Advice on road bikes

Question

I want to buy a road bike but theyre all SOOOOOO much money. I am looking to spend around $200. There is a GMC one at Walmart for $168, is that one any good?? I am not looking for anything crazy just a bike I can go fast on and not worry about it falling apart. THANKS!

Answer 1

Unfortunately that does not buy much in the way of a dependable road bike. Have you looked around for a used one? Some local bike shops have used for sale or know of someone who just upgraded and has one for sale. Another option would be to put that 200 down on a new bike, I typically don't recommend going deeply in debt, keep a grounded approach and you will be fine. (Not everyone will benefit from or need a high end carbon bike to get started. I believe that TREK has some in the 6-$700 range. Most major dealers have financing programs.  

Answer 2

You get what you pay for.

Please take this into consideration - If you really start enjoying road bikes, you WILL want to upgrade. And with a wallmart bike, it's not like you can upgrade some components to make it a better ride, you'll pretty much have to upgrade the lot.

Search for "Entry Level Road Bikes". All the big boys in the market do them. Expect to see Shimano Sora or Tiagra components. Try shopping around your local bike shops soon as the 2009 models will shortly be out and they will reduce the 2008 models so they can quickly shift them.

Answer 3

a good NEW road bike for $200 doesn't exist.  you might do better looking on craigslist and raise your limit to at least $300

Answer 4

the one in walmart is not good at all, it brake like nothing. look for some on ebay, some may be used but in very good condicion and cheap.

Answer 5

Anything WM sells is junk.    You sure wont be going very fast and you'd always be worrying about it falling apart.

Keep an eye out for used bikes; $200 wont get you any kind of decent new bike.