Buying A Bicycle For The First Time

Video Blog

May 07, 2019

Hey guys, Dustin here. CEO of Six Three Zero. Welcome and today I want to talk to you about buying a bicycle for the first time. My five tips, things to know about buying a bicycle for the first time. Let's get into it.

Buying anything for the first time whether it be a bicycle or any product, can be a scary endeavor or a little overwhelming and intimidating sometimes. A bicycle is not super expensive but it's a little bit expensive so you really want to know a few things before you jump into buying. Otherwise, you know, you may get taken advantage of or you just may end up with the wrong product that isn't ultimately gonna make you happy.

My first tip, number one, for buying a bike for the first time. Pretty cut and dry, do your research. We are living in a day and age of Google and other search engines. There is tons of information out there. You could start your search on Google, you could go to YouTube. If you just want to look at style and design you could go to places like Pinterest. You could also search on Facebook and your social networks, to see if anyone else bought a bike. What are they saying? Really just do some very broad research. I would say look for, you know, what are friends saying? What kind of bikes are friends saying? What kind of reviews are out there?

There's also a ... You can look up consumer reviews. There's some bicycling magazines out there that usually will have reviews of the model year bikes in the spring, things like that. The research and how much you want to do is really up to you. I know it can be very overwhelming, there's a lot of information, but just to arm yourself with some basic knowledge and if you want to check out some of our other videos, we talk about some other basic topics that are also good to know about bicycles.

So, do your research.

Step two, visit a bike shop. Now, I'm saying this as a company that sells primarily online and, you know, we don't have our bikes in a lot of bike shops across the country but bike shops are a great resource and they have a lot of experts working there, and it's also gonna give you an opportunity to touch, feel, sit on, as many bikes as you'd like. If you have time, visit multiple bike shops. Typically, different bike shops, obviously, are gonna have different mechanics, different personnel and also different brands. I think it's great to visit, I would say you don't have to go to more than three, but if you could at least do two it'd be good to just get some different perspectives. See some different bikes in person.

The other thing you can do is get fitted in the bike shop. Whether you actually buy the bike they fit you for, they can give you a general concept around this size of bike would be good for your body, and then you can feel and you can walk away with that bike shop knowing what frame was good for you, what are the adjustments that are good for you, and you can generally apply those fittings and adjustments to another bike brand so long as that other bike brand has a similarly sized frame and you're dealing in the same category of bike. Obviously, if you're in the bike shop looking at mountain bikes, the way you're adjusted for a mountain bike's not gonna translate to a cruiser. So make sure that you're comparing apples to apples if you go back on a line or do something like that.

Definitely get yourself into a bike shop.

Now, just like buying a car, don't commit on your first trip to the bike shop. Take that information, go back to your house. Next thing I would do is look up some reviews. If there are some bikes you found in that bike shop that you really like, type it in, see what people are saying specifically around the bike you sat on that day. I know we all want to do that impulse buy and, you know, we want to make a decision quickly but just like buying anything else, me personally, I was shopping for a new refrigerator recently. Went into Best Buy, checked out the fridges, came home, did a little research, narrowed it down, and you know, made the decision whether that was a good purchase or not. In that case, I actually decided not to get that one and went out looking again. Did a little more research. Ultimately found the fridge that I wanted.

Put the time in, especially on a bicycle. Typically people seen to keep bikes about three to five years, it's a long term investment. You want to make sure you're getting something that's right for you and will last a little while. So really, really no sense in rushing into it.

My next tip, tip number four which goes hand in hand with riding a bike shop is test ride. You obviously can do this when you're at the bike shop but if you're buying a bike for the first time ever, test ride as many different bikes as possible. Even if ultimately you are gonna buy online and not buy the same bike, as I said before, just get out and ride. Just feel what all these different bikes feel like, different seats, things like that. Once you narrow down the specifics by test riding, you can bring that back to the internet and search a lot of things and look specifically for what you liked, and what you didn't like. And then, you know, you can make a better decision.

The same as cars, right? If you're searching for a car, there's no commitment. I know sometimes you feel bad maybe if you go to a car dealership and you test ride a bunch of cars and you walk away, but guess what? You know what, they're trying to get you to buy something from them so it's an even trade and that's what they're there for and it's good for you. So don't be scared to test ride and please take your time and make sure you find the right bike for you.

The last thing is very simple but it's, you know, I think sometimes ignored, which is really think about what you're gonna use your bike for. When you start to search online, or go into bike shops, or do whatever, wherever you're gonna buy your bike, it's really not about what they're gonna tell you, you really need to know what you want to use the bike for.

Ask yourself where you will be riding, how fast, and even how far you will be going. If you're just going out generally speaking and saying, "I want a bike." You may end up buying something and it's not really gonna suit you for what your needs are. I know sometimes I can be complicated thinking about the specs and what do all these things mean, but as long as you're armed with knowing what you want to do, where you're gonna go, and at least a general range, right? You don't have to know specifically I'm always gonna ride 20 miles a day, but if you could say confidently "Look, I'm never gonna go above 30 miles in a ride." That kind of knowledge is gonna help any bike brand or any bike owner really get you on the right equipment and also so you don't overpay.

I think really that's a big thing, is if you were looking for, let's say a camera and cameras range from 100 up to 20 thousand dollars, and you had really no idea. You might walk into a situation in a bike shop where they might just want to get you on the most expensive bike. So if you know specifically, like "Look, I'm only gonna ride, you know, three times a week. I don't need to spend $1000," you're gonna be better armed to not be taken advantage of and be put on a bike that might be too much bike for what your needs are.

And again, I'm just thinking very basic. You're not gonna know specifically and since you're buying a bike for the first time, you may end up using your bike for things that you never dreamed of. Or you never imagined, right? You may have thought, "Hey, I'm only gonna ride once a week." And then maybe you end up riding five days a week. And so maybe, ultimately in a year or two, you actually change bikes, but as much thought as you can put into thinking about what you're gonna use your bike for, it's gonna really help you to get the right bike for you.

I know it's a lot of information, if you guys have any questions at all, please don't hesitate to reach out. theteam@sixthreezero.com is our email or you can reach us by phone at 310-982-2877. Also, if it's your first time buying a bike, go ahead and go to the top of our website, right below the top nav we have a body fit survey questionnaire fitting tool. It's about 20 questions, you fill it out. Two of them are your height and your weight, and it's gonna fit you to a bike that we believe is best for your type of riding. We ask some really detailed questions so we can narrow it down very specifically, and also, we have a test ride your bike 365-day policy. If you buy a bike from us online and you don't love it, you can send it back within 365 days, free shipping both ways, and you can return it no questions asked because at Six Three Zero our goal is to make sure you love your bike.