cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/19380579
Cyclists blame “utterly ridiculous bike prices” for brands’ ongoing struggles, after Giant’s sales slashed again; Visma–Lease a Bike’s cursed 2024 continues; Devastated Arsenal fan turns to… Lance Armstrong; Bargain hunting + more on the live blog
This, combined with sky high bike theft rates, are why I haven’t had a bike in a few years now. Sure would love to get a nice e-bike and/or recumbent trike, but they’re thousands of dollars that I would essentially be throwing away. (I live in a city. Anything not nailed down gets stolen. And even some things that are nailed down.)
Get a nice used road bike or something, they don’t have to be expensive.
I need something to help me along such as an e-bike or at least being recumbent due to a medical condition which makes my legs (and other muscles) weak. I used to bike around as my primary mode of transportation, but sadly can’t do so anymore.
I bought an almost 30 yo mountain bike, a stump jumper from around 96-98 for 100€, renovated it for close to 400€ (spurgled a bit there), now I have a world championship super fun bike in perfect condition that probably will outlive me :-)
Specialized from that era are great. Still have my Rock Hopper from 2002. Replaced the front shock absorber with a fixed fork (no idea what the English word is) and some ball bearings here and there. Love it
If only my city treated bike theft like they treated car theft…
Have you had a care stolen recently? They probably DO treat them the same.
My city invests a ton of money into cracking down on car theft and increasing punishments. They are not investing into bike lockers or even racks. It’s usually a “too bad” even for thefts of high value bikes unlike cars.
Check out https://bikesdirect.com/
Their website is absolutely atrocious, but I’ve had a steel Motobecane from them for years, and it’s showing no sign of stopping any time soon. Their bikes are cheap, and have good parts.