ATOT bicyclists: need ride recommendations

[Dirigible]

OK, we'll keep looking then, the mixed reviews on those are a big red flag.

Ack, going cross-eyed looking through the CL postings (Wash DC area). Trying to figure out what options will fit our needs is near impossible as there seems to be limited means to sort the options (size, frame material, bike use, etc). Will gladly pay a small finder's fee to anyone who can look through the listings and come up with a few suitable options for the adult bikes.

I've no idea what size you and your wife are, but these are the sorts of used bikes I'd be at least a bit interested in:

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/bik/4983774339.html

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/bik/4960226470.html

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/doc/bik/4941783135.html

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/bik/4983544349.html

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/doc/bik/4967113882.html

That's based on you and your family just wanting to tool around and not wanting to go far quickly.

You do need a bit of knowledge to look for bikes that are on their last legs so you're not stuck with a lemon. But it really isn't a lot of knowledge. Do the bearings spin smoothly, does it shift and brake, are the gears worn out (google for pics of worn bike gears), are the rubber parts old and degraded?

If you're just tooling around, a total lack of suspension is probably slightly preferable over bikes with suspension forks like some of the linked bikes have, but it's no big deal. I'd avoid a full suspension bike unless you're really going mountain biking.

I didn't link any pure road bikes, but that's just because I didn't see any that looked suitable in my quick search.

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Craigslist