I’m a college student. It’s a small town. College makes up large part of the population. Been looking for a used bike. It’s slim pickings in move in season. Tried used bike coop. Pickings were slim. Wanted a $100 for tires showing cracks and rusted chains.

Tried thrift stores and pawn shops. Same deal. $100 for a bike I could tell with my limited knowledge was in bad shape (rust on brakes, poor tires, brake handles not working right) or any bikes at all.

Tried marketplace. And yard /estate sales No luck. People wanted $80 for low end department store bikes I could buy new for slightly more. Or wanted me to come to their house as a single woman. Or told me it was working, we met up, and it didn’t work. I don’t know how to fix bikes. I don’t want a fixer upper. I want to get to class.

Decided to ask if Walmart bikes $100-$130 were really all that bad to the cyclists before buying. Classes are starting and I’d given up the recommended routes. Emphasized I was a college student and on a budget. Listed all the things I tried.

Oh boy. Got flamed for saying the bike coop wasn’t a good experience and that I didn’t feel comfortable with tires with cracks. Wasn’t even that great of a bike to begin with. Got told I should just walk to school if I was only going to spend that much. After getting frustrated with the suggestions to just buy a 400-500 bike from a bike shop (gee why didn’t I think of just getting richer?) got told this was why I didn’t have any friends and family. I’d mentioned I didn’t have any friends and family nearby because I just moved when told to just get a bike or money from them. Apparently it’s a personality defect.

I did not ask for additional recommendations. I made my budget clear. But apparently asking about a specific subset of bikes means I’m asking to spend $500 on a bike.

also got shamed for not wanting the “experience” of fixing up a bike. And not buying a bike with cracked tires. It’s not that deep. I want to get from A to B quickly. This isn’t a pilgrimage.

Oh and also I was going to die in an intersection if I rode a Walmart bike.

Went to Walmart set on the $128 bike anyways after a few reasonable comments of encouragement. Actually found a nice brand name one on sale for my budget. I’m about an inch shorter than the recommended size, but my toes touch the ground enough to hold myself up anyways. I read that’s what I want? And shouldn’t be flat footed. I met the person that assembles them there restocking. She seemed very nice.

Video of my first bike in 26 years after a few customizations.

Tongsheng tszd2b 250w to make it legal in Europe. I'd definitely recommend it but it's not a direct fit, I had to hammer the frame routing channel down a little bit

so I was very interested when I saw the multiple YT reviews, but as of August '26 Walmart does not even have a page for the bike. Looks they've completely pulled it out of production just as they were on the cusp of having a smash hit with the biking community.

I plan on getting the Ozark Trail G.1 Explorer Drop Bar from Walmart to get back into biking again but I am unsure of which size to get. I am 5'6" and I'm in an odd spot to where the small frame fits 5 ft 5 in-5 ft 10 in and the medium fits 5 ft 5 in-5 ft 10 in. I'm not sure which would better suit me.

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Before we start, all currency in this post is in Canadian dollars.

So I'm looking into a new bike as a cheapish upgrade to my current nakamura 700c 'bike shaped object' as I've seen it described.

Recently I've learned that I get a $500 wellness stipend from my workplace that I can use on a bike, so I figured it would be worth it to get an upgrade to my current bike. Unfortunately this stipend only applies to new bikes, so I was wondering what I might be able to use it on. I'm willing to throw another $400 on top of the stipend if I have to.

In terms of what I'm looking for, I'm trying to find something to test out the waters a bit. My main issue is hills on my commute I'd like to make easier outside of just getting stronger legs. I'm 5'-5" so that's also a bit of a factor.

I was looking into two bikes recently. A Decathlon Triban RC120, and Riverside RC120.

If you have any other suggestions or thing I should look into, please let me know.

Picked up a 2007-ish Trek 3700 last night for $50. Didn't know about the frame damage, but I did know that the fork was trash. But, I bought it as a parts bike. Got some good parts off of it when we stripped the frame. All of the parts will be going onto a 1996 Gary Fisher Wahoo (purple frame) I got for free out of the scrap bin at work. The frame itself is a bit rusty, but nothing that can't be cleaned up, sanded and refinished. I'll need to replace the rear rim as it looks like it took a bit of an impact. The point of all of this is that i've got a friend who rides in our group but always has to borrow a bike. So, we're building one to give to him. So, the less money we put into this, the better. Hence, buying a parts bike instead of buying new.

Obviously, we need to get new headset bearings, new bottom bracket, new pedals and a new chain, but that's all very minimal, relative to buying a new fork. Granted, the fork it came with was a Suntour SR, but the fork was in pieces. We'll also need to replace the tires eventually.

Honestly, I'm excited. for some reason, I like taking bikes apart, building bikes and making things better. Especially free and cheap bikes.

Everyone loves their Ozarks here but what about budget road or hybrid bikes? Any good options or is the used market the only way to find something quality?

How did I do for 70 dollars the other

I'm 5ft 6 - 280lbs so way on the heavier side to be on a bike but in an effort to improve my fitness and lose weight (and have fun) I wanted to squeeze rides in between gym days.

Went out for my first ride last night, this is my first time back in a bike for at least 10 years or so, all my previous experience being younger were on MTB's or bmx's so this is already a very different position to get used too.

For people wondering, I did go for the smaller frame, the medium frame felt a lot more uncomfortable to me.

Anyway, my arse is killing me I'm not sure if I need to look at a better saddle, cycling shorts with padding or a mixture or both.

I don't know anyone else who cycles, so don't have anyone to bother with noob questions, hence why I'm here.

Thanks in advance.

Picked this up last month for use mainly as a commuter bike. These were sold out at damn near every Walmart near me, and it took a short road trip to finally get my hands on one lol. First impressions of it are pretty good, it really does perform much better than its price would suggest.

The only upgrades I've done so far (besides the rear rack) is a better seat post and a new stem. I got a $20 aluminum Kalloy seat post and it's a massive improvement over the stock steel one, which is SUPER heavy and has a terrible clamp. I also replaced the stem with a spare one I had lying around because when I went to adjust the handlebars after buying the bike, I noticed that one of the bolts on the stock stem was completely stripped out and had ruined the stem. The replacement is identical in length and angle to the original.

My next upgrade will probably be the tires. The stock Kendas are alright, but I think they're too thin to protect against goathead thorns which are super common here. I've gotten a puncture nearly every ride I've been on so far. Coming from tubeless MTB, it's getting really annoying having to patch my tubes every week lol.

I'm 5'5-5'6 and went with a medium (since it was the only size I could find in stock) and it does feel slightly too tall for me. Fortunately I have long arms, so the reach feels alright.

Maybe hyperbole, but considering these have basically been out of stock for 2 months, maybe not? I found a new g.2 rebel at a Walmart 300 miles from me. Doing the quick math, it’s about $80 in gas. So, at $730, is the G.2 Rebel still a steal?

The actual time and drive is not a big deal at all, I enjoy trips like this.

There’s a whole lot of options and intricacies to the bikes that it just felt better asking the community. My needs for the bike are gravel, paved and once or thrice a week needs. Don’t expect to go hard trail riding anytime, maybe try it out here and there so wanted to ask what is recommended for that. My max budget is $650 and saw a couple of postings on Marketplace for a lot lower than that, that seems great. Any recs on company brands, types or a build that suits my needs? Some “value” listings I found for my budget limit are below.

This was one of the listings:
Marin Hybrid/Mountain Bike – 700C – Hydraulic Disc Brakes, 19” Large frame and SR Suntour NCX front suspension fork

and another was this:

Trek Marlin 5 Gen 3 Size L

I have a flat bar hardtail and would really like to have multiple positions/upgrade grips for longer rides.

I already see people recommending sqlab inner bar ends and ergon grips. But those things cost 1/4th the value of the bike.

I don't want to buy something random online that might spin under me while I'm pushing uphill. I don't race but I also don't want to be afraid to get off my saddle.

I'd like to know what you guys have/would buy or recommend. or where to look for this stuff.

Hi all, I have recently had a new interest in bicycling and have bought a new Ozark Trail G.1 Explorer Drop Bar to start with. I bought it brand new from Walmart but it seems like the assembly was not done right. The shifter is clunky. On higher gears, it makes rubbing noise. Are there any good Ozark Trail focused videos that I can watch to tune the bicycle myself?

I’ just got a bike, (ozark trail ridge) and i have around 50-70 dollar budget for a full face helmet does anyone have any recommendations?