Caféman's Blog

Department/discount store bikes are never a bargain, no matter how low the price is. Plus, if you buy the assembled from those places, they were put together by someone who has absolutely no idea what they're doing. I've seen bikes with the front fork put on backwards. And Huffy has become pretty much synonymous with "cheap, crappy bikes." The "Huffy" bikes team 7-Eleven rode in the Tour in the 80s were actually made by Serotta.

 

My workhorse, ride-to-work-on-it-everyday bike is a Peugeot 10-speed from the early 80s I bought at a thrift store for $25. Not top of the line or anything, but solid and dependable. I've also got a couple of old Schwinn cruisers I hardly ever ride and a Scott road bike for my longer weekend rides.

 

I'm perfectly comfortable on a road bike. (Mrs. Yojimbo, seeing another cyclist pass by one time asked me "Do you ride all hunched over like that?") I never really think of myself as being hunched over, it just feels like the natural position to be in when I ride, but I understand it's not for everyone. I think if you have the right size frame, it's adjusted properly and you have a comfortable saddle, any bike can work.

 

Linus and Electra both specialize in commuter/comfort style bikes, but you'd probably have to sped at least $400 on one. One option is to wait for fall or winter when a lot of places will have closeouts.

I made the jump from a 40 year old Fuji 10 speed to a used Trek Mountain bike. I like the front shocks. 97% of my riding is on the streets so this year I changed the tires to ones with a less aggressive tread. Much less noise too.

 

I ride about 600 miles a year, most of it doing errands. Convenient store is 2 miles, bank is 5, Redbox is 5.5 and the donut shop is 4. Niagara Falls is 12 miles away; most if it on bike paths along the Niagara River.

 

I also do my own maintenance and did my first complete tare down over the winter. Nothing makes a bike easier to ride then a clean chain and new grease. I guess this is true no matter how much you spend on a bike.