Good bicycle for less than $400 USD?

L

LongDistance

Joined
May 24, 2004
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I have decided to retire my crappy but memorable Walmart bicycle in favor of a better one. However, I do not know much about bicycles so I need expert advice. I am going to use this bicycle mostly for commuting (paved roads) but I like to ride very fast and aggressive. On weekends, I like to hit the bike trails for about an hour or two. My budget is $400 USD or less. All suggestions are welcome.
 
For 400 bucks you should be able to pick up a decent bike. Since you say you're going to be mostly commuting, but doing some trail riding as well, and are "fast and agressive", a regular mountain bike should be the best choice. The hybrids would be better on the pavement, but are hardly built for high speeds and hard knocks.
I'd shop around for a decent hardtail with basic front supsension and an aluminum frame. (hard to find a good steel frame in this price range). Look for the semi-slick tires, which should give you a good compromise of low rolling resistance on the road and adequate grip off-road. No bike is going to be perfect for both; you have to compromise somewhere.
In this range, you are looking at a generic (Taiwan-made) frame with proprietary bits bolted on. So, any of the major brands should be fine. Do some shopping! Check out Trek, Giant, Schwinn, etc, and see what you can get for your money. Make sure the shop is willing to set the bike up and see to proper fitting.

This time of year, you may already be able to find closeouts and such as the season "officially" winds down.
 
mwerner is giving you great advice. Shop around for a closeout bike which will stretch your dollars. I have a Trek mountain bike I bought years ago. It was expensive at the time but, averaged out over it's lifespan it is cheaper then a throw away Wal-mart bicycle. The only thing I would change is getting handlebars that let me sit straight up so it isn't so fatiquing on my back running around town. Off road it works wonders.

Pay attention to the Shimano group they put on the bike. When I was shopping, the tires, frames, etc. were all pretty much the same from one bike to the other. The "drive" components were where the real differences were.
 
I ride as fast and aggressively as I can which isn't very fast at my age. Nevertheless I ride 10-15 miles every morning and actually enjoy it. I do it for exercise but I get fresh air, varying views and dog races in the bargain.

For commuting you may want to look for what we call a hybrid bike or comfort bike. It is a bike that is built on a mountain bike frame with mountain bike gearing but has the large 700mm wheels that road bikes have with tires that are smooth but wider than those on road bikes. They also have straighter handlebars that allow a more upright posture than road bikes. Any bike shop can show you one or more in your price range. There should be plenty of variety available.

Although I ride a road bike most of the time, I have a nice hybrid from Jamis that I ride whenever I take a bike into town. It is a pleasure to ride it. It isn't as fast as the road bikes but it certainly is more comfortable.

I bought my wife a comfort bike just last week on Ebay. It was under $300 brand new including shipping. It is a Motobecane. It has the 26" wheels like mountain bikes do but, otherwise, meets the description above. It was made in Taiwan, has a Shimano Altus drivetrain and makes my wife happy so it is a good thing. I've ridden it and I think it is a fantastic value. Good luck with the quest. Let us know what you find. I own 5 bikes so you can guess that I'm somewhat into it and always interested in anybody's bikes.
 
Nothing much to add really as all the important stuff has been covered. I would especially second the components comment though. You may find a bike on sale or closeout with better components for just a few dollars more, get them! There is nothing worse than crappy low end components spoiling your commute by grinding, clicking and needing constant adjustments. I have a MTB that I put a road chainset (gears etc) on as I wanted higher gearing and a little better shifting than the dung that came as standard on my bike. I guess you will be looking at a 9 speed as this seems the standard now. If you get a bike from a B&M store (and you should because of tune ups and advice) then see if you can get something that will give you a little more top end for the commute, like a 48~52 chainwheel (the big cog at the front).
 
A lot of bike shops have closeouts on last year's models. A few years ago, I picked up a new(well, a year old) Giant mountain bike for about what you're looking at spending. A year earlier, this bike was priced about twice that.
 
I am not up on bicycles much any more. Fancied myself to be a future Tour D' France rider when in my youth. Recently got my boys Trek 3700's. They are nice, well made mountain bikes with aluminum frame for around $300USD. I've ridden them and they are pretty nice. I think I'll claim the 14 year old's 3700 soon, as he is just about over bicycles and thinking cars. :eek:

Jeff
 
Hard to fault Trek. We have been using their bikes for patrol use (police service model, based on the 8000 series as I recall) for many years now. They have proven to be reliable and well-made.
 
this is a very newbie question...

what is the difference between a "rotate gear shifter" and a "trigger gear shifter"? Sorry, I don't know the technical name for the part, but it is the device that shifts your gear. I guess the "trigger gear shifter" is better than "rotate gear shifter" because all the more expensive bikes have the "trigger" ones while the cheaper bikes have the "rotate" ones, but why is that? :confused:
 
IMHO, I prefer the lever shifters, mainly because I tended to shift gears when attempting to hop or go over something with the rotating style shifter.
 
I don't know what you weigh, but I strongly recommend the extra money for the cable disc brakes.
 
My bike is a Trek Bruiser One (heavy duty hardtail mountain bike), that has been completely redone. I picked up the original bike from a local shop with average components on it for around $400. This was 3 years ago. A buddy of mine is into bikes like we are in to knives, and he offered to redo the whole bike. :eek:

It now has Sun Rhyno-Lite wheels, with Tioga City Slickers, Shimano XT drive train, Avid mechanical disc brakes and levers, Shimano XT rapid fire trigger shifters, Shimano BB with the splined shaft, Marzzocchi Dirt Jumper III front fork, and a downhill riser handlebar and stem from Easton.

I have this set up for pavement, and can easily switch it to trail capable by swapping out the tires.

This bike rides like a dream, is easy to handle both on pavement and dirt, and doesn't kill my back.

I had regular V brakes on this at first, but I didn't like the way the bike handled under hard braking, so I bought a disc set up. I originally had a set of hydraulic discs, and didn't like them at all. One of them refused to bleed properly, and the other was always spongy. The cable (mechanical) disc brakes are much better, and if my budget was limited for upgrades, this would be the first.

mwerner has good advice. I picked up the original Bruiser during an August clearance sale at the dealer, and it was marked down $350. A steal deal. Make sure you get a good base model, and then as you have cash, you can upgrade the components.
 
If you visit a mountain bike forum, you will see threads running to many pages on the subject of what's best-gripshift or rapidfire.

Gripshift is the trade name for SRAM's twist-shifters, while Rapidfire is Shimano's thumb-and-finger operated system. To make things REALLY interesting, both companies now make versions of the other's product, so you can buy a SRAM trigger-shifter, and a Shimano twist shifter..... :D

Our fleet of police bikes has both, and I've used both extensively for years. Both work very reliably and hardly ever cause any trouble. It's a little harder to change cables with the older Gripshift models, but how often do you do that?

You can go from one end of the cassette to the other (shift across all the gears) with the SRAM unit, while the Rapidfire give you three downshifts per throw. About the only time that would ever be a big deal is in certain racing situations. (Topping a hill in low gear and jumping to the highest gear for the descent.)
Take your pick....
 
Mostly good advice given, but I have one question. When you say "hit the trails" do you mean rocks, roots, mountain bike trails, or do you mean paved or packed gravel trails?
If you mean mountain bike trails, a mountain bike is your only option. I would look at a Gary Fisher Wahoo. It goes for $410 at most shops, but it is the least expensive bike that I'm aware of with a "real" suspension fork (one not made by RST, Suntour, etc) It's a RockShox fork. The wheels and frame are also upgraded from what you'll find on anything less expensive. I'd also skip the discs at that price, since they eat up so much of the overall budget of the bike. You'll spend $100-150 of your $400 on a mediocre set of discs that don't work that much better than a set of properly adjusted rim brakes in most conditions. Discs work much better in wet, muddy conditions than rim brakes, but clean and dry, they will work very similarly at this price range. I have discs on my mountain bikes, but at this price range they are not worth the trade-off.

If by bike trails you mean paved or packed gravel, definitely look at hybrids. The Trek 7200FX is definitely worth a look. It goes for about $350, and is much lighter and faster than the front suspension hybrids. A hybrid uses a 700C wheel rather than a 26" like you see on MTB's. Larger diameter plus smoother tread plus narrower and higher pressure equals much faster and smoother than knobby mountain bike tires. You will find that they are much more pleasant to ride around town than the mountain bikes.


I am into bikes the way most of you guys are into knives (my bikes are actually worth a couple of times what my car is worth), and it's also what I do for a living at this point.

SRAM vs. Shimano for shifters:
Personal preference, as has been said. I prefer Shimano (the trigger-type), but I know people that won't ride anything but Gripshift. Go try both out and see which you like better. They can be swapped for around $30-$50.

Trek family bikes (Trek, Gary Fisher, Klein, LeMond) have easily the best service/support/warranty in the business. Giant and Specialized also have excellent (just a little slower in my experience) support. I would stay away from Schwinn/GT after the Pacific buyout. They are now sold in Wal-Mart/Target/etc. and are no longer the Schwinn and GT that they used to be.

If you want any more specifics, just ask.


Eric
 
I bought a Trek 4300 last summer and love it!!! I bought it at my local bike shop for $320 or $340 (I can't remember the exact figure)

http://www.trekbikes.com/bikes/2004/mountain/4300.jsp#largerview

I mostly ride on roads, but I really like to hit an off road mountain trail when I get the chance. I wanted a bike that could hanlde both pretty well. So far I'm very pleased with my Trek.

I also hear Gary Fisher's are really nice. My brother has one and he loves it.

Just my 2 cents!

What ever you get have a blast! I love riding! Good luck
 
Heres is what you are looking for.

www.ebay.com

I personnaly got a 2,500 dollar bike for $500. at a garage sale, but thats a rare occurance. You can find great deals on ebay. Way better than any deal you'll find at a shop actually.
 
M1911A1JohnBrowning said:
Heres is what you are looking for.

www.ebay.com

I personnaly got a 2,500 dollar bike for $500. at a garage sale, but thats a rare occurance. You can find great deals on ebay. Way better than any deal you'll find at a shop actually.
Click to expand...


That's a mixed bag. If you know exactly what you're looking for, are buying a high-end bike, AND know how to do all the assembly and tuning work yourself, AND have all the tools to do it, you can get a great deal. However, when you factor in $40-$60 shipping, $40-$50 assembly/tune up, and not being able to ride the bike or get it fit to you, and you had better be getting a screaming deal to make it worth the hassle and wait time. Not to mention the fact that you won't have a warranty on a used bike like you will on a new bike. I've bought them and sold them both ways, and in this case a new bike from a shop is a much better way to go.


Eric
 
When I said trails, I meant paved roads specially built for bikes. I have some mixed news. It turned out my parents won't finance a bicycle for me until I get into college (I'm a high schooler). The good news is that they will probably double or even triple my current $400 budget. Thanks for all the advice and suggestions, I will take them into consideration when I purchase a bicycle.
 
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