In my heart, I’ve always been a BMX guy. I grew up riding on the streets in NYC and the area. Recently, this thing showed up on Nextdoor marketplace. The woman who had it put maybe 20 miles on it and decided it was “too complicated.” I know nothing about bikes like this but sometimes I like to ride my bike to work and the BMX bike definitely makes you earn it. So I figured, “Maybe this is a better style of bike to ride to work???” I managed to talk her down to $225, which I think is a decent deal, you guys will let me know. But….you gotta be kidding me. Gears???!?! I can go up steep hills now. Brakes??? This thing stops when it’s supposed to. No feet involved. Why was I never told?? Is this how bike for adults feels??? The difference between this and my BMX rides is like walking vs a Ferrari. It’s tight, it’s smooth, it’s quick with very little effort …. Have you guys known about this cheat code the whole time?? Why didn’t anyone tell me? I don’t know if I got a great deal. This is a CoOp Cty 1.1 but I don’t even care. I had $225 worth of fun riding it the 4 miles from her house to home when I grabbed in on Saturday.
by jecahn
4 Comments
Haha BMX is for the park and for style, welcome to the gang of boring commuters and grocery getters 🤓
And $225 sounds like a steal to me
$600 + tax. Fine bit of shopping…..
That particular bike retailed for about 600 bucks about 4 years ago. I had bought one for my cousin when she didn’t have a car
Only thing I specifically dislike about it is the brakes are a little fiddly, and it’s on quick release wheels (less robust than thru axles, which only matters of you have disc brakes)
Neither are deal breakers to me. That style bike isn’t designed to be ridden hard enough to worry about how hard your braking
If you really catch the bug, my favorite commuter is Rei’s version of a loaded touring rig. The adv 1.1. It’s heavy as sin, but it’s comfortable. I swapped out the rear derailer for a tiagra and put a tiagra real lever on it, and I swapped the front shifter for a down tube its a station wagon amount bicycles. Holds more than I need, with tame handling, and by noeams racey
Side note, my cousin doesn’t live with me any more, and she hasn’t claimed her bike. Hasn’t been on the thing since she bought a car in fact. If she doesn’t claim it by spring time, I believe it’s getting gifted to my girlfriend. So long as I can make it fit her
Make sure to fit the saddle to a proper height, it’ll make you feel a lot more comfortable