Any bike experts?

[Westerner]

Just an idea...a family I know was able to buy 2 bikes (1 each for mother and daughter) at a swap meet. Great prices and pretty good bikes too. So, there's that, if it helps

[sanantone]

Thanks. I haven't thought about going to a flea market.

[taylor]

The bike shops are selling used bikes for over $300 which is out of my budget. People are selling old, raggedy bikes with missing parts on Craigslist.

Since it seems like you're on a tight budget, I'd probably buy a new bike at Walmart, Target, Sport Chalet/Sports Authority or Costco and then take it to a bike shop to adjust the gears and brakes. Or better yet if you have a friend that is a gearhead take it to him and get it taken care of for FREE. Otherwise, I'd probably buy one from Craigslist from a neighboring affluent area. Generally upper middle class and rich folks tend to sell their used items in good/excellent condition for way below fair market value. They want to get rid of their items quickly but they don't want to give it away either, so they can replenish their new toys. I've sold my daughter's bike on Craiglist too when it was time for an upgrade and the buyer was extremely happy with the price and the condition of the bike.

[sanantone]

I just bought a bike from Walmart for $129 before tax. I didn't have the patience to wait for it to be delivered to my house or a nearby store, so I drove to the Walmart in the next county. :p It was only a 15 min. drive. I did a lot of research on the websites of Walmart, Academy, Target, REI, Amazon, and Dick's Sporting Goods. My final two choices were a Schwinn Legacy Cruiser and a Hyper Inspire Mountain Bike. I chose the mountain bike after checking out the cruiser at Target. The handlebars on the cruiser seemed too low and a couple of women who said they are 5'10" complained about the bike being uncomfortable. I'm 5'9". Since the trail I'm going to ride on has a couple of hills at the beginning, I decided to just get a bike with gears. A few people said it was difficult to get ride over hills with the cruiser.

Thanks again everyone. I really liked the idea of having a lifetime warranty on the Schwinn, but I heard their customer service is horrible. The bike I bought only has a 1-year warranty, but I bought the 2-year coverage from Walmart for $15.

[namwen]

I just bought a bike from Walmart for $129 before tax. I didn't have the patience to wait for it to be delivered to my house or a nearby store, so I drove to the Walmart in the next county. :p It was only a 15 min. drive. I did a lot of research on the websites of Walmart, Academy, Target, REI, Amazon, and Dick's Sporting Goods. My final two choices were a Schwinn Legacy Cruiser and a Hyper Inspire Mountain Bike. I chose the mountain bike after checking out the cruiser at Target. The handlebars on the cruiser seemed too low and a couple of women who said they are 5'10" complained about the bike being uncomfortable. I'm 5'9". Since the trail I'm going to ride on has a couple of hills at the beginning, I decided to just get a bike with gears. A few people said it was difficult to get ride over hills with the cruiser.

Thanks again everyone. I really liked the idea of having a lifetime warranty on the Schwinn, but I heard their customer service is horrible. The bike I bought only has a 1-year warranty, but I bought the 2-year coverage from Walmart for $15.

Cool. Where will you be riding? Are you NE, NW, C?

[sanantone]

NE. I'm right down the street from where the Salado Creek Greenway meets Lady Bird Johnson Park. I'm also not far away from McAllister Park. Once they're done with the construction, I might be able to bike my dog over to the dog park. I drove to the Walmart in Schertz. Just a couple of days ago, it was only in stock in New Braunfels, and I was about to drive all the way up there. I'm about 25 min. away.

[namwen]

Cool, I know the area well. I have a few jobs going on in that areas and have done many others there.

[Jonathan Whatley]

Hey – and this brings to mind to the Ikea "hacking" culture Johann discussed – there's an apparently earnest and active webboard bigboxbikes.com. "Support for those who ride BigBox Bicycles including WalMart and Target You don't HAVE to spend $1000 to enjoy bicycling!"

In other news, there's an excellent path for bicycling, inline skating, walking and jogging that crosses my hometown east to west. This happened there this week:

Mattie McPhee was peacefully jogging along Martin Goodman Trail on Friday afternoon when a car ad beneath her feet stopped her cold.

“NISSAN, 4 DAYS ONLY,” said the red and white letters on the pavement. “AUG. 22-25, ADDITIONAL $1000 OFF, LIMITED TIME.”

Just above the letters, an arrow pointed McPhee towards a nearby promotional event by the car brand being held at Ontario Place.

The 20-year-old, who doesn’t drive, was aghast.

“They’re wrecking this beautiful path,” she said. “We’re supposed to be enjoying nature and they’re corrupting it with this ugly Nissan sign.”

At least eight Nissan ads promoting a car sale were seen plastered along the trail Friday — the same day the city unveiled a new mural inside the rainbow tunnel along the Don Valley Parkway, meant to discourage graffiti in public spaces.

The city says Nissan was never granted permission to advertise on city parkland.

“The installations were not authorized,” said Wynna Brown, the city’s manager of media relations and issues management, in an email. She added the manufacturer could be fined for the ads. “Staff are investigating and they will be removed.”

Way to represent car culture there, allegedly defacing a park.

[sanantone]

That is funny.

I'm glad I got the mountain bike because the trail has more hills than I thought.