Is a bike at sports authority good?

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Book_lover

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I'm looking into buying a bike. And I don't want to get it from a department store like target or walmart.
I went onto sports authority website and seen that they have a mountain bike for 99.99 so basically it will cost me 110.00 plus what ever the helmet cost me. But may not get the helmet there.

Its a nice Men's mountain bike. I don't really like any of the women's mountain bikes.
 
They are (at the SA near me any way) assembled better than those found at Walmart or Target. But if you are looking at $100 bikes then the quality is no better. For a low cost bike that will not be a major disappointment you need to start in the $400 range.
 
no new mountain bike at $100 will be of significant quality, unless your getting an insanely good deal from a bike shop (ridiculously good deal, like 80% off). if price is an issue for you, i would suggest you get a used bike, it will be much better than a cheap bike. check out ebay, craigslist, or pinkbike for good deals. sometimes online stores will sell their past inventory or demo bikes at good prices, but it won't be $100. some of my favorite online bike stores are jensonUSA, pricepoint, and speedgoat. although you should never buy a bike online unless you know exactly what you are looking for. go to your local bike shop and talk to the guys there, they will work with you to find a bike that fits you and your budget. i've seen the bikes at sports authority (and sports chalet), usually their top-of-the-line bikes are Diamondback, which, in my opinion, are entry level bikes.
 
The department store bikes are roughly all the same quality and not very good. When you attempt to get these fixed you will often find that the parts and repairs cost nearly as much as the whole bike.

Bike store bike bikes should include proper assembly and a free tune up. The tune up alone will make up a large portion of the difference between the cost of a bike store bike and department store bike.

If cost is a major issue, find a bicycling buddy and go shopping for a used bike store bike. You will get much more value for the same money. Craig's list is a great place to find them. Good brands are Trek, Fuji, older Canondale, Gary Fisher, Norco, Giant, older Schwinns (roughly 10 year old) were excellent values. Newer Schwinn and Canondale are not the same quality.

And bikes come in different frame sizes that fit you better than department store bikes. They are measured by the length of the seat tube and are in inches for mountain bikes. For someone roughly 5' 9" tall an 18" frame is a great place to start. Go from there for your purposes.
 
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