Best place to buy cheap-ish bikes online
November 14, 2024 10:53 AM   Subscribe

What's the best place to buy cheapish bikes online in the US?

Our family signed up to do an adopt-a-family Christmas present donation for a family at the local domestic violence shelter. This year's family is a mom with 11 and 14 year old daughters and both daughters want bikes. The shelter has been pretty vocal in the past about not spending too much money on gifts, which sucks but which I also understand, and so we need to source some wheels for these kids that are as good as can be in the $100 range. Where would you recommend we look? What specific models should we be keeping an eye out for? Is there any sense in trying to wait until Black Friday or something to see if there are any discounts?

Thanks!
posted by saladin to Shopping (12 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
I don't know what the specifics of this situation are - but fall is a time folks are selling lots of used bikes on facebook marketplace, etc. Good used adult city bikes can be had for $100-120, so I think you could get decent kids bikes in that range as well.

If you have a local bike shop - or bike/triathalon club, you could also reach out to them and ask for advice, or if they know of any kids bikes lying around. (They often lie around garages after they are outgrown or unused)

Realistically, $100 isn't going to buy a great kids bike new. But $120 and a wash and tune up could buy a nice used bike.

I know there's a part of gifts that feel better new - but a lot of times used kids bikes are almost new.
posted by mercredi at 11:00 AM on November 14, 2024 [2 favorites]


Best answer: There are a lot of bikes at Target for $150 and under. I have no idea of the quality but in this case it might not matter too much.
posted by BlahLaLa at 11:24 AM on November 14, 2024


At that age, they might be getting into adult-sized frames (and that would help the gift last longer). Do you have their heights to help you guess? Please also make sure they have reasonably not-dorky, comfortable helmets.

Worth a search for charity bike giveaways in your area and contacting them to see if they can help even if they don't usually work with kids that age, maybe they get donations they can't use? Your budget is super tight.

I'd also try something like Facebook marketplace and general asking around. Lots of people have unused bikes in the garage that probably just need a tuneup and new tires. Being able to do some of the mechanic work yourself will make this easier budgetwise.

My understanding is that big box store bikes are decent if assembled well. Watching some YouTube videos would probably bring you up to speed.

In my area, kid's bikes in particular are frequently stolen and re-sold, so be aware of that if something seems off about the transaction.
posted by momus_window at 11:27 AM on November 14, 2024 [1 favorite]


I recently bought two used kids' Specialized mountain bikes from Facebook Marketplace. Both in the $100-150 range. You can tell they're not new, but I did some research and figured those were the best bikes for the price. They cost $400+ new.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 11:28 AM on November 14, 2024 [1 favorite]


Used bikes are the only way to have a chance of getting an actually decent bike for them at that price point.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 12:20 PM on November 14, 2024 [1 favorite]


Best answer: People who know bikes are telling you, correctly, that you cannot get a good new bike at that price, so you should buy a used bike. I'm quite sure they are absolutely, positively, oh-god-please-don't-do-that wrong.

First, even crappy bikes work fine for most purposes. They will be heavy and a little slower and won't last long and might be assembled imperfectly, but when you pedal, they go where you want to go. Second, and most importantly, most people, and certainly most 11 and 14 year olds, care a lot more about what the bikes look like than whether the gears shift smoothly. And I'm going to guess that a family at the domestic violence shelter gets a lot of used stuff, and that they, and especially the kids, don't like getting used stuff when everyone else gets new stuff. (I buy everything I can used, but I'm old and don't care about appearances, and I'm also rich enough to buy new stuff when I want to. I also remember being a kid and wanting shiny new stuff.)

Go to Walmart or Target. Get them a cheap, crappy bike that is shiny and new. Let them ride off on that new, shiny bike that someone went and bought just for them, and that no one else has ever ridden. (Or if you can find a used bike that they can't tell is used, go for it.)
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 12:58 PM on November 14, 2024 [8 favorites]


Bikes are transportation for a lot of people. They may ride to school and to stores, etc. I would expect that the 14-year-old might be riding that bike to a job once she's legally old enough. I definitely feel wanting to get something new for them, but it *needs* to be functional. And also why I think getting helmets is important. I'm guessing you can add in some smaller fun, shiny, new stuff as bike accessories.
posted by momus_window at 1:33 PM on November 14, 2024 [2 favorites]


This is kind of tricky. First, can you find out how tall the kids are?

Next: lots of folks have unused or no-longer-used bikes in their garages and sheds. I would strongly consider putting a request out to your local community via social media or email, think especially of parents. If someone has an appropriately sized bike they can give you, you can get it tuned up and buy a few accessories for well under your price range.

I got my kid a used bike once for his birthday, and I don't think he even knew it was used? He was 9.
posted by bluedaisy at 3:27 PM on November 14, 2024


Look for a community bicycle non-profit in your area.
posted by dum spiro spero at 3:54 PM on November 14, 2024 [1 favorite]


Don’t forget locks. A good lock plus a helmet is already approaching $100. You could consider a tube of lube as well.

The 14-year-old, especially, isn’t a little kid. You’ll be respecting their maturity if you make this gift functional. I vote for better-quality used bike. This will also mean they can keep using the gift longer.

I received some charity gifts as a teen, and my feeling then was, “Thanks for trying, but I’ll never use this, and it kind of feels like this gift was more about your desire to feel good giving it to me than what I needed.”

To answer your actual question, I don’t think it’s common to order bikes online unless you are a bike enthusiast buying something specific and expensive. I’d ask a local shop for advice.
posted by Hex Wrench at 10:59 AM on November 15, 2024


Buying a bike online is not terribly useful for those who don’t already know how to assemble said bike.

I suggest seeing if your area has a local bike co-op. See if the recipients would be eligible for a free/reduced cost bike and/or if the co-op offers gift certificates in a denomination that would be useful to buy a bike.

If the sisters are unable to choose their own bikes, I would suggest trying to find out their heights and/or whether they have hit their growth spurt.
posted by oceano at 7:43 AM on November 16, 2024


Response by poster: Should have mentioned that the shelter stipulates that all gifts need to be new, for obvious reasons. Ended up with some serviceable Huffys from Walmart. Thanks folks.
posted by saladin at 2:44 PM on December 13, 2024 [1 favorite]


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