TimothyH

Help me out here...

My daughter is a senior in college and just moved to an apartment further away from campus. She needs a bike to get to classes and work. Her apartment has covered bike storage with swipe card access. We are looking at something that will be used within a five mile radius of Georgia Tech in downtown Atlanta until summer 2019. This will be a one year, short trip, urban bike. It is understood that it will probably be given away to the coop when she is done with it.

I don't have the time or patience to run all over Atlanta looking at craigslist bikes. I'm just not. I would also like to avoid having to assemble some POS but will if I have to. My thought is to go to one of the urban bike shops in Atlanta and just pick out a cheap bike, let the shop assemble it and if she has a problem I can come down and work on it or she can pedal it over to the shop. She can also test ride and we can get a decent fit.

Outback Bikes does a lot of SSFG and urban stuff. They are a decent shop. I'd like to do this Saturday and be done with it. Anything on their site strike you guys?

Or should I just go to Walmart or Target and get the cheapest thing they have? Maybe I'll run up to Target tonight and have a look.


-Tim-

TMonk

I'm always in favor of purchasing used for lower price points; you just get such better value and quality. Is Atlanta flat? If so SS is a no brainer.

Doing CL or whatever classifieds does take time and can be frustrating. Are there any used bike stores or bike coops in ATL???

Clyde1820

If looking for a relatively inexpensive "beater" bike for shorter, flatter trips ...

Perhaps consider something like the Kent LaJolla bike. It's single speed, with a kick-brake, 26in wheels, town/cruiser tires, riser/cruiser bars, ~$100 at WalMart.

It's available in the low-step (ladies') version and cruiser-style (men's) version. About $100 at WalMart.

Had an earlier vintage of these (back when the maker was Next), for a couple of years. Easy to ride, and with the fat tires it's fairly comfortable through town. A low-maintenance rig, with only the normal hub re-greasing every couple of years. Can swap out to different handlebars, if you want. Can easily put on different tires, if you want. With Velox rim tape (or similar) and a decent tire, it'll be fairly bomb-proof and fairly unlikely to get swiped.

They're available in most major metro areas, if you look. Picked mine up, several years ago for $20 from a kid that was flipping lower-end bikes. Probably about the most useful $20 I ever spent on a bike, all things considered.

Not a bad option, if it's to be a give-away unit at the end of a year or so.

TheLibrarian

if 350-400$ is ok with you anything in the commuter/urban section should be fine for 5 miles and errands around town. The blue momentum iNeed has a rack built in which would be good for school books and stuff but you can throw a 30$ rack on any bike. Take her with and let her choose, thats definitely best for buying the wife a bike. Younger kids might want the moon but hopefully she won't want the top of the line bike. She can just pick whatever looks nice too as the use shouldn't be too rugged. Idk why but I like the specialized alibi sport eq. In the pic has a rack and a bell total of 35$ bonus but at 575$ it might be a bit much for 1 year. She may even want to keep it if she stays in the city or even if she doesn't. There's another iNeed with brown accents and fenders thats a bit retro and cool looking.

Gresp15C

This caught my eye, but the smallest size is 50 cm (don't know how tall your daughter is), and it has no front brake. REI treated me real well when I bought a new bike there.

https://www.rei.com/product/131751/p...s-coaster-bike

TimothyH

I'm going to take a long lunch and look at walmart and target tomorrow.

Hadn't thought about REI.

She is 5' 6".

Atlanta is not flat.

Thanks for the ideas. I want to get this done Saturday.


-Tim-

hay

bonsai171

Tim,

Definitely check out walmart. My sister got a multi-speed bike (maybe schwinn?) from walmart for college years ago. I think it was just about $100. It was a MTB, and had a basic Shimano drivetrain. If the bike will only be used for a year or so, it's hard to go wrong with that.

Dave

phobus

I think I'd start with the bike shops near campus. Broke college students means a healthy market for bikes, so maybe you'll luck into finding a decent shop that can sell you a reasonable bike, buy it back at the end of the year, and service it if needed in between.

veganbikes

Shop at your local shop, don't waste time and money at Wally-Mart. Plus she can get service at the shop with a new bike purchase which could be quite handy in that year.

Cyril 

How does this story end?
What bike did you end up getting?

TimothyH

We postponed due to schedule but will likely buy a women's specific Specialized Sirrus this weekend. I'll probably get a U-Lock, put fenders on it and call it a day.

The LBS near her campus is having a pretty good sale and so that that's the plan unless something changes.

This is what a Sirrus looks like but we will probably get black so it doesn't stand out.

TMonk

looks like a good choice. i wonder if they will ever start manufacturing low end 1x groupsets, seems like it would be an ideal solution for an urban bike due to the lower maintenance costs.

TimothyH

Yep, you get it.

I'm not really thrilled with having complex gear shifting stuff. It's just more to maintain and go wrong. IGH are pricey and I could not find a 1x bike.

This seems like a good compromise @ about $375. It will make my daughter smile and my real hope is that she enjoys it enough to start riding.


-Tim-

Mikefule

Looks like a smart bike. My only reservation would be that they look like V brakes, and they tend to need fiddling and faddling with more than most. I doubt the colour would substantially affect the risk of theft let the poor girl make one decision herself! She will love the bike all the more if she's had some input.

Broctoon

That looks pretty similar to the Trek flat bar road bike I bought my wife last spring, except for the brakes. It's an FX-4, I think. She has 3x9 drivetrain, aluminum step-through frame, carbon fork, 700x32 tires, and hydraulic disc brakes. She absolutely loves it, which is no surprise to me, since it's light years ahead of the clunky mid-90s era Schwinn mountain bike she'd been using. This bike has made a huge difference in her riding performance and enjoyment.

I think you've come up with a good one for your daughter, Tim, and I wish her lots of luck and happiness in college.

TimothyH

Thanks to everyone who proposed ideas and thanks to @Broctoon for the well wishes.

We purchased the Specialized Sirrus.



Absolute dumb luck that the valve stems and reflectors lined up perfectly for the photo.

The ladies version has a shorter top tube. She was cramped on the medium and stretched out on the large. The men's version has a little longer top tube and the medium fit her nicely. It lacks the wider saddle of the women's version but she has not ridden in a decade and some soft tissue discomfort is inevitable so we'll give it a few weeks and see how it feels.

The bike was $450 + Giro MIPS helmet, Kryptonite U-Lock, tube and lunch at the Italian restaurant where she works = $629 total. I gave her my spare lights.

I got a hug in return.

More than I wanted to spend but she can bring it to graduate school if needed.


-Tim-

Gresp15C

Nah, it's way too nice for gradual school. The grad students have to look poorer than the undergrads, it's a rule.

TMonk

Cool "The Office" t-shirt as well haha. Wishing her success in her studies.