I have been riding a early 70s touring bike that is my dads, but he doesnt use it anymore. I like it, but I have been getting flat tires everytime i ride it, and today i went and spent $100 for some more durable tires and tubes, but I ended up ruining one of the tires trying to put it on ( i have changed many tires, including on those same wheels, but this one was such a tight fit i ended up runing the bead area trying to get it onto the rim). So anyway, i am no longer interested in road bikes. I think I am going to look on craigslist for a cheap mountain bike, and without driving to look at a bunch of them or anything, i was just wondering if anyone had suggestions of commonly seen mountain bikes that coule be found for under $250 or so, and are good for tall people.
I picked up my trek OCLV 9800 for $300 on CL... all C/F, decent suspened fork... nice bike
Are you actually going to ride off-road? What distances are you riding? How tall are you (and inseam, long arms)?
Where are you - I'll take a quick at craigslist and see if anything stands out?
Any of the big brand bikes will be fine (trek, cannondale, etc) - kind of a Toyota vs Honda thing.
I dont really intend on riding offroad, im just tired of skinny road bike tires. Im 6'4, 32'' inseam. I would be looking at stuff on the sf bay area or sacramento craigslist, since i live about half way between the two.
I would take the tire back to the bike shop, explain the issue with trying to install it, see if they will cut you a break on a new tire and maybe even install it for you for free. Also let them know you have been hving repeated flats so they will thoroughly examine the interior surface of the rim for the possible culprit.
Tires and rims do have a fair amount of variance in overall diameter due to wear on the dies during the manufacturing process. It is not all that uncommon to find a pair that do not like each other. If you were my customer I would work with you. I don't think that one experience is enough to ditch road bikes forever. If you are not going off road, you won't benefit from a mountain bike, you will be working so much harder than you need to on the street.
I would look for something like this...
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/bik/1402823115.html
Beefier than a dedicated road bike, but will be faster than a mountain bike. That model lists for around $500 new, so I'd try to talk him down a bit, depending on what year he is selling.
That said, you shouldn't be getting flats very often unless you're riding over lots of road debris or have the tires under-inflated (700x23C should be 100-125psi, 700x32 can be run down around 60psi, maybe less). If debris is the problem, look into a reinforced tire (Specialized Armadillo, Conti Gatorskin, etc). A mountain bike isn't going to be any more flat resistant than a roadbike.
lewbud
New Reader
10/4/09 11:59 a.m.
Travis,
I had a Trek similar to what Crack Monkey (love the avatar) pictured. Ran on the 700x23s and had a shock absorbing seat post (that was kind of weird at first, but nice after). Lots more comfortable than I would've been on a road bike (little to no tingly feelings after) and faster than a mountain bike. Was even the right colors Cowboys blue and silver. I'm a pretty good sized guy too, 6'1 and well north of where I need to be weight wise. Think I paid about 400.00 but that was a couple of years ago.
I would recommend a hybrid for you. Something that is more road worthy than mountain but has beefier tires like this:
http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/bik/1404768946.html
The one thing i forgot to mention is that the other reason I need a diffrent bike is I will be using it for college next year, becasue i will be going to a different school where it is necessary to get between different classes, so something that wont be likely to get stolen would be good. I do think I will look for something like the ones people have recomended though. As long as its not a single speed road bike with neon orange rims it probably wouldnt get messed with anyway. lol
For college, invest in a good U-lock and cable with looped ends. Have a shop show you how to properly use the U-lock, and use the cable to loop through the front wheel.
Use bolt-on axles and seat clamp (no quick releases).
