Ben27

Hi folks - newbie to the forum and to bikes here! My boy just took his training wheels off, and I'm looking to get something inexpensive that I can go riding around with him on. I was originally planing on just getting a cheap bike from Big5 for around $150, but after reading on here a bit, I feel like the money might be better spent on an older bike of better pedigree. I'm not looking to do anything spectacular, just ride around the neighborhood, mostly paths, and maybe some light dirt trails in parks. I like the look/feel of a hybrid or mountain bike. I've read good things about Specialized, and my friend has one he likes as a good beginner bike. I've found a couple for sale locally both for $150, but I don't know how old they are or if that is a decent deal? I tried posting pics of them, but i guess i can't do a pic or a URL as i'm new to the forum. In both instances, the pics of the bikes look good, they're both Specialized Rockhoppers, and the sellers say they have light scratches but otherwise in good working order. I tried looking at the pics and judging from the bicycle blue book images - the best i can figure out is the look like late 90s models. Are those good? Should i stay away? What's a fair price? Appreciate any advice....
thx,
Ben

Gary Fountain

Hi Ben27, I live in Australia so I'm not all that informed regarding what's available in a Big5 store but I can take a pretty good guess. I think a better 2nd hand bike would serve you much better. There must be hundreds of better 2nd hand bikes available near your location it's just being able to recognise them. Specialized do have a nice range of classy bikes and I'm sure the Rockhoppers are quality but I am not all that familiar with them. There must be lots of similar bikes coming up for sale often.

There is a For Sale forum here if you have a quick look in the forum index but my suggestion is to get your Forum reply count up to 10 and post some photo's here for us (Forum members) to give you our opinions. We need to see the crank side of the bike as well as a few close photos of components, etc. To post photo's I think you need to go through a Photo Host such as Imgur or Flickr, etc.

Perhaps giving your height (if your body confirms to average dimensions - not overly long legs, etc.) will help to gain a little better advice as bike frame sizes differ quite significantly. A general rough guide to give us would be the seat tube length of the bike you are interested in. For a bike with a horizontal to the ground top tube of the bike's frame, measure the seat tube starting at the centre of the crank axle to the approximate position to the centre of the top tube where it connects to the seat tube this would help. Inches or cm would make no difference.

For example: I'm 6' 1" tall and I like bikes with a horizontal top tube to have a seat tube length between 58cm to 60cm. If you're around 5' 11" give or take, I'd guess at a 56/7cm frame.

For a bike with a sloping top tube or a mountain bike, ask the owner to give you the frame size or it may be stated on the frame itself.

If you're in doubt, go to your local bike shop and ask their advice as to your ideal frame size. They may even have a second hand, but good quality bike to suit you - but this is getting much rarer now. There's nothing worse than having to fit a bike that doesn't suit your actual size.

randyjawa 

If you are looking to buy a used or vintage bicycle and you want decent quality, then you should know that every bike, new or old, has easy to identify quality features.

Have a look at Vintage Bicycle Quality and you will earn a fundamental understanding of what a good bike is made of, when frame and fork are the considerations. Then, if you want to find a really decent bike for an even decent er price, take some time to learn How To Find Vintage Bicycles. That's where the inexpensive old bikes are. Anyway, take a bit of time to go through the articles and you just might come up with something like this for $60.00 CND...


or this for even less...


or, if a mountain bike is your bag, spend $40 CND and drag something like this home...

Bianchigirll 

Good Morning Ben and welcome to the forums! Where do you live? Lots of members here make a hobby out of reselling bikes they have put a lot of time and love into rehabilitating and I bet one of them has a great deal for you.

How much was this one? Specialized bikes are nice machines.

BFisher

Welcome to the madness.

Check out the late Sheldon Brown's website. It is an invaluable resource.

https://www.sheldonbrown.com

Ben27

Hi - thanks for the replies folks. To answer a couple of questions, i'm a 5'7"/170lb guy, living in Los Angeles. At to Bianchigirll who posted the two photos I couldn't post, firstly thanks, secondly I'm both impressed and a little weirded out you were able to do that, given I didn't post them (!!) - and thirdly, both those bikes are listed at $150. One is 17" frame, the other listed as 'medium'. There may be a little wiggle room on that pricing also. I'm going to go take a look at the resources you mentioned on spotting quality old bikes and listings. thx again, Ben.

Bad Lag

Those are both nice bikes. Either will serve you well. Buy one and ride it. You body will thank you.

You will make memories that last your boy his entire lifetime,... and for you, too.

Ben27

thanks! I know its hard to tell much from the photo's, but assuming both are in decent shape, you think $150 is a reasonable price? I'm currently unemployed and cash is tight, so i want to make sure i'm at least getting value. -Ben

ryansu

Hey Ben as others have said welcome to the forums. Hopefully a member or two from the greater LA metro can chime in what is a good price. I suggest that a) be patient there is always another deal waiting around the corner, B) ride some bikes and get a good idea of what fits as that is the #1 most important thing, imho, about a bike, rides a friends bike, rent a bike, test ride something from CL and when you find a good fit measure it carefully (seat tube, top tube, stand over etc) so you know what you want to look for, you can find web sites that will give you broad guidelines of what frames size you might want based on your height etc take those as a starting point rather than gospel. C) set up a search on CL or FB Marketplace or both in say the $75 to $175 range and if you look regularly you will get an idea of what the market is.

A couple of other items, make sure when you do look at a bike that neither the stem or seat post is stuck, that is a PIA you don't want to deal with. Another thing I do is look for bikes that might be a bit up range from what I really want to pay but have been list for 3 weeks or more and reach out and make an offer that is more in line with your budget the worst that can happen is they will say no. BTW I think you are on the right track with a Mountain bike, Specialized, Nishiki, Schwinn, Trek all made good stuff BITD, For the riding you described I would suggest a rigid fork model vs, a suspension fork.

Good luck and have fun with riding with your son! The first time my Daughter solo'd on her bike, is something I will never forget.

Bad Lag

Specialized only makes good bikes. At least, I've never seen a bad Specialized bike.

Let me rephrase the issue of price. Can you find an equal bike at a lower price? Probably, but you'll have to keep looking, hoping, waiting instead of RIDING!

It is okay to buy either at $150. Can you negotiate a lower price for these? It's very likely. You have two good options. Which do you like more? Buy that one and ride it.

Danny S

+1

Well said!

Ben27

ok cool - i understand the point. I guess I just wanted to make sure I wasn't going to pay $130-$150 for a bike most of you thought was terrible, or 'worth' $30...something like that...

Ben27

Hi folks - so i went to a couple of bike shops today, which was helpful. I sat on bikes that were sized differently, some a generic S/M/L and others by the frame inch size - I found 17" or a Small frame worked best for me. That might eliminate the two Rockhoppers I was looking at, as they are 18" which was a bit less comfortable (arm stretch). I've found a Trek Navigator 300 that is 17.5" frame - I think its a 2005, but has spent the last 4yrs in storage. From the photos it looks in excellent physical shape. Seller says $90. So it's a bit newer then the Rockhoppers, and a bit less expensive. How is the Trek Navigator 300 - decent? Anything I should be worried about?

-Ben

Gary Fountain

Good work Ben. I know nothing about the Trek Navigator 300 but it's a Trek so thats good. I just thought I'd encourage your more informed quest for a really nice and affordable bike.