Buying A Bike

Problem with getting a hybrid bike is that most people after getting one shortly move into a road bike, so you might as well start with a road bike.

Next issue is your price range, $300 for any new bike will get you a lot of problems, you will be far better off trying to find a nice used one on Craigslist for $300 or less. If this is your first road bike then price wise you're on the right track because you don't want to up your spending to say $800 just to get a nicer new bike then in 3 to 6 months you get bored or whatever and park the bike in the garage for the next 30 years, you then end up with expensive garage art. After you've been riding your used $300 or less bike for 3 to 5 years and are just loving cycling then consider getting a really nice bike in the $1,500 to $2,500 range...except inflation may up that a bit by then.

If you buy used make sure you post what you're considering here so we can advise you if it's a good bike or not or ask someone you know who knows bikes really well. Then test ride it to make sure it will fit and that all the mechanicals work.

Thanks for the shopping advice! I'm starting to look for a starter road bike for commuting to work in the fall. (Right now it's been in the 90s or higher most days, which doesn't make it fun to drive let alone ride.) I've typically been more of a runner, but my joints bother me when I run a lot so I'm going to try biking more. I also find that I'm energized when I'm walking out of the office, but dead by the time I've dealt with evening traffic so I think it would help with my energy levels too.

Keep in mind that energy levels do take time to build up, don't expect a miracle in 2 or 3 months. Also since you will be commuting in the evening don't forget what you said..."you feel tired", so stay extra cautious and aware keeping in mind that how you feel is how the motorists around you feel too! So stay alert riding home, be safe, and follow the same rules of the road as if you were driving a car no matter what you see other cyclists doing, and signal any intentions to motorists so they know what you will be doing.

Buy a bright rear flashing red light, like the Serfas TL60 or TL80 or the Light & Motion Vis180 (not the Micro 180), each of those get more expensive so spend what you can afford, the brighter the better though, and use one on your helmet or seat post or saddle bag if it has a tag to put one one, then put the thing on flash.

One more thing, as nerdy as you'll look riding a bike like this, but go buy a cheap $15 Home Depot or Lowes neon green mesh safety vest with the wide reflector strips; the neon green will help you stand out like a sore thumb along with the flashing rear light.

Some people will tell you to get a bright flashing front light too, that's fine but if your riding in the daytime that won't help as much as a rear light will. But if you got the money it won't hurt to have a bright flashing head light. If money is tight but you feel you need something for the front then look at this light: amazon.comref=sr 1 1Open ↗ This light has gotten a lot of high reviews so it must not be all bad, how long it will last is a unknown story but it's cheap and it does have a strobe mode. It does come with a tail light, BUT the tail light is very dim and not seeable in daylight, but you could add the tail light to the one you buy separately some place on the bike or helmet so then you have two tail lights when darkness comes because more is better but no need to run that one during daylight hours.

I just found this to on Amazon, this combines a 850 lumen Cygolite (a major brand of highly dependable lights, I own 4 and one is 20 years old and still works but old technology no longer bright enough, or I'm old and my eyes are no longer bright enough), this light comes with a Cygolite Hotshot which is as bright as the Serfas TL60, so you get both lights for one low cost; see: amazon.comref=sr 1 23Open ↗

Froze said:

Problem with getting a hybrid bike is that most people after getting one shortly move into a road bike, so you might as well start with a road bike.

Next issue is your price range, $300 for any new bike will get you a lot of problems, you will be far better off trying to find a nice used one on Craigslist for $300 or less. If this is your first road bike then price wise you're on the right track because you don't want to up your spending to say $800 just to get a nicer new bike then in 3 to 6 months you get bored or whatever and park the bike in the garage for the next 30 years, you then end up with expensive garage art. After you've been riding your used $300 or less bike for 3 to 5 years and are just loving cycling then consider getting a really nice bike in the $1,500 to $2,500 range...except inflation may up that a bit by then.

If you buy used make sure you post what you're considering here so we can advise you if it's a good bike or not or ask someone you know who knows bikes really well. Then test ride it to make sure it will fit and that all the mechanicals work.

Thank you so much for your advice, I bought a used Tommaso Forcella from my friend which was in excellent condition today from my friend and he helped me out with everything. Also I'm considering buying a more expensive road bike if I am able to continue riding the Tommaso Forcella for 8 months.

good going. You can either sell the Tommaso when it's time to get a new bike and use that money towards the purchase price; or save it for a commuter or when you go camping, etc, times where getting the bike scratched or stolen won't hurt as much as it would on a new bike. Good riding and be safe.

I'm just looking at this thread because I still don't have the go signal to buy my bike. My old one is already good for the junk so I have been bikeless for about 2 years already. But sometimes I get to ride with a borrowed bike. My intended budget is $200, a mountain bike that is simple in design. All I want is to enjoy riding inside our village and perhaps when go out when I gain riding friends again. But I still have to consult a doctor on the muscle of my right leg, there is a swelling at times for no apparent reason.

Froze said:

Keep in mind that energy levels do take time to build up, don't expect a miracle in 2 or 3 months. Also since you will be commuting in the evening don't forget what you said..."you feel tired", so stay extra cautious and aware keeping in mind that how you feel is how the motorists around you feel too! So stay alert riding home, be safe, and follow the same rules of the road as if you were driving a car no matter what you see other cyclists doing, and signal any intentions to motorists so they know what you will be doing.

Buy a bright rear flashing red light, like the Serfas TL60 or TL80 or the Light & Motion Vis180 (not the Micro 180), each of those get more expensive so spend what you can afford, the brighter the better though, and use one on your helmet or seat post or saddle bag if it has a tag to put one one, then put the thing on flash.

One more thing, as nerdy as you'll look riding a bike like this, but go buy a cheap $15 Home Depot or Lowes neon green mesh safety vest with the wide reflector strips; the neon green will help you stand out like a sore thumb along with the flashing rear light.

Some people will tell you to get a bright flashing front light too, that's fine but if your riding in the daytime that won't help as much as a rear light will. But if you got the money it won't hurt to have a bright flashing head light. If money is tight but you feel you need something for the front then look at this light: amazon.comref=sr 1 1Open ↗ This light has gotten a lot of high reviews so it must not be all bad, how long it will last is a unknown story but it's cheap and it does have a strobe mode. It does come with a tail light, BUT the tail light is very dim and not seeable in daylight, but you could add the tail light to the one you buy separately some place on the bike or helmet so then you have two tail lights when darkness comes because more is better but no need to run that one during daylight hours.

I just found this to on Amazon, this combines a 850 lumen Cygolite (a major brand of highly dependable lights, I own 4 and one is 20 years old and still works but old technology no longer bright enough, or I'm old and my eyes are no longer bright enough), this light comes with a Cygolite Hotshot which is as bright as the Serfas TL60, so you get both lights for one low cost; see: amazon.comref=sr 1 23Open ↗

Thanks for all the words of wisdom. I'm not overly concerned about the endurance, because my commute is only about 6 miles and I wouldn't want to do it until the weather cools off, which should give me time to ramp up.

The feeling tired isn't that I'm tired while I'm driving, it's that it feels like driving sucks the life out of me. It's boring and frustrating and after sitting in a chair for ten hours the last thing I want to do is sit in an even more restrictive chair for another 20 minutes.

I would definitely be picking up something bright and reflective. I'm an engineer so I don't have any qualms with looking like a giant nerd. It kind of comes with the territory! There also aren't very many bike commuters in my town (I saw one yesterday and was pretty surprised by it), so I would definitely need to call myself out. I'll be looking into those lights a little closer once I get a bike in hand. I just need a weekend when I'm actually in town!

Bike commuting isn't as big as people try to make it out to be in most of the US, most states have cold snowy winters and warm rainy weather. The 50 largest cities have only 1% of the commuting population taking bikes as of 2012, whats weird is even in the sun belt only 1.1% of the commuting pop takes a bike while the south states even though they're warm was lower than 1%. City by city you'll see some different stats like Portland Oregon has the highest bike commuting at 6.1%,I know where I live in Fort Wayne Indiana I see maybe 1 or 2 commuters on my route. So don't feel like you're odd duct commuting by bike because you are, so just accept and have fun. When I commute to work in the morning I take it easy riding in but it's only 4 miles, but after work I'll take up to a 25 mile detour home, so you can always do detours eventually if time allows you.

I was in the mall last Thursday and there was this festival of bikes. Again? It's actually a bike sale right in the center of the mall. There was also a presentation of sorts, a mini program to promote their bikes. It was really nice to look at although I had some apprehension in using my camera. You see, there are some promos here that disallow the taking of pictures.

Here is the poster...[ATTACH]741.IPB[/ATTACH]