive train, bottom bracket and hub bearings and true the wheels. The make sure everything is properly adjusted, Doing all this would give me the best chance of avoiding avoidable breakdowns and having an enjoyable ride. And you would be surprised, even an entry level bike that is 10+ years old will ride nicely if everything is adjusted properly and the bike is a good fit for the rider.
Get a copy if Howard Zinn's book(s) (either road or mountain bike) or the Park Tools repair manual, collect the few tools recommended and go over your bikes, This is simple. My brother and i were doing our 10 speed bike repairs unsupervised when we were 12 years old. It's not that difficult.
One thing you will find out very quickly that while it is not easy to ride a bike without owning a bike, the actual cost of the hardware is lost in the cost of all of the ancillary stuff you need (or want) to ensure that your one hour ride once a week is enjoyable and legal. You will need some safety tackle such as a helmet and lights.You will want some way to secure your bike when you need to go inside a store mid ride. Even if you hate to hold a wrench in your hand there are a few tools and the knowledge that is necessary to use them are an absolute need. For some reason, some of us, nice as we are, tend to downplay the true cost of riding bikes even a simple and rugged entry level bike that was gifted to us.
Having said all this again welcome to the bike forum!