AHeartLikeHis

I've never been much of a bike rider but am considering buying one to take to college. What do you think? Can I get a nice bike between $100-$150?

burgler09

of course you can

kelseyg

You can easily find a decent one for less.

97obw

walmart or target buddy! schwinn brand is great!

OKgirl

So you can't afford toilet paper but you can afford a bike? lol maybe you should go to a garage sale?

HereWeGo2

For a college bike, buy used. Check garage sales and craigslist for used good-condition old road bikes (the 70s and 80s steel frame bikes make good fixed gear/single speed conversions, too) and hardtail mountain bikes, maybe some hybrids. Avoid fancy bikes, full-suspension MTBs, and anything from Walmart or Target (they are cheap, but they are junk). You may also be able to find one once you get there. Invest in a good U-lock, and don't spend a lot of money on the bike as at many colleges you have to keep the bikes outside the dorms and bike theft on some colleges is a big problem (one of the measures I used to assess campus safety was the heft of the bike locks). I'm considering building up a cheap bike for my S to take to school, unless he's determined to take his Jamis Coda with him (a nice flat-bar hybrid) and understands the risk.

Hop over to Bike Forums, especially the commuter and singlespeed/fixed gear forums for more info and opinions/advice - lots of college-types there.

RacinReaver

You can get one good enough for school for quite a bit cheaper. Bike theft is pretty common on most college campuses, I know at my school you never expected to keep the same one for the whole four years you were there. Just get a good lock, register your bike with campus police, and don't get one where your heart will be crushed if it's stolen.

Icarus

^ +1 on the past two posts. Don't get any more bike than you can afford to lose. Bike theft is very common on college campuses.

UCLA has a nice new system where you can lock your bike in a "bike locker" that is a big metal cage for your bike that I imagine provides excellent security. That is the only place I would consider leaving a nice/expensive bike on campus.

janetlover

just gotta say that OKgirl just made me bust out laughing in the middle of class. i def needed that!

phobos

i completely agree with HereWeGo2, he knows what he's talking about. craigslist is the way to go...about 3 weeks ago i got an amazing 1980s Bianchi road bike for $200...probably a bit overkill in your case, but you can find great classic bikes that are much better than most retail bikes today for less than $150, and decent bikes for < $100.

my bike's done me well on mass rides and other longer rides late at night. though i will say, i keep my bike in my apartment...

brillar

Amazingly enough, I think I got both my bikes at Walmart and they're still going. Years afterward. I mean, I don't go mountain biking with them or anything, so the most rough terrain they get is a lawn or something, so that might have a factor in it.

burgler09

I'd probably get shot or mugged if I tried to ride my bike from my condo to campus

RacinReaver

Oh, sorry, didn't mean Caltech, I think it's not that bad here (though one of my friends did have his stolen the other month). I was an undergrad at CMU and bike theft is a lot more prevalent there.

I forget my location field says Pasadena sometimes (I could always be at Pasadena Community College, you never know ).