beng1

As long as the frame on a used bike looks good, with it's original paint and free of dents and cracks, it is very hard to go wrong. Of course you want to ride it up and down the block if possible to see if you like the way it steers and handles and fits you. If you are unable to do that then sight down the wheels and make sure they are in line with each other, make sure the wheels spin freely and are centered in the frame and fork and not rubbing on anything. The road bike I use the most I bought for $3 at a garage sale. Yes I did put a lot of time in it taking all of it's bearings apart, cleaning and lubing them, truing up the wheels and it did need new tires, but it was fun to work on, and I just love riding it, and still have a fraction of the cost of any new bike in it. My other two road bikes are higher-end, I paid ten bucks for one which is a Columbus-framed Schwinn SuperSport, and a nice old Fuji road bike I paid $40 for. They too needed some TLC and tires, but they are brilliant bikes to ride. If you love bikes and want to ride them the rest of your life then you really need to get an old bike and fix it up and learn how to repair them yourself, so you are not at the mercy of bicycle repair shops or bad mechanics, even if you get a brand-new bike you can end up in a lot of trouble if you know Zero about working on them yourself, because old or new all bikes need regular maintenance and tuning up, especially if you are riding over city potholes and New England rain-storms. Just start combing the classifieds for a steel-framed road bike in your size, hit some bike shops that deal in used bikes. With a bit of patience you can come out way ahead of the game of consumerism and get a life-long friend and learn some fun skills.