Good to buy a bike?

terse

I am going nuts trying to buy a bike. I am going to bike shops and getting very conflicting information. I don't know if I am getting fed a line of BS because someone is trying to make a commission or what.

My situation is that I am a good athlete that is new to cycling. I had a bike when I was a kid, but haven't been on a bike in years. I am a 30 year old male, 6'2" and 240 lbs. I am not looking to join the X-Games or Tour de France. I want a good bike that I can ride around on for excercise and enjoyment, mainly on pavement, but would also like to be able to go off road a bit. I would ride 3 to 6 days a week. One salesman told me the Trek Navigator 3.0 was the way to go. A different shop told me the Trek 7200 hybrid. Another shop told me to get a Gary Fisher mountain bike. Last shop I went to was hardcore about a Fuji bike. I am trying to educate myself and make a smart purchase, but it is difficult with all of the conflicting information.
A lot of great information here. To add a few notes:
When I am talking about going offroad, I mean a dirt trail in the woods. It is not specifically a bike path. There are some places with rocks and big roots to go over. It is nothing dangerous looking though.

I don't really a pre-set budget. I am not opposed to spending good money as long as I am buying the right thing. Ideally I would like to stay under $2,000, but that is not my main concern.

Is there a certain size bike you suggest? I think it can vary between mountain bikes, hybrids, etc.

Thanks again for all of the great input. If any of you guys that work in bike shops are in the New Jersey area, please let me know. I'd be happy to buy my bike there.

Answer
Very good answers here for a change.

I'll just add a few pieces...

I would personally suggest you go for a mountain bike. The hybrids or cyclo-cross bikes are fine, but seem to do neither terribly well.

The only real problem with riding a mountain bike on the road is rolling resistance. You'll work harder on pavement, but so what. If it is for fitness, who cares.

Moutnain bikes are certainly more comfortable. Later, if you want to do a triathalon, or become a roadie, you can invest in another bike. Mountain bikes are very good all purpose bikes, with good versatility and can take abuse.

You fall into what is affectionately known as the Clydesdales -- a big guy. Still, most anyone under 300 pounds won't have an issue with a frame unless you are dropping off of cliffs, getting big air.

And yes, bike shops absolutely will try to sell you on the their bikes, and disparage their competitors. Margins are slim, and bike sales are flat right now.

Your BUDGET will go a long way toward determining what you need. Do not go for a $200 Wal-Mart or discount bike. But, you don't have to spend $2,000 either. You can probably find a very nice hardtail that would meet all your needs in the $8000-$1100 range, perhaps less.

The vast majority of "name brand" bikes are made within miles of each other in Taiwan. They are all perfectly good, and offer good value. Bikes from Giant, Specialized, Trek, Gary Fischer, Kona, etc are all good choices.

I like Mountain Bike Review (link below). You do get biased opionions, but can at least screen the bikes you are looking at, and see if users have noticed fatal flaws. Read up, and you might be able to narrow your choices.

Try the bikes you are interested in. It's rare these days, but some shops do have demo models you can borrow or rent.

Don't be afraid to ask if they will discount a bike. There is a lot a shop can do to earn your business. Just reward them with your service needs later.

Good luck!

EDIT: Have a shop size you. It's the best way, and you can then feel the difference in person, rather than using the formula from a book.

I want a BMX Bike cheapish...?

Peter Pot

i want a semi good bmx bike.
i dont need it for any tricks or anything i just want to ride it.

im looking for something thats like a step above walmart brand or something and im looking to spend about from

$100-150
any ideas?

Answer
http://www.gtbicycles.com/

http://www.diamondbackbmx.com/depts.asp?deptid=2

I had a look at some BMX websites, and they don't have anything in that price range. And it looks like the bikes under $200.00 are small kids bikes.

I'm sorry, but if you want a Name Brand bike, you will have to pay at least $250.00 to $300.00

Unless you buy a used bike. Sometimes I see good bikes at garage sales. Once I saw a Redline BMX for $50.00 at a garage sale.

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best beginner dirt bike?

i am 14 6 foot and weigh 200 pounds and i am wondering what kind of dirt bike i should get, i do mostly trail riding but i also do a lot of hard packed dirt roads and trails, i have ridden dirtbikes before but i have always been a atv man. i want something that wont come on to strong but will also go good when i give it to it, and i would rather a 4- stroke also. please any information on dirtbikes would be great thank you.

Answer
Well your a pretty big kid plus your still growing so you shouldn't get anything less than a 400.
My best recommendation would be a 450 trail bike. You could also get a yzf426. But don't get anything under a 400 cause it wont be able to pull someone around your size with ease plus you'll grow out of it rather quickly.

How do I pick a freestyle BMX bike?

argh.pirat

What brands are respected freestyle BMX bikes? I thought Mongoose where cheap kids bikes but they're everywhere. From what I can tell I should be looking for one that's 20". I'd like to ride street and vert for now and am looking for something under $150.

Answer
20" has a lot of possibilities... it would take a while to find one under 150, i would expect to find one under 200. go on danscomp.com , they have a lot of bikes. heres 2 under 200
(red looks better even though they dont have full pic for #1) http://www.danscomp.com/101140.php?cat=BIKES http://www.danscomp.com/101466.php?cat=BIKES

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When buying a new bmx raceing bike what do you look for?

best kids bikes under $200 image

pickle

How do you know it's the right size for you? What parts are important to the weight of the bike? What brands are good? What size and tires are right for this sport.
This is for an 8 years old boy who wants to race for the first time. He's got a helmet and protective clothes. But his bike is not right because it has foot brake. I don't want to asemble and our budget is 250-300.

Answer
For an eight year old, you are looking at a mini or junior sized bike. Micro Mini will be too small. You are looking at a bike with 1 1/8" Tires.

There are complete bikes out there for around $300, but be aware that kids grow out of mini and junior sized bikes all the time, meaning that there, and you can ofen pick up a $400 bike for under $250 that has bee raced 1-2 seasons. Most bike shops could give it a good tune-up for around $50 and you are ready to go.

You are correct that a bike with a coaster brake is not a good choice.

If you are looking for areas to improve a race bike in the weight department, the wheels are the best place to make improvements - as anything that is rotating is more important that the non-rotating parts.

Good Brands? GT, Redline and Diamondback are companies with a hisotry of BMX racing and they are still producing bikes for racing today.

Mongoose, as suggested by one other poster, has not been producing competitive race bikes for a number of years. THey have some entry level bikes that woudl be OK for racing for around $200 and then the rest of thier bikes are Dirt Jump/ Freestyle Bikes. The parent company that owns Mongoose also ownd GT and Schwinn as well as some tother brands. GT is currently thier "race bike" brand.

If you do decide to go used, there are some premium brands to watch for in addition to Redline, Diamond Back and GT, there is also Intense, Supercross, Redman, GHP, Felt and a bunch of others.

Be awere that there are also very nice race bikes bearing the FMF name, and they are good bikes and components. But they are no longer produced and getting any sort of mfg's warranty, even on a new bike, will not likely be possible. But if you can get a new FMF at near used prices, it may work out well.

How would you fix the tax system?

Amercia

We obviously have a bureaucratic mess, so what are some simple steps we can take to correct it?

Answer
No income tax, just a national sales tax. I think It should be set at about 5%. I would also have a law where it can not be raised without a national referendum, expect during a congressional declared state of emergency, or a war (a real war, declared by congress). During war time or a state of emergency, it can not be raised any higher then 10%, and must be voted on every six months (continuation vote).

See right now, people hide money they are earning, legally or illegally. Most people do not pay taxes. Under the current system, it has been estimated close to 50 billion dollars a year in revenue is not collected, because it hidden.

Under this system, everyone pays. If you buy a candy bar for a dollar, 5 cents goes to uncle sam. If you buy a house for 100,000 dollars, 5,000 goes to uncle sam.

Now, once everyone is paying taxes, then maybe people will pay more attention when tax dollars are going to stupid or wasteful spending, like...

$60 billion annually wasted in health care fraud
$2 billion annually by Conservation Reserve program pays farmers not to farm
$600 million annually in food stamp overpayments.
$120 million annually in school lunch program abuse costs .
$800 million annually in veterans' program overpayments cost
$50 million annually for U.S. Postal Service selects an average of 1,125 employees daily, to sit in empty âstandby rooms", and do nothing, due to over staffing
$146 million annually in flight upgrades due to federal employees refusing to fly coach
$15 million annually by the National Institutes of Health to rent labs it cannot use
$20 million annually for prisoners getting SSI relating to their alleged disabilities
$1.4 billion in overpayments to disability beneficiaries
$112 million paid out by the IRS to fraudulent returns filed by prisoners
$423,500 stimulus funds to find out why men don't like to wear condoms
$2.6 million training Chinese prostitutes to drink more responsibly on the job.
$1 million in stimulus funds for a genitalia-washing program in Africa
$1 million on researching gay males penis size
$400,000 research in Buenos Aires bars on gay men's risky sexual behavior
$1.44 million to study male prostitutes in Vietnam
$239,100 study of how Americans use the Internet to find love
$168,766 grant study sexual behavior of monkeys by analyzing monkey feces in Africa
$3 billion re-sanding beaches (even as this new sand washes back into the ocean).
$13 billion in Iraq aid has been classified as wasted or stolen.
$7.8 billion in Iraq aid money cannot be accounted for
$50 million in erroneous refunds to 230,000 Medicare recipients
$3.9 million by Securities Exchange Commission, rearranging desks & offices at its headquarters
$2.5 million in stimulus checks sent to the deceased
$10 million to renovate an abandoned train station that has not been used in 30 years
$100 million on unused flight tickets, Defense Department bought, never bothered to collect refunds even though the tickets were refundable
$2.8 million stimulus sent to a Wisconsin nursing home that didnât need or request it
$ 50,000 a piece for paintings of high-ranking government officials.
$356,000 to study how kids perceive foreign accents.
$900,000 in federal stimulus funds on a new bike signs in Oregon, even though the city already has similar bike signs, which it plans to leave up.
$200,000 to study of why political candidates make vague statements
$228,000 per job, saved or created, by the stimulus plan
$615,000 so the University of California at Santa Cruz could digitize Grateful Dead photographs, tickets, backstage passes, fliers, shirts and other memorabilia
$1.2 million spent trying to find out if a mother rat, if given cocaine, will abandon her babies

Right now people who don't pay anything into the system can afford not to care. Once they have a stake in game, maybe well keep a closer eye on the idiots in D.C. Unless you think this was money well spent?

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