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So do you ride an older commuter type bike to work or a nicer bike?

Believe it or not I did "one" time ride my bike to the BRT line when I worked in Boulder, said F that after one day (its about a 15 mile trip avoiding roads where you can be "crushed") but it seemed like most bikes there were 20 year old Trek types that you wouldn't be too upset if one got stolen..

I was up in Winter Park, CO this past weekend, I am always bummed at the end of summer how much stuff I didn't get to do. Winter Park is a solid Mountain Biking town in the summer and the town was full of mtn bikes enjoying a last weekend ride before the snow hits next weekend up there - looked like a ton of fun that I missed out on :(  will try harder next summer!!

 
My current bike isn't particularly nice but definitely isn't a cheap commuter type. I had done it up a little bit with some nice additions, like the seat and the tires. My new bike will be much nicer, but capping out at around $2k when it's all said and done, I'm guessing. Around these parts, I think you see a wide variety of people on bikes (including annoying people on the electric rental bikes who won't shell out the money to own their own bike). I don't think it's typical to see anything super high end, but I definitely see people on pretty nice bikes.

My bike is usually at a very low risk for being stolen, since I store it inside my apartment when I'm home and inside my office when I'm at work. Otherwise, when it's parked on the street, I'm usually running a relatively quick errand, or I don't park it on the street and take it with me (i.e. the beach, the park) to keep by wherever I'm going to be.

But yeah, you don't want to leave anything but a crappy beater bike you wouldn't mind getting stolen on the street overnight, and certainly not for more than one day.

 
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So my boy's 9th birthday is coming up and it's high time he gets a new bike (24").  I don't want a walmart / target / jc penney / harbor freight special, but I don't want to sell a kidney in order to buy one either (Cleary / Isla / Prevelo).  Let's keep it real.  He'll be 9 and we're not made of anything resembling money.  He doesn't need disc brakes, full suspension, or 253 gears.  Most riding will be on the street with occasional trails.  Does anyone have a good, solid, semi-lightweight bike recommendation that is less than $300?  The most reasonable one I've seen so far is the Diamondback Octane 24 (he loves orange / red), but the reviews are either "great bike!" or "this bike sucks!".

:dunno:

 
its so hard to get a realistic opinion because of the amount of money people spend on bikes these days, I've got an $800 Giant that was a shitload of money for me and people look at me on the trails like "You came here on that?"

There is a line of REI bikes (REI Brand but I don't know who makes them) that are in that price range & at least you get a dividend back?

When we moved to Denver we just bought our kids 15 year old trek bikes that were old but still better than what you get at Wal Mart / Dicks / etc for $250 bucks but the supply of old bikes in Denver is "substantial"

 
I was never a big fan of the small "bike shop" but if you can find one that isn't selling only $5000+ bikes lots of time they have last years models in the back room they are trying to get ride of (that's how I got my $800 bike) although the wife didn't seem to care that it was "normally" $1500!  It takes some shopping around to find one that isn't full of assholes (90% of them are IMO)

I rode a $100 - 25 year old bike on the trails in the Rocky Mountains until I broke the derailer 5 miles from the car - I hope someone finds that bike in the bushes one day and wonders what happened to the rider ;)  

 
My current bike isn't particularly nice but definitely isn't a cheap commuter type. I had done it up a little bit with some nice additions, like the seat and the tires. My new bike will be much nicer, but capping out at around $2k when it's all said and done, I'm guessing. Around these parts, I think you see a wide variety of people on bikes (including annoying people on the electric rental bikes who won't shell out the money to own their own bike). I don't think it's typical to see anything super high end, but I definitely see people on pretty nice bikes.

My bike is usually at a very low risk for being stolen, since I store it inside my apartment when I'm home and inside my office when I'm at work. Otherwise, when it's parked on the street, I'm usually running a relatively quick errand, or I don't park it on the street and take it with me (i.e. the beach, the park) to keep by wherever I'm going to be.

But yeah, you don't want to leave anything but a crappy beater bike you wouldn't mind getting stolen on the street overnight, and certainly not for more than one day.
I saw a guy take his seat with him while in the coffee shop.  Making it literally a pain in the ass to steal his bike.

 
I saw a guy take his seat with him while in the coffee shop.  Making it literally a pain in the ass to steal his bike.
Yeah, people do that around here. It wouldn't stop someone from stealing your bike though, if they really wanted it.

 
www.bikenashbar.com

Edit: I'm only seeing one bike on there that fits your description/needs for your kid, but it's on sale for $315 and has disc brakes. But it's neon yellow.

performancebike.com has the same bike for $350. Both offer free shipping on them.

 
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so what do the hard core bikers (commuters) think about all the scooters everywhere? The ones in downtown Denver seem to be super annoyed that they are infringing on "their" bike lanes.

We rode some around north Denver one afternoon, was fun when the weather was nice and no traffic to deal with, but its kamikaze style during rush hour.. plus they are going to make everyone fat!

 
I'm not a fan of the scooters in my area. They were nice for the boulevard in Venice, but I don't think they're made for city streets. They're probably better than Ubers and Lyfts, however.

 
Whatever floats your boat. Just be courteous, obey the rules of the road, and don't come up on me and run me down.

Edit: I will, however, look down my nose at you taking the wussy way out. GET A REAL BIKE! 😉

 
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Engineers who ride bikes? Who woulda thought...
(sorry, Im pretty new to EB and just saw this thread).

INTRO TIME! I race with CSUF on their collegiate team, most other schools have teams riddled with engineers too, there are some pro riders who race for schools under the majors 'English literature' and 'sports nutrition'.

Does EB want to sponsor our team? (Oh, our rider won collegiate nationals last year if that changes anything)

(Dont ban me 😅)

 
Engineers who ride bikes? Who woulda thought...
(sorry, Im pretty new to EB and just saw this thread).

INTRO TIME! I race with CSUF on their collegiate team, most other schools have teams riddled with engineers too, there are some pro riders who race for schools under the majors 'English literature' and 'sports nutrition'.

Does EB want to sponsor our team? (Oh, our rider won collegiate nationals last year if that changes anything)

(Dont ban me 😅)
Welcome to the board! We're barely have the funds for the website, but I bet if you signed up as a supporting member, we can get you a sticker. 

 
Welcome to the board! We're barely have the funds for the website, but I bet if you signed up as a supporting member, we can get you a sticker. 
A sticker you say... make it 6!

We have 6 engineers on our team, everyone else chose a different life and therefore do not deserve to show their pain on the outside (of their bikes).

 
Mine's a Nashbar brand. This year I'm swimming a lot instead of riding the trainer. I got tired of staring at the wall in my office.
I'm toying with the idea that Zwift or TrainerRoad might keep me motivated, but it requires a pretty big upgrade on the trainer. I'm thinking I want to go with a Wahoo Snap, since I can leave the tire on, but boy isn't it a lot of money. 

 
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