Anyone poor and riding Walmart bikes?

[Owlie]

Oh no, we won't boo you. You're riding a bike.

[happinesshill]

Oh, wow, awesome!! Thanks everyone...I feel so much better. I will check out Craigslist, hadn't thought of that!! I might find some great gear if I don't get a bike. Thanks for all the great comments. I feel like part of a family now.

[indigoiis]

When I first stared riding and posting here, I had a hand-me-down ca. 1990's GT steel mountain bike that was for someone 6' or taller (I'm 5'6 with very short legs), a pair of lightly padded danskin cottony/spandex compression (?) shorts - well, they were black and looked like the real thing - and a sort of wicking fabric t-shirt and work gloves cut off at the fingers for bicycle gloves.

I was (am) the Salvation Army Thrift Store model of cyclist.

What's important is that you are RIDING. The rest will come.

[Trek420]

Welcome to TE All are welcome here. You may find out how to maintain and dare I say upgrade your bike, look for a used one in the future.

I have a :::gulp:: full custom bike but the one I ride most is old and bottom of GT's product line. Another I found dumped by the side of the road (it's gorgeous now).

All bikes are good!

[Roadtrip]

Booooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...

Oh, wait.. that wasn't aimed at you

+1 on the atta girl on the riding ANYTHING. Just ride.

+1 on the CraigsList ideer. I bought my used Trek on CL for about half what it would have cost me new and not much more then the $200 you mentioned having to spend on a bike.

I'd rather see someone spend what they could afford and have money left over for a good helmet (really important) to go with that bike. I can find really good quality and stylist helmets at my sporting goods retailer for about $50.

Shannon

[radacrider]

Welcome and so glad you are out there riding - that is number one, afterall!

Waaaay back in 1990, after I had been riding a lowish to mid-range bike I splurged on a great bike, because I knew I really loved riding a lot. Ha, I spent $1500 on a top-end Bridgestone with Dura-Ace components.

Guess what? I am still riding that same bike, save new saddle and don't know how many tires and tubes. Today, it's "vintage", old-school down-tube shifters, traditional drop bars, 7 speed rear cassette.

But .... I love riding it, it is my commuter joy ride. Bought my son a new bike, to him, for $350.00. Back in its day (89/90) it was probably a 800-1000 something bike with its Shimano Ultegra 600 component group. He loves it, loves the old style shifting, totally loves that it is so much lighter than the bike it replaced.

As others have said, you don't always have to buy new.

Happy, happy riding to you!

[malkin]

One of the worst things about dept. store bikes is that they may have been assembled by people who know nothing about bikes. So do a basic set up check to be sure the brakes and shifters and cables and tires. If you don't know what to look for, find someone to help you learn.

Our neighbor had a bike from Costco with the fork on backwards.

[Serendipity]

Like others, my first 'adult' bike, bought around 12 years ago, was a Walmart bike. Wanted something that wasn't too expensive as I wasn't sure at that time whether I would like cycling enough to invest serious $$ in a bike.

Turns out I did like cycling that much...rode that bike for two years sold it, bought a used hybrid from my favourite lbs, sold that bike and bought my road bike.....then my commuter/mtb.....latest addition was a lovely turquose beach bike (and I can hardly wait for the weather to warm up so I can ride it)!!!

As I recall, that used hybrid actually cost me less than the new Walmart bike, so + 1 on the recommendations to look for a used bike if you decide you like cycling that much - and I bet you will, its addictive - lbs, craigslist - folks from my cyclling club often are selling or know someone who is selling.

[Karma007]

Ha! My first ride was a Target mountain bike! Welcome!

[rianners]

The first bike I ever bought was a Schwinn from Walmart! It was $80 on sale. LOL. I bought it so I could ride to the bookstore, one of my favorite hang out spots, about 4 miles away. It worked well enough until a few of the parts went bad.

My current bike is a K2 T-Nine Crosswind bought at a closeout sale. I'm actually going to use it for a 53 mile bike event in April. I thought about buying a "real" road bike, but I thought it would be a waste, since I haven't learned to looooove cycling, yet. I'm working on it, though!