I hear so many bad things about cheap bikes. This bike is $200. I only want a bike to drive around my town, and my town is pretty small. I don’t actually want to go on a mountain ride so I wanted to know if it’s good for simply casual riding.
by azulaspalace
4 Comments
Yes it is that bad.
Without being elitist, the bike will be poorly assembled and the parts will bend and break. Bearings will be tight, derailleurs will be bottom bin or straight up counterfeits. Shops may even refuse to work on it.
The Huffy Highland is $130 at Walmart and is miles better than this one. Use the money you save to get it professionally assembled at a shop the bearings and gears are adjusted correctly.
Any cycling pleasure is likely to be coincidental.
No.
This might sound crazy, but an old mountain bike/hybrid from the nineties is better than this bike, by quite a bit.
Those bikes have a better chromoly steel frame-
“High carbon steel” is definitely going to be a lesser grade than chromo. Which means this bike will be on the heavy side.
Parts-wise, everything on this bike was made as cheaply as possible with cut corners to keep the cost down, whereas an older bike from a name brand will have better parts that are designed to last .
3×7 21 speed shifting is nothing new, it has been around since the 80’s. A mountain bike or hybrid from the 90’s will shift just as well, or even better than this bike.
So, in my opinion you would be best buying an older bike in decent shape, and then getting it tuned up. Something like a Trek 700/800 series would do well, Specialized hard rock, Cannondale SH, GT Talera. Those are just examples, there’s tons of similar bikes that are higher quality than the one you posted
Avoid front suspension on cheap bikes. It’s just another cheap part that can/will break and you don’t need it. If you’re going to go cheap try to also go simple.
I know you said small town, but your $200 will go a lot further by buying used.
Here’s a better [$200 bike](https://mendhambikes.com/products/h2-step-over). 1 x 9 drive train will be simpler to maintain and it’s better quality than whatever the Amazon bike has on it., plus the frame and fork are aluminum which will be lighter and not as heavy as cheap steel. Walmart also has some decent budget bikes.
Whatever you end up with, it would be a good idea to take it to a bike shop to make sure it is assembled correctly and safe to ride.