I’ve been meaning to get a real bike. It was one of my goals at the beginning of the month and while I got “a bike” from my brother, I found out that it wasn’t an ideal bike for a triathlon. So, for the last few weeks I’ve been trying to get my hands on a legit bike that rides well and this past Saturday I ended up getting a pretty good one for $150. Here’s how I did it:
Check out Craigslist
I’ve used craigslist before, but it wasn’t until I read “How to Rent a Bike in Any City for Free” that I found out how many people are actually selling bikes on craigslist. If you near any sort of well-sized city there are hundreds of bikes listed every day. Because of the sheer number of bikes posted combined with the fact that I didn’t want to get taken, for the first week or so I just laid low. I watched what was getting posted, noted the price ranges, and made a few not-so-serious offers, but most of the time was spent cross-referencing bike prices across different sites and researching 80s-90s era bicycles that kept coming up.
Last week I found an posting for a Fuji Sagre that was “rideable” and only $25. Two Five. I was intrigued. There wasn’t a picture posted, but it was only $25 so I made the call, found out the address and drove to the east side of town to check it out.
I figured there were two possible scenarios:
- I could end up buying a $25 bike that was in great shape, not have to fix anything, get the deal of the century and write an ebook on how I am the best Craigslist shopper in the world….OR
- I could end up buying a $25 bike that was in bad shape, spend a few hundred bucks fixing it up and still get a decent bike for a couple hundred bucks.
I was really hoping for the first scenario, but as soon as I saw the bike and test rode it I knew we were going to have to do option number two and fix it up. I knew that I could technically ride it, but I could see that the tires were shot, part of the seat had been torn off and the handlebar tape was pretty far gone. But for $25 bucks I thought it was worth a try…
Know People
So option 2 it was…fix it up. But there was a very important face I had overlooked:
I know nothing about bikes.
I mean, I know they have tires, chains and a frame, but how they actually fit together and function properly is a mystery to me. However, I do know lots of smart people. Seriously, if you don’t know anything about a subject ask around. Someone does. People are notoriously awesome like that.
For example, If you’re looking to fix up your bike and are clueless like me, chances are:
- you’re not a bike mechanic [Why would you be clueless then?]
- you might not know a bike mechanic [I personally didn’t]
- you probably don’t know someone who knows a bike mechanic [These guys are seriously elusive]
BUT
- You might know someone that knows someone that knows a bike mechanic. [This is what happened for me]
After asking around, I found out that my sister knows a guy who’s friends with a guy named Mike who used to work for a bike shop for 4 years. He volunteered to “take a look” at my bike for me and I was pumped.
Fix It Up
Mike came over on Saturday. As it turns out, we have entirely different definitions of what it means to “take a look” at something. I thought he would literally “just look at it”, and tell me if it was worth fixing up or not, but Mike had a different idea. He took the whole thing apart down to the ball bearings [cleaning them individually] and put the bike back together piece by piece and pretty much giving my bike a complete overhaul right there in the garage. I just stood there gawking and awkwardly taking pictures while trying to absorb all the bike information he was talking about as we both he worked on the bike.
Buy New Parts
As he was tuning up the bike, Mike let me know that the gears, shifters and pretty much everything else mechanically worked fine and that while I didn’t actually have to replace too many of the actual components [i.e. the expensive parts of the bike], we were going to need some new parts. We went to the local bike shop where I usually end up just staring awkwardly at all the bikes around me, but Mike just walked around the store and got pretty much everything we needed in 15 minutes.
Here was our shopping list:
- Tires – $39.98 [$19.99 x2]
- Tubing – $12.00 [$6 x 2]
- Handlebar Tape -$9.99
- Water Bottle Cage – $8.99
- Seat – $24.99
- Computer Odometer/Spedometer – $24.99
Total Cost of Parts – $129.41
Bike Cost – $25
Total Bike Expenses – $154.41
Enjoy
After about 4 hours with the bike, it came out a little something like this:
The bike cleaned up REALLY well. I was absolutely blown away by how much the tires and handlebar tape added to the appearance. The actual gearshifts work fine from my testing, and most of the actual issues were cosmetic issues and easily replaceable. Down the road I’ll probably replace the brake calipers which may run me another hundred dollars or so, but they’re in pretty good shape so they should last me for a bit. This isn’t my end goal, but it’s another step in the right directiona and for a total investment of $150, an afternoon in the garage and a new friend, I’m pretty darn happy with it.
Thanks for the kind words. I’m glad I could overhaul your bike for a reasonable amount of money. Darcy and I really enjoyed meeting you. We wish you the best in the upcoming triatholons!
Mike, thanks so much! I really do appreciate it. You were such a great help & I owe you BIG TIME. Let me know when you want to collect.
You were pretty lucky on the initial price for the bike. Something like that can easily go for $100+.
It is quite possible to spend quite a bit less on the accessories than you did. ($10 for each tire, $6 for the tape, $10 for the saddle, and $3 for the tubes). A certain bicycle site that reminds me of Nashville comes into mind for higher end. There are several sites that sell OEM parts for the lower end.
Anyhow… I taught myself bicycle repair over the past year. I can do pretty much anything except drilling out a frame to install a new headset or a new crank (and that’s because the tools to do so costs several hundred, not because it’s difficult).
The way I got started was to buy Park’s Big Blue Book. There are other books out there which are better and more detailed such as Zinn’s guides. The good thing about the BBB though is that it tells you exactly which tools you need down to the model number. That’s good for a computer geek with no inherent mechanical aptitude. A great website is bicycletutor.
Then just get the proper tools for each new repair job.
I wrote a post a while back about how I married to semi-broken mountain bikes (that I got for free just for hauling them away) by taking the working parts and putting them together.
The total cost was $1.38.
Jacob-
That’s what I thought! The lady had this one and a few other bikes just lying around and was trying to clean house.
I was actually prepared to spend upwards of $200ish to fix the thing up if it could look/work nice. I’m sure we could have shopped around a lot better, but we were really just set on doing everything Saturday and only hit up two stores. Do you have any favorite online stores/warehouses that you know have good prices? [I’m looking for a bike rack for my car possibly and maybe a few other things].
Thanks for all the advice! You sound like a pro!
Oh, I note you got some surface rust on some of your parts. An easy way to take that off is to make a pad of aluminum foil (from the kitchen). Put a drop of bicycle oil (or any oil … granola?) on the pad, and then just scour the rust away. Try it. It’s quite amazing how it works.
Hm, I’ll definitely try that out and polish it up! Thanks for the tip!
INCREDIBLE!!
It looks FANTASTIC, actually.
you know, if you want to learn how to actually build a bike and do all of your own repairs (+ get the sturdiest/lightest bike you’ve ever had in your life to accompany you in your future adventures) check out:
http://bamboobikestudio.com/go/
I know, I know. “When will I ever be in New York or San Francisco??!?!” but you’re a wanderer, Joel. I wouldn’t be surprised.
I’m so happy for you, friend. It’s pretty.
Thanks! I feel like I channeled my inner Roe with all the photos from this post. It turned out really good so now I gotta actually go out and ride the thing and test it’s limits…
As for the bamboo bikes, those look sweet, any idea how much they weigh?
Dude. Pictures are everything.
you didn’t say what was wrong with the brake calipers. those are usually bulletproof. if the problem is noise or weak braking, just replace the pads. i’m surprised that wasn’t first thing on the list. the rubber goes hard if it just sits – and gets thin if it doesn’t 🙂
Hey Blair-
Thanks for chiming in! I’m not an expert at all, but from what I gathered from Mike, the calipers are mostly just old. They have an older design that’s not used any longer. He said if I keep riding it, I’ll probably want to swap them out, but that they should be good for a bit.
They do squeak a little when I break, but he said that shouldn’t have much of an effect on the actual bike itself…
[does any of that sound right?]
How cool is that. I live across the street from a bike shop and I was pretty disappointed when I found out that a bike I liked cost $600 Ouch!!!
This has really made me realize that I can get something that gets the job done way cheaper. Thanks a billion pesos for the TIP brother.
Now, time to begin the search for a cheap bike.
Hey Wilson!
I love walking into bike stores now but I always have a heart attack when I look at the prices!
I’d like to get a really nice bike here in the future (6 months or so) but I’m blown away at how much they can go for.
The important thing for me is to not let money be a deciding reason why I don’t do something. It’d be nice to have a $1500 bike, but I’ll be able to do a triathlon just fine with what I have. No need to put it off =) Thanks for stopping by and good luck with the bike search!
Joel,
As you know, I just got back to PDX and am going to do my best to go as long as possible without getting a car. In the next week or so I’ll be looking to do the exact same thing you did – as I don’t think my dad would be very happy if I keep stealing is Lemond. Glad to see everything worked out as well as it did for you!
-Sean
Sean,
Keep an eye out and do a little bit of research. There are lots of good deals to be had. Like I said, I was looking for a 2-3 weeks before I jumped at something. Lots of people are just trying to mark up Walmart bicycles so it helps to get a little bit of context if you’re new to the biking scene [like I am].
Let me know what you get!
Put it this way…I am stealing this idea and will attempt to do for at least 1 penny cheaper….GOAL SET
David Damron
P.S. Just friendly competition….I want to be as cool as you in all honesty
GAME ON DAVE!
I double dare you to try and beat me [I dared you so you have to do it now — no way out.]
Once you build it, then you can ride it out to Indianapolis and we can race each other to see who built the faster bike. Sound like a plan? 🙂
Pretty inspiring, yo. I’ve been wanting to get a decent bike myself, but the pricetags down at the local bike shop have been a bit off-putting. I think I might be needing my own bike mechanic in the near future…
The more and more trouble my car gives me, the more and more I’m liking the idea of biking everywhere. It’s still a little impractical here in the midwest [especially in Indy which has ZERO public transport].
Having your own bike mechanic helps…A LOT. Mike was absolutely awesome…maybe I can see if he does house calls? 🙂
Nice! Way to go Joel. Here in Eugene there is a guy who goes around and buys junk bikes and fixes them up and then sells them. He does pretty good business. I bought my wife’s bike there and saved bank off the price of buying new. Thing rides like a dream. Glad you got hooked up with a nice ride.
Thanks Matt-
The secondhand market for bikes is really incredible. I was definitely surprised to find out there were as many for sale as there were.
Glad you got a good deal on yours as well =)
Nice! I just traveled from Tokyo to Mount Fuji by bike, god I love biking.
I got a women’s road bike last year from craigslist (since I’m not a very big guy) which worked fine for a couple of months but the spokes on the front wheels just snapped after a couple of days of intense riding. I didn’t bother repairing it just because it was starting to snow in Michigan, and when it snows there, a road bike isn’t the ideal form of transportation :p But this time I might just do what you did, buy something off craigslist again and fix it up so I don’t repeat my experience.
Great post!
Tokyo to Mount Fuji? How far is that? I’m loving my bike so far. It’s a LOT more enjoyable than running everywhere =).
Let me know if/when you end up getting a bike! I’d love to see it.
Its about 120 kilometers. Its a good half day ride there and a 8 hour ride back since the area around Fuji is a lot higher in altitude than Tokyo. I have a blog entry on my trip if you want to check it out 🙂 http://blissfulburden.blogspot.com/2010/07/back-from-fuji.html
Yeah I don’t like running either. It wears my feet out and you can’t stop your feet and keep going forward like you can in a bike.
That’s so cool Yu! Thanks for sharing the link and story!
I’m glad you posted this “from the archives”. I’m in the same boat you were pre-purchase. Big desire to ride, zero knowledge. Thanks for writing the map on this one. Time to follow…
🙂
For sure! Go test the waters and let me know what you find!
Hey, thanks for the words. I’m a full time UCSD student in the market for a bike. Unfortunately, San Diego is pretty much garbage for a bike market. All the “cheap bikes” get snatched up, fixed up with cheap parts and sold at 150% of what their flat value is. For example, a Centurion worth $130 in “pristine” condition goes for $190 here in “good running but with scratches” condition. Sucks. I might have to drive to LA to get a bike.
Keep your eye on craigslist. I bet you can find something. If not, it might be worth paying the extra few bucks to get on in SD, if you gotta spend the time & gas to go to LA. Just a thought….
Hey Joel,
You really were onto something to check Craigslist. I’ve done that several times myself, and one thing I found is that you benefit from not “needing” a bike right away. Another thing is that the listed bikes will also clue you in on what may be the best bike for the location.
There is another good way to find a sweet bargain, but you need some knowledge about what you want and what is right/wrong for you. Go to several pawn shops. Some aim away from keeping any bikes at all, some have kids’ bikes from the neighborhood, and some seem to specialize in a wide variety of bikes. The last is your best source. And you can almost always negotiate a better price than what is on the tag.
Thanks & keep doing the impossible!
Tom
BTW I happened on your blog via Therese Schwenkler’s posting on The Brazen Careerist. http://blog.brazencareerist.com/2012/01/26/why-your-networking-sucks-and-the-secret-to-doing-it-right/?utm_source=Brazen+Careerist+Community+Newsletter&utm_campaign=b3e10c2722-Jan_4_Newsletter&utm_medium=email
Interesting pawn shop tip. Thanks for the heads up!
Bike computer for $25?! Where do you get one for a price like that?
I was just looking online if I should buy my 5 year old a new bike or just fix up his older brothers that was never ridden but has rust on the fendors and the handle bars . On tips on this! I could not blv that transformation of your bike .It was stunning.Grear job. Seems like every project I start ends up costing me more money and its in worst shape :(.Lol , so any tips !
Sounds like a challenge!
(I’m so stealing this idea) *joking*
But seriously, this could actually work. I’m on it!
Great.
– Haya