Tips on Beater/Fix-up Bike

Hi all,

This is my first post on 'the chainlink,' so hopefully I've found the right place. (If not, please be patient with me!)

I currently own a cruiser bike which is lovely for summer biking; however, I'm getting anxious to start riding, especially on the unseasonably warm winter days. Do any of you have recommendations on where I can find a fix-me-up bike that could handle the wintery Chicago streets (and, in that vein, Chicago streets in general?) Eventually I would love to learn how to tune and upgrade my own lil' rider.

Thanks!
Katie

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Permalink Reply by jen on January 24, 2010 at 4:02pm
shoot Kevin T. a message on the chainlink. He might have some for sale.
Permalink Reply by Ken Gray on January 24, 2010 at 4:16pm
Katie, I'm sure you will be steered toward Working Bikes on Western Ave. (I'll let someone else fill in details there cause they are likely to know more than I do), But let me suggest good old fashioned garage sales, They will start up soon enough and they are a great source of nice old bikes that can still be of great service. I'm a fan of 70's and 80' road bikes from Japan. Panasonic, Fuji, and others. If you do find a nice bike and you only spend $25 to $50 on it, well you won't mind investing a bit to fix it up. If that doesn't work out check back with me. I have a number of bikes that I think are pretty nice and might be willing to thin the herd a bit. Good luck on your search.
Permalink Reply by Alan Matejka on January 24, 2010 at 11:44pm
Maybe I have something for you. I live in Evergreen park. What makes your cruiser not winter worthey? Alan.
Permalink Reply by spacemodular on January 25, 2010 at 4:05am
What bike is right for winter riding? That is a question that every rider has to answer for themselves... I personally like fat street tires on a multi-geared mountain bike with full fenders. I like to be able to ride at lower inflation if the streets are really crap. I also like having a wide array of gears, especially low gears so I can ride across the park cross country and plow through snow accumulation.

If I were going for a beater - I like old schwinns made in Chicago. They can be in rather bad condition and still ride where other bikes would fail. But if tuned up with new cables/housing, brake pads, etc... can be made to run nicely. They tend to take abuse better due to their robust build design. They do weigh a ton though... models include the Breeze, Collegiate, Suburban and Varsity amongst others.
Permalink Reply by dan brown on January 25, 2010 at 5:02am
nice post Nick - don't forget the good old "Super Sport" (we were poor and I never even had
a Collegiate...I had a Varsity and am still ashamed of it...)
Permalink Reply by KatieP on January 25, 2010 at 1:25pm
Wow - thanks for the great advice everyone. My cruiser isn't easy to dismantle, which makes me think the salty streets will gunk up and ruin the bike before I can take care of it.
Permalink Reply by cutifly on January 26, 2010 at 10:05am
You cannot ruin a bike, you can only beat it into the ground ....

Katie Paffhouse said:
Wow - thanks for the great advice everyone. My cruiser isn't easy to dismantle, which makes me think the salty streets will gunk up and ruin the bike before I can take care of it.
Permalink Reply by cutifly on January 26, 2010 at 12:30pm
Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on January 26, 2010 at 5:45pm
Dereck Woodward said:
... Have seen lots of single speeders around that look to fit the bill here, cheap being a good start point. So, chainlinkers - what's the view on such a cheap-O single speeder? Where to go buy, maybe to assemble from parts - I've been fixing and building bikes for a while now. My initial thought is that it's cheaper to buy a bike than dig around for bits and build one up,...

Welcome to Chicago! as was mentioned earlier in the thread, Working Bikes is a great place to find used bikes (although they are not as cheap as buying from a private seller on Craigslist or if you are very lucky and patient, from a thrift store).

Your idea about not getting emotionally attached to your bike(s) is a great one.
Permalink Reply by Tim Quirk on January 27, 2010 at 3:26am
Ciclo Urbano has some great rebuilt bikes at great prices. http://www.ciclourbanochicago.com/bikes.html If you're looking to fix it up yourself they have an 8-week build-a-bike class for $200. Though I'm pretty sure you can get a nice bike there for that same price. They're a great organization worth supporting too.
Permalink Reply by KatieP on January 27, 2010 at 3:37am
This is awesome! Have you built a bike with them?!

Tim Quirk said:
Ciclo Urbano has some great rebuilt bikes at great prices. http://www.ciclourbanochicago.com/bikes.html If you're looking to fix it up yourself they have an 8-week build-a-bike class for $200. Though I'm pretty sure you can get a nice bike there for that same price. They're a great organization worth supporting too.
Permalink Reply by Tim Quirk on January 27, 2010 at 4:14am
I have yet to take any classes, but its nearing the top of the to-do list. I've been over to their shop a few times though, and the bikes look really nice.

Katie Paffhouse said:
This is awesome! Have you built a bike with them?!

Tim Quirk said:
Ciclo Urbano has some great rebuilt bikes at great prices. http://www.ciclourbanochicago.com/bikes.html If you're looking to fix it up yourself they have an 8-week build-a-bike class for $200. Though I'm pretty sure you can get a nice bike there for that same price. They're a great organization worth supporting too.

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