Not sure why the economics dont make sense for businesses, I guess the new junk is cheaper to assemble and sell efficiently than the labor and logistics it costs to refurbish used bikes for sale.

But in many big cities, you can find a "bike place" staffed primarily with volunteers that reconditions and sells used bikes at reasonable prices.

you don't buy them at a shop. you buy them on fb marketplace from someone's garage sale.

then you bring it to a shop and you find out it needs 300+ work of work because it's been rusting away for 2-3 decades.

cheap bikes only make sense if you have the skills to DIY it yourself.

Old bikes were definitely not built for tall folks. I tried the 90s mountain bike and I wanted to love it, but the frame was just too small so I went back to my XL 29er and im happy as a clam. Im jealous of the average sized people that can make those bikes work for them though.

I am disabled. Cheapest bike that fits my disability is 1700. I found one on Craigslist for half that.

The problem is you are in the <1% of cyclists. Every time I sell my bikes they sell in hours because I ride XL-2XL frames.

Just 5k? Where? That's a screaming deal.

I'm not competing in the Olympics. I'm putting in 30-40 miles of commuting/errands most days tho. 3k was worth it for all the parts and shit to make it safe and fun to ride.

Ehh, I do agree $5K is a lot, but it also comes down to using biking as transportation or exercise.

If transportation, then yeah get something cheap.

If it’s for exercise, imo it’s like building a computer, spending a grand or two can be worth it if you have the money. It would come from the “hobby budget”

the people buying 5K bikes have a lot of money. to them 5,000 is like $5 bucks to you.

among serious cyclists, they are buying bikes in the 8-10K range every other year or more. because the income of a cyclists is very high.

That reminds me of my college bike commute. My house at the time was on top of the valley. And my college was on the top of the valley on the other side. 13km one way. I'd be sweating bullets when I'd get to class and sweating bullets when I got home, lol. Though I miss those days, it was a lot of fun. Still have the bike. A 2008 giant stp with 1x7 set up.

disagree. most people should be on a road/hybrid bike with 700c wheels.

ATBs are horribly uncomfortable and slow. but they are 'vintage' and 'alt' right now so hipster people love them. they will fall out of fashion in the next 5 years as the 2000s becomes retro and gen alpha hits their 20s.