Yo...

Looking for advice from anyone who gets around an urban setting on a bike on a regular basis.

I'm moving to Austin next week and want to give biking around to various errands/meeting places a try. Anyone have any tips wrt what type of bike I should be looking to get? I know nothing about this stuff.

I should note:

- I'm 6'4" (not sure if that matters)
- I'd love to not spend a fortune here. Under $300 would be great, under $200 would be amazing.
- I have no aspirations of using this bike for any reason other than getting around urban Austin.

Any and every bit of info to get me headed in the right direction is appreciated.

I am 6'4'' as well (my last post also involved disclosing my height oddly...) and you need a 55-60 cm bike. Exact sizing isn't important, but go big on the bike frame.

That amount of money is fine. Just get a "commuter" bike...has what you want to do right in the name.

Also, don't get a Fixie (fixed-gear bike)...they have inferior functionality and also happen to be the mark of an a-hole.

I would factor in the cost of getting a helmet, as well as bike lights/good quality lock...
If that is your total budget, you probably would be better off getting something second hand in the UK for the equivalent pounds sterling (dont know if prices differ much between the US and the UK, I wouldnt be surprised if things were more expensive in the UK).
I would even get a cheap bike put on insurance... Bike thieving over there might be less rife than in the UK though.

Fixed gears are for the true hipsters only lol... so yeah, pretty much the sign of an Ahole but a lot of hard core bike types swear by them. I am far from a hard core bike type and I def couldn't handle having a fixed gear all the time. I think a (possibly used) hybrid is probably a decent choice. I'm not familiar with Austin, it's really flat though right? If so, you might wanna look into a road bike. I know here in Pittsburgh at least they have a program where you can volunteer at bike shop and they'll let you build your own bike out of various parts, might be worth looking into.

Edit: I would definitely suggest a helmet, I've known so many people that have come very very close to dying because they weren't wearing a bike helmet. Yeah, it doesn't look as cool but car drivers give bicyclists pretty much zero respect around here. Again, maybe it's better in Austin. It seems like the further west you go the more bike friendly cities become.

I will probably do a 3-speed bike next for getting around the neighborhood myself.

Anyways, the hipsters really have won if the rest of us have to make choices based on what a hipster would do. So if you want a single speed bike, then just get one.

Austin has some hilly areas BTW (ie. it borders The Hill Country part of Texas). And a ton of hardcore bike guys, both road and offroad. There are some pretty crazy mountain bike trails west of town.

Anything in that price range is going to be a piece of crap, is going to fall apart, not work worth a damn and will be a chore to ride.

You really need to spend a $1,000 and up to get a decent bike. I just got a Surly Long Haul Trucker for my girlfriend to do around town errands and stuff.

I dont have a fixie but that might be a good option for you if your part of austin isnt too hilly. They are cheaper, lighter, simple to maintain and have fewer things that can break (these are some o fthe reasons that the Aholes swear by them). You probably can get a decent fixie or single speed (with a flywheel but no gears) for around $6 or $7 hundred.

http://surlybikes.com/bikes/steamroller_complete/

http://surlybikes.com/bikes/long_haul_trucker_complete/

http://www.marinbikes.com/2011/bike_...serialnum=1469

http://www.marinbikes.com/2011/bike_...?serialnum=471

This isn't the forum to get decent bike advice. Individuals might post good stuff but over all you are going to get too much noise. Look at bikefoums.net or some other good bike forum.

I do swear by Surly brand parts and bikes though. I had a great Surly. The secret to getting a good bike is going to a bike shop and telling the main designer to just have fun with the thing. Once you do that, you'll walk out with a $1100 bike for about $600.

There are many cheap ways you can increase the value of your bike. For example, one thing people never tell you about pre-fab bikes is that the extra price will not buy you better components. For example a $500 bike will have all the same components as a $650 bike except that the $650 bike will have a carbon seat pole and a lightweight gear shifts. It doesn't sound like much because, yeah, it isn't. One looks nicer and that is it. There is little to no functional difference between a bike in one price range.

There are multiple price-ranges.

Less than $300: This will almost always be a piece of junk unless you buy a used one. I once bought a used Giant for $50 and after my restructuring, it was an awesome machine.

$300 -$500: These bikes are all pretty good and are a fine build for most not-so-serious riders.

$600 - $850: This is where you are basically buying a $400 pos with Carbon this or alloy that or "quick change" this or that. **** this price range. Start looking into customization.

$1000 - $2500: This is a tricky area. Bike companies figured out that if you are willing to over-spend at earlier price points, then why not really take you for a ride? The other part is that this is the low spectrum of high-end bikes, which really are bargains at this price.

-- Do not buy quick-release. This is asking for a robbed bike. As you might have guessed, quick release is one of the major selling points for raising the price of a crap bike.

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If you are really dedicated to buying a bike for under $200, then you should buy a used bike and rebuild parts of it. The most important part of the bike is obviously the wheels. To give you an idea of how shady bike shops are, this one thing is the difference between a $50 wheel and a $150 wheel:

Take out the bearings. They will usually be ball bearings. Take the bearings shop and tell them how many bearings are in each side of the wheel (usually 8 or 10). Ask them for cartridge bearings. Buy some bike grease and install the cartridge bearings.

By far the largest scam you will run across is the tires. This is quite effective. They sell you a bike with $100 tires and then you are hooked to it. Don't fall for it. Specialized makes damn good tires for $35/set.

You can very easily get a solid used commute bike on cragislist for under $300. Something like an '80's era touring bike will be plenty convenient, functional and durable.

One benefit of doing so is that bikes at this price point are way less susceptible to getting boosted, something that is a major consideration in a college town.

Something like this: http://austin.craigslist.org/bik/2232868100.html should fit your needs (though I would talk the guy down in price).

Ya ^ makes a great point that I forgot to mention. Bike theft is like a billion dollar industry in frisco...and a kinda ****** bike will help deter.

ALSO, get a U lock that you can put through the whole frame, not just a tire.

Another sign of the Bike Guy Ahole is telling people they need to spend >$1000 for a bike to run errands on, imo.

I used to race and had multiple high-end bikes >$2000, but rode a cheap Diamondback ($250) from Schwinn shop around town without any problems at all. Later I bought a Scott road/all-terrain hybrid for ~350 as my around-town bike. A nice bike in a big city seems like one more thing not worth worryin about, imo.

http://austin.craigslist.org/bik/2234375785.html

Any thoughts on this one?

It wouldn't fit the 6'4" OP, but it would be a decent option for someone else.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/


Bikeforums already posted so adding the late, great Sheldon Brown.

Just get a BMX.

And LOL at wearing a helmet are you 8?

About a week after buying my helmet (after riding around London without one for more than a year) I was out of the seat pedaling in my highest gear downhill, when a car careered wildly out of a side road to my right across the road onto my side of the road. I instinctively moved to my left, the front tyre hit the curb, I went right over the handlebars landing on my head/right shoulder. Beyond painful - totally green/purple shoulder/top quarter of the front of my body. Without the helmet god knows what the head injury would have been, just saying.


By the way sorry about last post - there is lots of good advice by others in here as far as I can tell.

I was just joking about the no helmet. Although I wouldn't wear one it's def a better idea to wear one.

Did think you were joking, but once the memory of that bike smash came back it felt cathartic to write it down.

as someone said, craigslist is a pretty good place to look. though you might find something cheaper at a flea market or garage sale. obviously craigslist and flea market bikes might be stolen...

i disagree. i think the size of the bike is one of the most important things in buying a bike. riding around on a bicycle that is too small is going to be pretty uncomfortable after a few miles. i would be pretty shocked is a 55cm frame is comfortable for someone who is 6'4" as i am around 5'8" and that is the size of bicycle i use.

the best thing to do is if you find a bicycle you think you might like, take it for a test ride and see how it feels.

When you stand over a bike, the top bar should be about 2 inches below your danglers. This information is useless if you don't have your seat up high enough. The seat should be up so that when you sit on it, your down leg should be almost full extended.

Don't ride in big groups or else this could happen to you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVarTA-cJdg