Help in choosing a bike please! A newbie!

[vimal85]

Help in choosing a bike please! A newbie!

Hi all. I am completely new to the world of biking and I am looking to purchase a bike just for casual biking on weekends along paved biked paths. I am a 34 year old male and almost 5.8. I just started researching and saw that there are road bikes, hybrids, mountain, etc and with the COVID thing, it is becoming virtually impossible to find any bike, forget a low cost one. However, I did find a couple of budget bikes and I have to choose between the two. The first one is a Schwinn Al Comp mountain bike 27.5 from Walmart and the other is a Schwinn Signature Men's Standpoint 27.5 from Dick's sporting goods. Links are below.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Schwinn-AL-Comp-mountain-bike-21-speeds-27-5-inch-wheels-grey/388726134

https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/...43ghYLFRC3QEEYeDuGIaAvyiEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

The AL comp from Walmart is $224 and the Standpoint from Dick's is $399. I tried to compare the specs and found some similarities and differences but I have absolutely no idea which bike is better for me as I do not understand all the technicalities. As I said before, I am a complete beginner and I don't want to spend too much for my first bike. At the same time, I do not want to spend money on a junk bike and end up spending more money on repairs if any. So kindly request you all to help out here and help me choose between the two! Why is the stand point priced almost $200 more than the AL comp? At face value, the obvious choice seems as if I should go for the AL comp but is the extra $200 for the standpoint really worth it? What am I missing here? Kindly help out !! I have ordered both and I have to cancel one of the two ASAP.

 

[AndyRM]

Definitely not the Walmart one, and probably not the one from Dick's either, though purely going off the price, it probably has a better spec (the website won't load for me in the UK, and I can't find any info about it elsewhere).

If you're going to be on paths, you'd be better off with something that doesn't have suspension.

 

[Cycleops]

As Andy says you really don’t need the suspension it’ll just add weight, won’t give any added comfort and will have no damping, just a spring in a tube. Try to find a hybrid if you can.
DicksSG used to have some good mountain bikes made for them with rigid steel frames. branded Nishiki, I see a lot down here. If you can find one of those on Craigslist and it’s your size go for it, but be aware they’re over twenty years old now so check carefully.
just checked the JensenUSA site and all their stuff seems pricey. We’re mostly Brits on here but we do have a few US members, @Gravity Aided being one. I’ve paged him now so he may comment.
A good source of cheap bikes is Thrift stores, you can often find some bargains plus bicycles co-ops.

 

[vimal85]

Ohh, thanks for your response. I had no idea this was a UK forum!

 

[Gravity Aided]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOUkDeZFx5Y

This fellow shoots pretty straight about the plusses and minuses of Wal*Mart bicycles. Have you been to your local Wal*Mart lately? They may not have any bicycles to sell.

 

[vimal85]

Yep saw this . I think maybe for my needs I guess the Walmart bike is more than sufficient

 

[Gravity Aided]

So long as they have one to sell you. That part of the supply chain has seemed to collapse quite spectacularly, of late. My local Wal*Mart does not even have sales racks for bicycles at this time. Most of the bicycles they sell are shite, TBH, but the Schwinn appeared to be an attempt to supply a better product at a higher price. The situation now is even getting product to market. A co-op, like where I volunteer, or Craigslist, or Facebook Marketplace may be a better chance for you to find what you are seeking.