The Barter Project

Purging: Bikes

I know the last post was about bikes as well, but I can finally say that I’ve cleaned out my part of the bike rack (we literally have one in my apartment, with 6 or 7 bikes between 4 people). 

Today I sold my road bike, which marks the end of my purging phase 1. It was bittersweet, because I built it up for myself when I graduated college almost exactly a year ago, and this was the one thing I’ve sold so far that I really didn’t want to sell. Luckily it was sold to someone I know will get a lot of enjoyment on it, so I can rest easy. Plus, some of the money will go into building a 3 speed wheel for the bike I’ve kept to make it just as functional (and a bit more simple). 

This sale added a whopping $1300 to savings! I also sold a set of wheels I had, which added another $150 to that as well. That brings my bike purging total to $1450 so far. I’ve got a whole bunch of odds and ends to sell, so hopefully I’ll be able to add more to that number in the next couple weeks.

This wouldn’t be a standard Purge post without some advice, so here’s a few things to think about when choosing a bike as your only bike, and/or your main source of transportation. 

Fit: Fit is the most important thing to think about when deciding on a bike. If a bike isn’t sized correctly for you, you risk hurting yourself slowly over a long period of time. These kind of injuries are completely preventable with a proper fitting by a professional at a bike shop. You don’t need to get a full pro fit if you’re buying a simple cruiser or coffee shop bike, but by at least knowing your reach and stand over height, you’ll prevent yourself from buying a bike that doesn’t fit you.

Materials: Just like clothing, consider materials when deciding what type of bike you want. As your main mode of transportation, you need to choose materials that will stand up to weather, traffic, and other commuters. This means that you probably want a synthetic saddle and grips to prevent mold, blinky lights to be visible to traffic, and metal frames to avoid as many dings and dents as possible. Aluminum frames offer light weight and sometimes a lower price tag, but I like chromoly steel best because it’s a softer ride (the metal absorbs more of the road bumps) and doesn’t dent as easy. 

Components: A lot of times in the bike world, high-end does not mean most-tough-part. A lot of high end road and mountain bike parts are actually much more fragile than middle of the road parts, because they are designed to be as light as possible and raced on infrequently. Don’t be afraid of buying mid-level, because those are usually the best weight/durability ratio for the price. 

Utility: Don’t think about specific carrying needs when buying or building an actual bike…those come later. All you need to check to see is if the frame has rack mounts, bottle mounts, and the correct tabs for the components you want if you’re building your bike. If it has these, you’re set to go. As long as the frame has rack mounts, you can hang whatever sort of baskets and bags you’d like off of it. Worry about those after you’ve got a nicely fitting bike with appropriate components!

Use: Don’t try to build a one-bike-fits-all sort of thing, because most times you’ll end up with a bike that’s not really great at anything rather than one that’s good at most things. Figure out what you ride most, be it long road rides, coffee shop trips, mountains, skateparks, etc, and build or buy a bike that’s best for it. As I’ve said before, outsourcing is an awesome option for rare and special occasions. If you go mountain biking three or four times a year, but ride 25 miles to work and back every day, get a road bike! You can borrow or rent a mountain bike for those few times, and your commute will be way more enjoyable with no bouncy suspension and road tires. Also consider fenders for any sort of bike, because we all end up riding in the rain unexpectedly. You don’t even need to look for fender mounts, there are many clip on options available. 

Now, I know that avid cyclists have their own preferences- I ended up keeping a bike with no mounts and one gear. However, this is a good general guide, and all of these things should be considered when choosing one bike to keep. 

Total Purging Savings to Date (TPStD): $2950