New or Old Road Bike?

[FunWheelDrive]

I have a question to ask you guys, I'm looking to get into biking to work everyday. I have to travel about 10 kilometers each way. I got an old Norco bike for free, it's twenty years old but still for the most part works. Just needs some adjustment, it realistically would need a new seat, cables, tires, tubes, and maintence ect. So a few hundred bucks worth of stuff. Or I can buy a starter road bike for 300-400 new, kijiji has a few bikes but I'd rather try a bunch out a place like bow cycle or the bike shop first.

Would you guys rebuild the old bike? The guy I got it from said it was "top of the line" back twenty years ago. Or buy a new bike that's probably a lot cheaper of quality?

[FunWheelDrive]

Picture of the bike I have.

[Moonracer]

You can buy a nice used bike off kijiji for 300-$400. I would not fix this one up it's not worth it.

[CLiVE]

New bike, or used newer bike. You could possibly use the frame for a project bike, single speed, etc.

That was not even top of the line 20 yrs ago.....

I have one of these from 1992 sitting in my garage. lol
http://www.norco.com/news/tag/rampage/

Also have a 2003 Specialized Epic Comp I would sell for about $400...you can get a lot more bike for your money.

[Penguin_Racecar]

Seconding the don't rebuild it. Scour kijiji and pinkbike.com for a decent commuter for a little more money. It'll ride nicer and last longer than what you have now.

[kvg]

New bike for sure

[Moonracer]

Here's a couple

bike 1

bike 2

[a social dsease]

Originally posted by Penguin_Racecar
Seconding the don't rebuild it. Scour kijiji and pinkbike.com for a decent commuter for a little more money. It'll ride nicer and last longer than what you have now.

I agree with this. I don't think that bike is worth rebuilding, it would be a waste of money.

You could consider a brand new bike, but for $300-$400 you won't get much. If you want a brand-new high quality bike that will last you many years, expect to spend around $1000. Something like this would be sick and last forever, but might be out of your price range. http://www.mec.ca/AST/ShopMEC/Cyclin...cle-unisex.jsp

Therefore I think Penguin's idea of finding something on kijiji/pinkbike is the best bet. You should be able to find something 3-4 years old in good condition for half the original price. Just a few weeks ago I bought a 2009 Kona Sutra (google it) for $550, in mint condition ($1200 new). You might have to wait awhile for something good to come up, but I think for your price range this is the best idea.

[Moonracer]

Here's another
Depending how tall you are too.

bike 3

[bspot]

Rebuilding it isn't worth it unless you want to do it as a fun project. For the $ in parts it will cost you can get a brand new bike that will still ride better than your rebuild. (I ride a rebuilt bike, did it because it was something I wanted to do for fun). For the cost of parts I put into it I could have gotten a MEC Mixtape with a 5 speed internal hub that would be an upgrade over my setup in every way except the front disc brake.

[msommers]

Depending on your size, I've got a great commuter bike for you.

http://forums.beyond.ca/showthread.p...76#post4098876