Does anyone know where to get a cheap road bike to mess around on? I'm talking real cheap and real junky, just to ride around town and take on short trips with the wife, not for triathlons or anything like that. Craigslist and eBay seem to have old broken down bikes that they are selling for the same price as new ones.
Does anyone know where to get a cheap road bike to mess around on? I'm talking real cheap and real junky, just to ride around town and take on short trips with the wife, not for triathlons or anything like that. Craigslist and eBay seem to have old broken down bikes that they are selling for the same price as new ones.
Make sure you ride them first to make sure you won't want to cut it into tiny pieces after a mile. Old and beat up is fine, unless there's an issue with the gears or shifter. Then it's just junk and a hassle.
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Down in the basement, I've got a Craftsman lathe. Show it to the children when they misbehave.
Make sure you ride them first to make sure you won't want to cut it into tiny pieces after a mile. Old and beat up is fine, unless there's an issue with the gears or shifter. Then it's just junk and a hassle.
Yeah, that's kind of what I am hoping for though. Junk that I can tinker with. If I can find a cheap junker that works fine, I'll be happier. But one that needs a little tweaking is fine with me.
Yeah, that's kind of what I am hoping for though. Junk that I can tinker with. If I can find a cheap junker that works fine, I'll be happier. But one that needs a little tweaking is fine with me.
Bike building and repair was a hobby for me for a little while (I don't do it much anymore, ever really). Go ahead and get yourself an old junker from a thrift shop, tune and lube the drivetrain and brakes, put new brake pads and tires on it. Maybe a seat and some fresh bar wraps. For ~$100 bucks you'll have 90% of the bike that people spend hundreds or thousands on.
There are tons of bike snobs out there who think more expensive gear makes a difference. Unless you're a racer who is fighting for hundredths of a second, don't listen to a word of it. The performance bicycle industry is insane. They perfected the road bike thirty years ago and have since been reinventing the wheel (figuratively and literally) and making it out of new materials and charging a fortune for it. Old flexy steel frames are as comfortable a bike as you can ride (aluminum, titanium etc can be stiff and jarring).
I have a newish road bike that I built for ~$500 that is probably worth a few times that. I ride sometimes with a guy who works at a bike shop. He rides on an old 80's Schwinn frame with a drivetrain he pieced together from spare parts. His bike is every bit as good to him as mine is to me, and he's faster on it to boot.
Good luck and I hope you enjoy it!
EDIT: Try and get a frame that fits your body type and the type of riding you're going to do. How tall are you? Long, normal, short arms and legs? Do you plan to be cruising around sitting up, or will this be a bike that you are going to be riding hard? The geometry of the frame is the one thing that you're stuck with on a bike, so it's important to get something that suits your use and body. If you google the topic there are tons of resources online to help you get an idea of what you'll enjoy the most.
Saw "Goon" last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. Apparently based on true story about Doug Smith. The backup goalie putting his pads on backwards in the locker room drove me nuts every time. Definite reference to Mcsorely -brash incident. Wish the language wasn't so bad, though totally accurate for a hockey locker room.
"Eva: You make me wanna stop sleeping with a bunch of guys.
Doug Glatt: That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me."
Really? I am reading it right now for free. Is there more content or something if you pay?
I read a couple of stories, then a pop-up started to appear over every page saying that I had reached my max of free content. They must just hate Canadians. Then again, who doesn`t?
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