looking at the low end or ???

ebonbetta

New Member
Yes bikes have come a long way from when I was growing up and got my first bicycle at the age of about 10 or 11.
I am seriously considering a cruz recumbent of some type and wasn't really sure where to put this.
If I go buy a mountain bike for about $200 and the conversion kit for another $400 + shipping and then any costs for Lbs to help assemble my Bike, I'm most likely looking at a 700-800 dollar investment.
So the real question is if I spend the additional $300 so I can get the freerider. A complete bike that will fit together straigth as it comes.
What I am really wondering if anybody can tell me how the free rider would compare to a stock $200-$300 mountain bike I'd be using as a doner. Are the parts of a better grade that there is a big difference which makes the freerider a bigger plus ? Please realise I haven't followed bicycles in a long time so I know little about the differences of stock parts or the many upgrades there are in bicycles today.
 

Mark B

Zen MBB Master
You know.... To tell the truth, if you're going to have a bike shop build your bike for you, there's a certain amount of logic in going ahead and getting a Freerider. The conversion kit is really more of a tinkerers thing and unless you have an interest in learning to do your own bike repairs, probably not worth the bother. If, on the other hand, you are the mechanically inclined type and have an interest in the DIY mode, then I completely recommend the kit. You can get the basic tools you will need in a kit from the likes of Performance or Bike Nashbar for less than a c-note and if you are a cyclist, or an aspiring cyclist, you will get your money's worth out of them. I bought my basic kit over 10 years ago and still use many of the tools to this day. I've replaced a few and added some others that were not in the kit. In my mind, it was well worth the investment.

Odds are, if you get into this cycling thing..... Even if you buy the Freerider, the upgrade bug will bite you very quickly. Then, you'll be looking to upgrade wheels, then you'll want at least a double chainring setup, then it will be something else. You just as well learn how to do this stuff by getting your hands dirty. There are great on-line tutorials and these are bicycles, not rocket ships.

FWIW, I wrestled with the same thing. I'm a tinkerer, though and a cheap bastard. I had a ton of bike parts around and I found a y frame mountain bike for dirt cheap, so I went the conversion route initially. Then bought a Silvio after I decided I liked the FWD thing.

Mark
 

ebonbetta

New Member
Hello mark, well I am very mechanically inclined and if I was at my rv , where I usually ffull time I'd have no concerns about the converion route. But being in NYC taking car of my mom. My access to tools is very limited and from reading I'M a little concerned about getting a bike and finding I cannot transfer some thing over as easy as I might think it should be. I have a semi - step-bro in-law in ca whom I am sure could help me with his eyes closed but i'm 2500 miles away and doing this to find transportation for the time i will be here. Which might well be a few years.
 
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