Need commuter bike replacement

[Shaker666]

Someone just stole my Fisher Sugar and I need to replace it in a major way. My Sugar had 5" in the front and 4.1" in the rear. I really enjoyed that bike for around town and some minor stunting, but I always wished that I had a hardtail instead. Any recommendations? I don't actually need any suspension at all, if that helps keep the costs down.

[the flying moose]

garage sales. buy a cheap $50 beater and put $50-$100 on small upgrades and you are good to go.

my commuter was an old raleigh i bought from someone of nsmb and i put a few bucks into it and it rides like a dream.

[BareFootMeshback]

My girlfriend has a Kona Dew Deluxe which is a total beauty. Just go out and by a nice Kryptonite U-lock if you go that route.

[XXX_er]

look for an older high end hardtail preferably steel ,something like a kona racelight cinder cone or a rocky

[milkman]

Kona Dew (if you don't mind rim brakes). Under $500 with decent parts.

[Mr. Charles]

the way to do this properly is to find an old ten speed made from good steel and do it up the way you want. you can build a really really smooth nice riding asphalt machine for very very little. I build them up for 100 bucks regularly. When ever I can, I let someone borrow one of my bikes and we go out for beers and cruise around and they're hooked. Next thing i know I'm building them up something to rip around town on.

I usually do it single speed and one brake for cleanliness. Swap out the shitty drop bars for old some riser bars and you got yourself a one-of-a-kind street cruiser.

It takes some detective work and alittle experience to make this work well, but here is some advice:

find a bike co-op or some place which turns over a high volume of cheap used beater bikes. Talk to the guys there and be clear that you are a rider and want something worth fixing up.

steer clear of Peugeots and other french bikes (they have quirks that are really hard to work with) and bikes made form "High Tensile" steel. Absolutely don't buy a bike made from Hi-Ten steel.

Good things are CroMo tubing (required actually), three piece cranks (required), "made in japan", Aluminum rims (almost required, but acceptable as long as you can swap them out for new wheels), low mileage (look at the tires). If it has lugs, look closely at them and make sure there aren't any "seams" in the lugs.

you should get out of there for 20-100 bucks depending on the rideablity of the bike.

have fun!

here is a lot of info and things to look for when in this class of bikes
http://sheldonbrown.com/oldbikes/index.html

[Mike.T]

I have a Kona Explosif that I would part with.....

[Carbuncle]

Kona Smoke! I have one, and I love it. Great beater bike for around town, and if someone jacks it I'm not going to be too bent about it.

[SubPlop]

I got a Norco Scrambler chromo with an 03 Marz EXR 4" fork, Avid bb7 front 7" brake, Shimano Alivio rear 6", Ditchwitches, Alivio shifters blah blah I am willing to part with. Just got it back from the shop today so it is pretty much tuned and ready to go. It's nothing super special, it's just a commuter that doubles as an XC bike. I would let it go for fairly cheap. email me if you're interested.

Austin (awesome_cross_98@hotmail.com)