In need of a solid errands bike

August 16, 2009 4:13 PM

Need a budget priced new / used bike for grocery shopping and a bike bag to carry them in - tell me what I need and what brands I should look for.

I live in DC. In January, I'm moving to a small town in northern Pennsylvania. I'll be looking to get a bike to make about a 3 mi round trip to the grocery store twice weekly, as well as run a handful of other basic errands and maybe get some exercise. Until January, I'll have access to the DC Craigslist market for used bikes (a little overwhelming) as well as any local bike shops. I'd like to spend about $150 on a bike and maybe around $50 on some pannier bags or some other grocery-toting solution that can carry about two bags of groceries. I'd prefer something able to deal with a little bit of snow in the winter and easy to carry up a flight of stairs. Please recommend brands / models of bikes to keep an eye out for, features I should consider when looking at a used bike, and particular storage solutions for groceries. Thanks!

posted by l33tpolicywonk to travel & transportation (12 comments total)

It sounds as if you need a packhorse more than a racehorse. Unless you get to the point where you want to go REALLY fast, or if you think you'll be facing some killer hills, especially in winter, don't worry too much about weight. I'm a very short woman, but I have a 1990s mountain bike that weighs close to 40 pounds with lock, rack and folding baskets. I've ridden it through a Toronto winter and through rain and shine in the summer, with it never even trying to dump me at streetcar tracks. It's a bitch to get uphill sometimes (which means that I am getting some real exercise with the thing), but when I lived in a two storey walk-up, I could carry it upstairs with relatively little effort. You can probably find a comparable newish bike that weighs less than mine.

That said, if you find a hybrid or light mountain bike that feels pretty stable to you, go ahead and get it if the price is right.

You should look into studded tires if you're facing any real snow and ice.

There are all kinds of good panniers out there, but I switched to folding metal back baskets months ago because I just got tired of unhooking and rehooking the panniers every time I went in and out of the store. Now I just bring some cloth bags with me and a couple of bungee cords in case they're needed. I killed one rack on a long trip recently, but I was able to strap it back together well enough to carry heavy groceries again. You can find similar baskets on eBay.
posted by maudlin at 4:47 PM on August 16

(Sorry: that should be that I killed one basket, not my rack.)
posted by maudlin at 4:48 PM on August 16

Value wise, you get the most bike for your money in the used market with an '80s / early '90s hardtail mountain bike with no suspension, or a '70s / early '80s steel road bike. For a used bike, budget for a tune-up / once over from an expert, or budget the time to learn how and do it yourself (though you should consider getting it checked for safety at a bike shop after fixing it up if this is your first time tuning up a bike).

I have tried panniers, backpacks, messenger bags, etc. for grocery shopping by bicycle, and I currently use a large river bag with backpack straps. I got a 70 liter model, and it is large enough to fit almost anything I would want to buy, and as much of it as I am physically capable of carrying on my back. And it is waterproof.
posted by idiopath at 5:09 PM on August 16

I almost forgot the brands: for a mountain bike, peugot, gt, and trek (specifically the antelope) are used bikes in your price range that just seem to stay on the road forever. For a road bike, schwinn, gitane, and peugot are probably good bets. If you find an '80s or '90s cannondale, bianchi, or pinarello in your price range, this is probably a much better caliber of bike and they either don't know what they are selling or it has a serious problem that makes the frame unsafe or unusable.
posted by idiopath at 5:16 PM on August 16

Be sure to take someone who knows what they're doing if you don't and you're buying second hand. In my experience, secondhand bikes fall into two categories: never-used, and absolute shit.

You don't wanna drop a couple of c-notes only to have to fork out another one in three months time when the crank wears out, cables snap, etc. etc.

You don't sound like you're a particularly experienced cyclist so I would recommend steering (ha!) away from a road bike. They're not that much more difficult, but they can be a physically harder ride, and are a little harder to balance. Stick with mountains and/or hybrids.

Given your budget, mountain will give you more bang for buck. Idiopath's recommendations are pretty good. I would also throw Giant into the ring, but I dunno if they sell where you are.

Best advice is to go to a bike shop during a non-busy time and a) take a look at the cheaper brands they sell (circa $200-$400), then hit ebay or craigslist or whatever and b) ask them for advice. Most people in bike shops are super nice and will be happy to advise. Only a few are status-craving yuppie freaks. You can pick these because they will tell you that what you're looking for is too cheap/too hard to find, etc. Ignore these people.
posted by smoke at 7:57 PM on August 16

A random collection of thoughts:

I don't think road bikes are harder to balance than other types of bikes. You can either balance, or you can't. (If you can't, get a trike.) Mountain bikes suck on the road, and hybrids are "jack of all trades, master of none". I had a hybrid, and I hated it, even with smooth tires. If you are riding on the road, ride a road bike!

I do all my grocery shopping on a single-speed Raleigh road bike. (With 28c tires, a bit wider than "racing tires", but a bit narrower than the 32-38 that are common on hybrids.)

I have fought with bad racks and panniers before, and "saving money" there will make your life miserable. I now have a Tubus Cargo rack and a pair of Arkel Utility Bag panniers. Yeah, pricey. But well worth it in my opinion. These things stay attached to your bike no matter what, and they hold a lot of groceries. None of your stuff will be lost or damaged on the way home, and it is very hard to buy enough food to not be able to take it all home. (Almost happened once when I got a week's worth of groceries, a gallon of milk, and 6 bottles of beer. I made it fit though :)

You might not need this; but make sure that you get a rack that can hold at least 50 pounds (that means it will attach to the rear triangle, not the seatpost), and get panniers that firmly attach to the rack. The first panniers I ever used were held to the rack by gravity, and I lost one on every ride. It sucked really really hard. Collecting your groceries from a busy street is not so fun. The Arkel panniers are the best $200 I've ever spent.

(But I know that's your whole budget, so ... maybe not an option. I look at it as a car payment -- that I made once, instead of every month.)

IMO, rhe most important thing to look for on the bike are eyelets for a rack and for fenders (front and rear; the front fender keeps your feet dry and your drivetrain clean, the rear fender keeps your shirt dry). Many new bikes don't have these, because ... I have no idea why. I guess racers don't want the extra gram of weight that a screw-hole would add, or something. (I have a racing bike too, and there are days I really wish I could easily add good fenders. I just ride my single-speed on those days now, but I really wish I had more flexibility.)

I had to look really hard to find a steel frame with eyelets that wasn't $3000. Depressing.

Other advice; if you are on a budget, doing your own maintenance is essential. The poster above mentioned "cables snapping". Cables are expendable parts, and need to be replaced regularly. It's a simple operation, so get a book (I like "Zinn and the Art of Road Bike Repair") and learn to do it yourself. (If you want half the number of cables to worry about, get a single-speed bike. If you want half of that, ride a fixed gear... but please keep your front brake in good repair, it's the most important!)

The chain also needs to be maintained. I oil and wipe mine before every ride, but you probably don't need to be this obsessive. Make sure to oil each link once a month, and after you ride in the rain. (And wipe the chain clean of excess oil. All that black stuff that accumulates on the chain does not need to be there. It just makes you dirty when you touch the chain, and that is not the part of the chain that needs lube anyway. If you touch your chain and you get dirty, keep wiping!)

And after a while, the chain will need to be replaced, or you will ruin your cogs.

If you are just learning to cycle, Sheldon Brown's site is a great resource: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/

Finally, good luck! Bikes were made for grocery shopping. There is no reason to take a car to the grocery store; it's a waste of energy, you can't really fit much more stuff in there... and if you really need to get a 200 pack of soda or something, just order from amazon, pick free shipping, and let the soda transport itself to your house :)
posted by jrockway at 10:11 PM on August 16 [2 favorites has favorites]

I'm marking bests, but all of these answers are really helpful. maudlin's rear basket idea is a winner ... I should probably clarify that I'm willing to spend an extra $100 or so on top of my budget for racks and other accessories, so $250 total. As to my experience: I rode a lot as a kid, but haven't ridden much as a young adult.
posted by l33tpolicywonk at 10:24 PM on August 16

Let us know how it goes :)
posted by jrockway at 10:42 PM on August 16

As others have said, I'd go with a used steel road-bike frame and modify as needed.

There are some interesting new internal hub options out there which might be worth considering for winter conditions. Sheldon Harris' site is a good place to start.

There's a couple of places around DC that operate as non-profits, taking in old bikes, training kids to fix them up, and then selling them. I bought a bike from this place and think its worth supporting. And they had others that I would have bought too if I had the room. I think there's an equivalent out in Maryland somewhere. (Don't bother with the guy who sells used bikes at Eastern Market - he buys crap at garage sales, squirts some WD-40 on the chains derailleur and sells for double what they're worth.)

Finally, there's plenty of good bike ships in DC, but for work on older bikes, I think the best by far is District Hardware & Bikes on 22nd and L. Talk to Peter. He actually knows and likes old bikes, especially the classic old Raleighs, has the parts and is mildly OCD in exactly the way you want in a guy working on your bike. (Not to be confused with the bike shop and porn video store on 14th St.)
posted by RandlePatrickMcMurphy at 6:20 AM on August 17

No one mentioned a "touring" bike or much about "hybrid" / comfort bikes which sound like great options for you.

Each of these would put you in a more upright position than a road bike (and some mountain bikes) making your short trips (less than 15 miles say) quite comfortable and giving you better visibility (cars see you better, you can see better too). These models are quite common in European communities where cycles are more common for daily transport and utility (i.e., grocery getters).

A touring bike is basically a road bike designed to carry enough equipment to take on long rides (i.e., tour) with food, camping equipment, etc. They generally have all the eyelets for you to hookup any panniers and racks you'd like. They have a upright position as well as other hand grip positions. They have a wide range of gears commonly including a "granny gear" which will allow easy if slow progress up even the steepest hills while carry a heavy load. They can have "drop bars" or you can install your own swept back bars which you'll see commonly installed on Rivendells (a pricy brand, but most the ideas can be duplicated quick cheaply - they even sell the "Albatross" handlebars for $44, others are cheaper). Again, sweptback bars are common in Europe because of the comfort and variable hand grip positions.

Hybrid or comfort bikes don't have the looks of a racing bike but for your situation they're a good fit. Many have adequate eyelets for racks/panniers. They have a wide range of gears. Provide upright seating position. Most importantly, they're very comfortable for short trips ... you're not going to do a Century on one, but on your <1>
Brands: Trek is fine and common. Jamis is also a great option. Generally, once you find a bike you're interested in, google around for issues it might have or reviews it has received.

A used bike will probably need a tune up. Sheldon Brown can show you how, but the first time you may reasonably want professional help getting it set up right so you can learn how to fix one problem at a time as they come up in the future.

Metal panniers are fine if securely fastened. They can rust and they can poke you, but no one wants to take them from you and they are fairly strong. Not a long time solution, but for getting started and getting a bag of groceries in each side, perfectly reasonable.

The quality of the rack you get is less important than having it adequately connected to your bike. Working around not enough eyelets or juryrigging something to "make it work" will result in a bag of food in the street eventually. Make sure you've got it attached very well and you're golden to attach panniers of whatever variety.

I'd also recommend a front basket - some are quite large and lead to a very reasonable balance on your bike. Again, make sure it's VERY well attached/mounted. Look on Rivendell's website for ideas - most of the staff have some kind of front storage solution.

Best luck!
posted by unclezeb at 6:42 AM on August 17

unclezeb has given a lot of great advice, but I disagree slightly about comfort hybrids. Some positioning that looks good on paper, or which works for other people, may not work for you.

I find that I am pretty fast and comfortable with a heavy load in my baskets when I'm on my mountain bike. Someone used to a road bike would probably be driven nuts by it, but I find that compared to the comfort hybrid I was given a few years ago, I feel that I'm riding in my bike, not on an armchair, and can pedal pretty quickly and strongly. It's been my experience that the comfort hybrid's very upright position, plus a heavy load, equals swearing misery because I can't lean forward enough to get that little extra bit of power, and even dropping resistance and increasing cadence doesn't give me much speed.

So if you rode a lot as a kid, I'd advise not going any more upright than the most recent bike you were comfortable with. If you rode mountain bikes, another mountain bike, a performance hybrid or a touring/road bike would be OK for you. If you go for a road bike with drop handlebars, you can add cross levers that allow you to ride and brake in a more upright position when you want.
posted by maudlin at 7:19 AM on August 17

@maudlin: Agree that fit and comfort can only really be tested with your ass in the saddle and that many comfort/hybrid bikes are not going to fit well and that many fit few people well ...

As for a performance hybrid, I would suggest a Jamis Coda except it's a bit beyond the OP's budget. It doesn't hurt that I ride a Jamis Coda Sport (with Albatross swept back bars - the steel version which is even wider then normal ... it looks like a huge kid's bike with a sprung brooks saddle, like my old Klein Pulse Comp)
posted by unclezeb at 11:20 PM on September 4