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> The main reason to buy a ~$500 bike vs. a $100-$200 Huffy at Walmart is that you can't get parts for the Huffy, My (cheap department store) bicycle had a sud

> The main reason to buy a ~$500 bike vs. a $100-$200 Huffy at Walmart is that you can't get parts for the Huffy, My (cheap department store) bicycle had a sudden critical failure that caused my front wheel to lock, throwing me over the handlebars. That's the main reason I'll never buy one of those again. Of course, that was in the early 90s, and I'm open to the possibility that cheap bikes have improved since then, but it was an abrupt lesson about getting what you pay for...

hedora 3y ago
I assume the cheapest bike you can get at the bike store is going to have awful failure modes too, with the main difference being that you can repair it with better parts after such things happen. I might be overly pessimistic about the $500 bikes though; I’ve never owned one in that price range.
- CobaltFire 3y ago
  You can buy a basic Specialized with all standard parts for $500 (ish) on sale without an issue; I just did for my child’s first MTB. Nothing oddball on it, and it was available from XS to XL. Everything in it is solid quality; Shimano hubs, aluminum hoops, micro shift drivetrain, threaded BB, decent headset and fork.
- cowsandmilk 3y ago
  I rode a Felt Brougham daily for years, a steel frame single speed bike that just didn’t have any fancy parts. Do the normal maintenance you would do on any bike and it was solid. If you require anything like rack, fender, or water bottle mounts, then not the bike for you, but solid for commuting in the city.
- scott_w 3y ago
  > with the main difference being that you can repair it with better parts after such things happen. Unfortunately not. I thought the same but they usually come with very old parts where the manufacturer only makes that grade. Stuff like a 7s cassette: to get any better you need to drop £300-1200 and install an entirely new groupset, for example. Even upgrading your wheels starts from £300. It’s only around the £1000-1500 point where you start getting into the realm of upgradable complements that are worth doing.

hedora 3y ago

I assume the cheapest bike you can get at the bike store is going to have awful failure modes too, with the main difference being that you can repair it with better parts after such things happen. I might be overly pessimistic about the $500 bikes though; I’ve never owned one in that price range.

CobaltFire 3y ago
You can buy a basic Specialized with all standard parts for $500 (ish) on sale without an issue; I just did for my child’s first MTB. Nothing oddball on it, and it was available from XS to XL. Everything in it is solid quality; Shimano hubs, aluminum hoops, micro shift drivetrain, threaded BB, decent headset and fork.
cowsandmilk 3y ago
I rode a Felt Brougham daily for years, a steel frame single speed bike that just didn’t have any fancy parts. Do the normal maintenance you would do on any bike and it was solid. If you require anything like rack, fender, or water bottle mounts, then not the bike for you, but solid for commuting in the city.
scott_w 3y ago
> with the main difference being that you can repair it with better parts after such things happen. Unfortunately not. I thought the same but they usually come with very old parts where the manufacturer only makes that grade. Stuff like a 7s cassette: to get any better you need to drop £300-1200 and install an entirely new groupset, for example. Even upgrading your wheels starts from £300. It’s only around the £1000-1500 point where you start getting into the realm of upgradable complements that are worth doing.