Old 06-08-19, 09:37 PM
  #22  
veganbikes
Clark W. Griswold
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
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Posts: 13,274

Bikes: Foundry Chilkoot Ti W/Ultegra Di2, Salsa Timberjack Ti, Cinelli Mash Work RandoCross Fun Time Machine, 1x9 XT Parts Hybrid, Co-Motion Cascadia, Specialized Langster, Phil Wood Apple VeloXS Frame (w/DA 7400), R+M Supercharger2 Rohloff, Habanero Ti 26

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Your best bet as a new rider is to go down to your local shop and test ride some bikes and find one that will work for you. Expect to pay money for it and don't just look at price or you will be less likely to get something you want to ride. Also purchase a good lock from ABUS and don't let someone tell you another lock is better in the same price point it is unlikely to be so and cheap locks offer very little in terms of protection.

With a brand new bike that you have purchased from a dealer you will get warranties with it and say from Specialized you get a lifetime warranty on that frame and if you end up like me and eventually over 11 years get a crack in your bottom bracket they will replace the frame for you (in my case frame and fork) assuming you are the original owner and didn't mangle it in a crash and if you do mangle it in a crash you can get a crash replacement discount. You will also likely get some tune ups for free and sometimes discounts on parts or labor.

Used bikes can be fun if you know you aren't buying a stolen bike and you know enough about bikes to be able to tell if the bike needs a lot of work and how much all of that will cost or even worse if you can find any dents, cracks or unsafe bits. Also if you are good with values on bikes that can help. Sometimes you can get lucky and get a great deal on a bike used but you get zero warranties and zero support for it. Plus without the chance to test ride you don't know if the bike will really fit. There are some shops that sell refurbished bikes or some that specialize in higher end vintage like BikeRecyclery.com (Justyne is awesome) but still new is generally the way to go for reliability and maybe for someone new to cycling.
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