Hey everyone! I’m starting a job in food delivery. I’m on a tight budget, and don’t really have much of a choice. I’ve already bought a used bike without any advice, but started having some second thoughts. So I decided to ask here.First of all, I’d like to mention that I have a good amount of experience (2 years) of riding and maintaining good quality hardtail MTB bike (doesn’t matter which one, I had to sell it last year), and I have developed a rather aggressive riding style (which is also bc of my risky nature). Despite my city having all kinds of bike lanes, I still tend to cut corners, go over curbs, etc. Just can’t help myself 🙂
Second, I will have to mount a rack for a delivery bag on a back wheel.
So about a week ago I bought this used city bike for 100€ in a good condition: [https://www.stevensbikes.de/2011/index.php?bik\_id=218&cou=DE&lang=en\_US§=equipment#inhalt](https://www.stevensbikes.de/2011/index.php?bik_id=218&cou=DE&lang=en_US§=equipment#inhalt)
Which seemed like a good deal. Until I found out that it doesn’t change speeds correctly, sometimes skips and sometimes loses it, switching to a lower (higher?) speed. So the pedals start spinning and “losing” the wheel spin. And only now I understand how actually heavy the bike is, which is bothering me. I also realized that the frame size maybe too small for me, which I’d have to compensate by buying a new seatpost.
Today I found a guy who can repair the hub for another 100€, plus a new seatpost is 20€. Which would amount to a total of 220€.
OR
The same guy offered me a deal. He’d buy my bike for 100%, and he’d sell me the new bike for 50% of the price (which would still be in total 200€), but it’d be of a slightly different kind: [https://www.capriolo.com/capriolo-bicikli/2014-2015-2016-2017-2018/city/amsterdam-crno-plava](https://www.capriolo.com/capriolo-bicikli/2014-2015-2016-2017-2018/city/amsterdam-crno-plava)
Different metal (hi-ten steel), rigid fork, no speeds (which sounds interesting, not gonna lie), lower weight ofc. The frame is better fitted for me. And, well, it’s absolutely new, plus 2yrs of free service (I’d do all the repairs myself, but still nice to have). Some locals told me to keep away from that brand, but looking at how simple the model is, I doubt there could be anything to break at all.
OR
Buy a seatpost, ride with what I have without changing speeds (bc it’s a pain in the ass). Suffer a little, and maybe earn in a couple of months for a new much better bike. I should say, I’ve never worked as a food courier, and have no idea how difficult it is.
Thank you all for your attention! So, what would you suggest? 🙂
by Accidental_Cloud