Conundrum - What to do with my crappy Repco mountain bike

[nikero]

Hi

I have a Repco mountain bike that is old, cheap and nasty. It needs the rear rim straightened, new brake cables and new grips ... at a minimum.

I'm thinking it is a waste to put any money into it, probably better to buy a new mountain bike.

But I don't want to spend big bucks as I'm not sure I'll take up cycling. I've only just started. And I have a habit of passionately starting new hobbies then dropping them, so if I buy a flash mountain bike it could just end up being a thousand dollar clothes hanger!

So I'm thinking I can just buy a $200 mountain bike and see if I take up the hobby. If I do then I'll get proper kit.

Any recommendations / ideas for getting a reasonable mountain bike as cheap as possible?

Thanks,
Nick

[MattyK]

See if any local friendlies would be willing to straighten it up, then donate it to charity. St Vinnes, ASRC, etc.

I'm guessing that a $200 bike won't endear you to the sport though... more make you hate it. Maybe try borrowing one for a couple of rides first?

[open roader]

Any recommendations / ideas for getting a reasonable mountain bike as cheap as possible?

With a budget circa $200 I'd be looking for a 2nd hand hardtail with low useage or better still, flog the Repco some more whilst you save up some more budget dollars as a new $200 MTB will not give you $200 more joy than your current ride IMHO.

[tron07]

What sort of cycling you will be doing or planing? riding around the block, to the park, to the nearby shops to buy some minor stuffs, riding down a trail or gravel road, etc??

[dean_oo]

Hit up Gumtree for a good second hander!

[trailgumby]

Hit up Gumtree for a good second hander!

And add a zero to the end of your budgeted number, end divide by two.

[koshari]

Hi

I have a Repco mountain bike that is old, cheap and nasty. It needs the rear rim straightened, new brake cables and new grips ... at a minimum.

why not post a pic with some more info on your repco, a cable set and grips on ebay would cost you about 15 bucks delivered and you can prolly take most of the woof out of the rear whell yourself with a bit of youtube viewing and a spoke wrench.

as mentioned before, ride the repco and save for a replacement,

[ldrcycles]

With the abandonment of 26" wheels in the last couple of years the world is your oyster. Donate the repco to an op shop, and type "mountain bike" into gumtree. You'll have a lot of rubbish to wade through and it might take a little while to find one in your size but i just had a quick look and turned up a Kona Cindercone with 1 broken spoke for $180, and an Orbea Dakar for $100. The running gear and suspension will be basic compared to high end stuff, but perfectly usable and far better than what would be on the Repco.