Lake Bike

[Horton]

Anyone know anything about mid range or low mid range bikes. I need something to cruise around the lake - maybe with a kid seat on back - maybe for a little exercise but really just for cruising. The kid in the local bike shop .... well lets just say I do not trust those guys.

 

Ooo yea one more detail.... I can pump up a tire and adjust a seat height but that is all the bike mechanic work I am going to do

[gt2003]

Mountain bike? Specialized has been a good brand for quite a while. Not sure if you have some specific style in mind but that might help the conversation.

 

[Wish]

Try CraigsList...tons of options and you can get pretty specific with a search. I've picked up $500+ bikes for well under $200. May be worth it for just a cruiser. And plenty of kid seats as well.

[Chef23]

Facebook Marketplace is another good place to find that kind of bike. You should be able to find a cruiser for a few hundred bucks.

[oldjeep]

 

[bigskieridaho]

Beach cruiser! Can pick these Micargi beach cruisers up new for $200-400. They are awesome!

 

[Bruce_Butterfield]

for "something to cruise around the lake - maybe with a kid seat on back -", just head to Walmart or Academy and you will be out the door for less than $200 and be happy as a pig in $%^t. The bike purists will look at you the same way a slalom skier looks a wake boarder, but it will do what you want. If you want something that the bikers won't look too far down their noses at, you will spend north of $1000 and you won't be able to tell a nickel's worth of difference.

 

Start cheap and go from there. If you want to upgrade after trying for awhile, the most you are out is donating the Walmart bike to the homeless guy next door.

 

How's that for $0.02 worth of free advice?

[Horton]

@skibrain seriously? I can adjust a seat. I'm not completely mechanically stupid. I just don't want to have to figure out the fine tune on a derailleur or some crap like that

[mmosley899]

@Horton you don't need a kid seat on back, you need a balance bike for the kid, then try to keep up!! He's 2.5 years old in this photo at Nationals.

I don't know how many times we went around that lake!!!

[Horton]

@mmosley899 Buford Danger is getting a pretty new Trek with training wheels from Santa. Don't tell her. I need the kid seat for when I want to go at my pace not hers.

 

Great pic!

[eleeski]

Walmart bikes are noticeably worse. Yes, you can ride around the lake but it doesn't feel right. Another problem is the longevity, they don't last.

 

Performance Bike or a reasonable bike shop will have reasonably priced bike that will ride nicely and last for a while.

 

I replaced the Walmart bike with a $300 crossover bike. Not road racer tires but not draggy mountain bike tires. Not ram horn bars but comfortable straight bars. It is a pleasure to ride. And a massive improvement over the crappy bike.

 

@mmosley899 is right. Get her a bike and ride with her. Actually, get her a new bike every year. Feed the stoke. If you are lucky, it will spill over to skiing.

 

Eric

[eleeski]

And @skibrain , I can't believe @Horton is THAT dense...

[Horton]

Yea I am not buying a Walmart bike. That is the core of question. I know what is really crap in water skiing and I know what the value deals are. Telling me to go to Walmart or Craigslist does not help. What is the Radar Kanta or HO CX or Connelly V of bikes? That is the question.

 

the other part of the question is ... it is for around lakes so.... How is this? Or this?

[mmosley899]

@Horton good idea on how to keep things at your pace! I have an Academy Sports moderate price mountain bike that I have carried around to ski tournaments for years, saves wear on my knees from walking! I have now invested in various sizes of kids bikes and training wheels. Just hope I can keep up for a few years while he learns to enjoy good exercise!

[eleeski]

bike

[oldjeep]

Couple thoughts

1) The Specialized HardRock is a good quality entry level bike that'll last forever. We have three of them. Cost $400 - $550 depending on brake options 2017-hardrock-650b-mountain-bike

 

2) Don't stick the poor kid in a bike seat if she is big enough to pedal. Consider a tag along bike. You can get these things used super cheap since you typically only use them for a year or two. We had a really nice one with gears, but the entry level ones start at about $70 brand new. (random picture off internet)

 

3) Unless you are looking for a workout or CA has a ton of snow I don't know about, a super fat tire bike isn't of much use. Those things are built for snow.

 

 

[Chef23]

I wouldn't go with a fat tire bike like the one you posted as @oldjeep posted it is overkill unless you are looking to ride in snow. For riding around the like or on gravel roads a mountain bike or the bike Eric posted would be fine. From Bikesdirect something like this would work.

Bike

 

If you buy through bikesdirect you may want to have a friend with some bike experience help you out. Bikes aren't that complicated but do require a little know how.

[Bgyglfr]

Anything brand name will be safe. Trek = Ho, Speecialized = Radar, Cannondale etc. If you can find a somewhat current model on CL or eBay that isn't all beat up, you should be good to go. If you can find a 29er I would go that route. Just in case you ever decide to ride somewhere beyond the lake.

[Bgyglfr]

Check out mtbr classifieds as well.

[ScottScott]

I bought a schwinn mountain bike from walmart for a little more than $100 about 12-15 years ago, looks like now a similar bike would be around $200. I don't ride regularly, but will go through phases of regular 10 mile rides. The bike is still going strong.

[BraceMaker]

Being that you probably have little to no elevation on your property any of the single speed <300$ steel frame cyclocross type bikes would be just the ticket.

[Gar]

Look at a Giant Simple three.

[dchristman]

A bike is a unicycle with a training wheel. I recommend a uni for a lake bike - the only adjustment is seat height! Great for core and balance. They come in many sizes and types. You can collect them like skis. Get a 16" for Buford.

 

 

 

 

[gt2003]

@ScottScott why the disagree with my "Specialized" recommendation? Look like lots of others agree??

 

[DaveD]

Please listen to @dchristman and have Buford take video.

[ScottScott]

@gt2003 that appears to be an accidental cell phone scrolling incident.....removed. I don't know anything about specialized.....

[MuskokaKy]

I agree with @gt2003 ; also Giant has been great to me the past 20 years. Specialized I believe is a little higher end...

[klindy]

Simple. This meets the specs in the OP exactly! I recommend a PFD for Buford Danger!

 

[foxriverat]

The most important thing is what kind of terrain you will be riding the most. I used to have a hybrid bike but found almost all my riding was on paved trails. The wider tires and shocks on the hybrid caused more resistance on paved trails. I traded it in and bought a trex fx fitness bike and love it for my paved trails. Here is a little guide

[gt2003]

I've never ridden a "crossover" but I think that would fit the bill nicely. Hardtail frame, straight handlebars and a thinner tire than a mountain bike. Surely you've got a few really good shops around you where you could go check them out, test ride etc. I didn't check on Trek's but here is a specialized example Specialized

[escmanaze]

@Horton I'm actually part of a small, but quickly growing cult of people who believe that training wheels are inspired of the devil and manufactured in Hell. I will beg you to please, please, pretty please keep Buford Danger away from training wheels. Please start with a balance bike and then move straight to a 12" bike or a 16" bike depending on how big/old she is.

 

If she is average 2 to 3 year old size, then my favorite bike to start with is the Specialized hot rock 12. I think they are calling it the Riprock 12 nowadays. When she starts pedaling, keep the seat low so that she can ride it just like her old balance bike at any time she wants to, and then can just put her feet on the pedals when she is comfortable with it and then right back on the ground when she needs. Don't worry yet about the fact that she doesn't have much pedal power in such a scenario.

 

If she is the average size of a 4 or 5 year old, then just move right on up straight to a hotrock 16 or now a riprock 16. Same thing, leave the seat low so she is free to use it just like a balance bike whenever she feels like. In this scenario, you will be amazed at how easy, simple, and pain free the transition is from balance bike to pedal bike and how naturally the learning happens. Once she is really good, then we can start talking about standing up to pedal and pedaling efficiency and all that other good stuff - not our concern right now though.

 

Now a bike for you. If I were just cruising around the lakes there in Arvin, where everything is completely flat, I would never have a derailleur to adjust because I would just buy a single speed bike. It seems like a beach cruiser would be perfect, since that is the exact kind of terrain and style you are trying to ride. However, I'm in Utah, so I literally know nothing about what kind or brand of beach cruisers are best.

 

 

Here is my daughter at 3.5 YO on the family hotrock 12. You can see that when she starts out, she starts out pushing a couple times just like a balance bike. From there, I found her a hill with a slight incline to go down so that pedaling is basically optional, she can do it if she wants, but she won't run out of speed if she doesn't. To start and stop, she just puts her feet down like she has for a year on her balance bike. Everything is really natural and really easy. She is a super timid girl too. My more aggressive boy was pedaling before he was even 3 with this method.

 

Please don't let Buford Danger have training wheels. That's like thinking your girl is learning how to ski because you haul her around on the tube. It's worse than that because it's literally teaching them the wrong things, which is even worse than teaching them nothing at all.

[Deanoski]

@Horton I will trade you a MTN bike for a ski! I have many bikes your size. I would even pay for shipping.

[lpskier]

@klindy Rustproof? What happens if you tip over or run out of gas in deep water? Oh, I know. Your dog will fetch it!

[colo_skier]

@Horton , I ride MTB's nearly everyday here in Colorado and as you know I have been known to turn up in BAKO to bum a ski set or 2. The terrain around your lake does not require any special bike. If your looking for new go to a sports store and look around. You don't need all the suspension stuff as it adds weight unless its an expensive bike. The frame for my Santa Cruz was 4K on its own. The Cruizer bikes with a follow behind would be fun, but as my daughters said" Dad can I have my own bike so I don't have to look at your bottom?". The single speed would also work. I wouldn't invest a ton of money as you have much more fun ways of getting to the end of the lake and probably after a year your going to be bored of going in circles.

[escmanaze]

Alright, I thought some more about my answer. You asked for the equivalent of a katana or butterknife, and I told you to get a beach cruiser. My bad. Telling you to go get some steel beach cruiser is like telling you to to get a Connelly Big Easy. I took it too far. You asked for Radar, for first off, the equivalent of Radar in the bike world is either Trek, Specialized, or Cannondale. So let's try to look at only those brands. As I look through those, for your purposes, I really like the Specialized Roll. It comes in a few different versions depending on budget etc. You can see that it has a little beach cruiser feel to it, but with as much quality and price as you would like, especially if you went all the way up to a Roll Comp X1.

 

It looks like Cannondale doesn't really make anything in the "Hybrid" category of bike that I would equate to the Katana or Butterknife category of ski, so next we look at Trek. Trek doesn't offer anything as Beach Cruiser-esque as the Roll. It looks like the closest thing would be maybe the Verve line.

 

If you wanted to move to less beach cruiser and more mtn bike, then you could look at the Trek DS or the Cannondale Catalyst - which is a mtn bike from Cannondale, but their mtn bike line that is closest to hybrid.

 

I do think for sure that you should get an aluminum frame. Steel is just cheap garbage, and carbon just seems way overkill for your needs. I think you should also look for a bike with either v brakes or mechanical disc. You don't need hydraulic disc, nor would you want the maintenance, but you don't want some old cantilever crap either or anything of the sort.

 

I'm really liking that Roll X1. I think that is your best equivalent to butterknife. I would recommend to start your searching there and compare the others to that.

[BraceMaker]

Steel is anything but cheap garbage. Way more crap aluminum frames out there. A good steel frame lasts forever and weighs very little more than aluminum

[oldjeep]

@escmanaze - that Roll X1 looks a little more than entry level. $800 is a lot of cash to ride around on flat ground. FWIW, I prefer the cantilever crap to the disc brakes - but I also swap out whatever comes with my bikes for GripShift ;)

[klindy]

Thanks for the shoutout for steel @BraceMaker!

[BraceMaker]

haha no problem @klindy someone has to stand up for good old steel!

 

Hilarious thing is that while Aluminum is of course now a standard, and carbon of course all composites have a real strong future - steel has quietly always been good.

 

A "cheap" chinese steel walmart bike is of course crap - but if you find a decent Chromoly steel frame bike its going to be within a pound and probably ounces of the aluminum bike, and it will feel better - spend 150 on a good tune up and you're in business.

[thager]

Seems to me most standard bikes are owned and made in China. Slap a paint job on it with a known name and charge an extra $500 bucks or more.

[dchristman]

Bicycles made in the USA

[ALPJr]

I bought my wife the entry level Trek mountain bike in 1996. All steel and solid front fork. Still works like new. Was about $200. Perfect for lake cruising with plenty of capacity if you want to hit a trail once in a while.

I got a Bridgestone RB2 same year. All steel. Been tuned up once and still works and looks like new.

[ScottScott]

Thanks to this conversation, I'm seeing Specialized bikes all over in Winter Garden.