Is my Huffy Shimano bicycle worth repairing?

September 30, 2014 2:43 PM

I salvaged a bicycle and, not knowing a whole lot about bikes and bike parts, I'm wondering if it's worth it to repair, or just scrap it and buy a new one?

Long story short, I need a bike. I salvaged one with a perfect frame, not even a chip in the paint, but it's missing the rear wheel and needs new brakes. The words on it are "Huffy", "Shimano", "Rock Creek" and "Kolo". It's red, looks to have 24" sized tires (or tire, as it is).

Is this something worth repairing? I was pricing new rims and they seem pretty expensive. If the bike is less than $200 I'm not sure it's worth doing. What do you guys think?

posted by Malice to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (9 answers total)

Is there something like either a bike swap or a community bike project where you are? I picked up my last wheelset for $25 at ours, and tires for another $20.
posted by fiercecupcake at 2:48 PM on September 30, 2014

Is it this bike (also)? If so it's $100 at WalMart which means it's probably not economical to fix unless you can scavenge a rear wheel from some other bike.
posted by GuyZero at 2:49 PM on September 30, 2014

Best answer: If you have shops that sell used stuff and know someone who could help you put it all together, it might be worth it, but at $100, you won't be able to do that new.

New wheel will run you around $40, a tire costs $20, $6 for a tube. Brakes could be a wide range of costs depending on what you mean by needing new brakes, pads? cables and housing? an entire brake?
posted by advicepig at 2:54 PM on September 30, 2014

I've fixed a lot of these sorts of bikes. Unless you have access to cheap used parts, I'd say generally no, this isn't worth the time or money. It can be a fun project if cost isn't your main concern, but certainly you could easily put more in new parts that what you have is worth.
posted by bonehead at 2:59 PM on September 30, 2014

Yeah it's almost certainly not worth it. But it wouldn't hurt to take it to your local independent bike shop, or if possible a local co-op that specializes in restoring cheap bikes, and they'll tell you for sure.

But honestly it's not hard to find a solid used bike for cheap (depending on your notion of cheap) if you keep an eye on craigslist or check out a co-op or LBS. On craigslist in my city you can find a vintage steel-framed road bike or townie for $100 or so that'll be a much better ride than the huffy even if you can fix it up.
posted by no regrets, coyote at 3:05 PM on September 30, 2014

Response by poster: GuyZero, yes it is that one, but red. I think so anyway.

Thanks everyone! I'm sad about it. It looks really nice. I was hoping to fix it up for maybe $50, but maybe I can sell it for scrap somewhere and use that money for a new bike. There aren't any bike swaps that I know of around me, but I'll keep looking!
posted by Malice at 3:29 PM on September 30, 2014

It's almost never worth restoring a department store bike. They're made of cheap, heavy tubing with cheap, flimsy components. They also tend to be assembled by workers paid minimum wage and urged to spend as little time as possible assembling them; it's not uncommon to see bikes assembled with the fork pointing backwards.

My home town has an annual police sale where bikes that have been found and not claimed are sold. If you go to one of those with a friend who knows something about bikes, you can often get a good deal.
posted by brianogilvie at 6:08 PM on September 30, 2014

Is this your bike?

I would not spend any money on that bike. It's not worth the $99 that WalMart sells it for new.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 7:19 AM on October 1, 2014

By the way (and so you don't get confused seeing it on other bikes..) "Shimano" is the name of a component manufacturer. What that means is that they're likely the company that made the shifters, brakes, etc, but were not responsible for frame design and construction.

They manufacture equipment across a very wide range of quality levels. The parts that are on your salvaged bike, if others are correct and that bike retails for $99 new, are likely crap, but you shouldn't necessarily assume crap if you look at another bike with Shimano components -- it really matters which Shimano parts line you are looking at.
posted by Nerd of the North at 10:27 AM on October 1, 2014 [1 favorite]