Good afternoon from the Midwest! I am a newbie from all aspects here and bought a motor kit from Ebay (from luckyearlybird) after reading about the seller in one of the threads here. It is set to arrive Thursday, but I am still shopping for a bike to use it on. I am torn between a cheaper wal-mart bike (like a cruiser style - genesis onyx or schwinn) or a better brand off of craigslist with unknown history or problems. I am a bigger guy with some experience on bicycles and some on motorcycles. I plan on using this for fun and possibly to ride to work (5-6 miles with some hills) on nice days.
Any help or recommendations are appreciated. I will likely lurk and pick up bits of information.
Thanks!
The Genesis 29'ers are harder to build and require much more modification to mount the kit compared to most 26'ers
The walmart cruisers are decent bikes mostly, but nothing like as good build quality as most older quality shop brand bikes
The used bike route is much better in my opinion, especially if you have some bike experience. You can get MUCH better equipment for your money.
I've built both new and used bikes to sell and I find the older stuff sells better on the strength of the better components usually. (Some people just want brand new)
I'd look for a steel frame hardtail from the late 80's early 90's for frame tubes that make mounting a breeze.
Good rims, centerpull brakes, good geometry are just some of the benefits compared to modern walmart stuff.
Bike shops charge far too much for new bikes compared to the used market.
Rarely a week goes by here in Memphis that I don't see something perfect for motorizing on craigslist.
Thrift shops, goodwill, etc are also good sources.
Just off the top of my head,
Gary fisher
Diamondback
Schwinn
Specialized
RedLine
Mongoose
Huffy (be careful with older Huffy's, not all are worthy)
GT
