Department store bike showdown

[Nikolas LeBlanc]

Hey guys, new to Toronto and my beloved norco hardtail got stolen so I'm looking for something cheap yet effective. I've checked Kijiji, Craigslist, etc, but can't find anything I really like, so I'm hanging my head and looking at Canadian Tire and SportChek. Can you tell me which bike is better bang for the buck?

Blade Response Men's 26-in Mountain Bike | Canadian Tire

$499 down to $249.

Diadora Novara Pro DS 2014 - SportChek.ca

$399 down to $199

Truly, they're both made by the same company (SportChek and CT share manufacturers with brand licenses apparently). My inclination would be to go with the CT bike, since it's not full suspension, and I really only plan on doing bike paths and minimal trails. Further, they both seem to have the same front fork. Figure the cost saved on the CT bike by not having rear suspension is rewarded with better specs, I'm just not familiar enough to tell if that's true.

Would appreciate your help. Thanks!

[127.0.0.1]

get the cheapest one those are both bottom barrel may as well have some rear squish until you can get a nice bike again -and- save some loot

[Ktse]

The hardtail is better, but I would put the money into a closeout 26" hardtail (check the Toronto Fall Bike show), or a used hardtail from reputable manufactures. Those bikes will not last past 1 season if you intend on riding at Don Valley, or trails with similar technical difficulty.

[FireinMTB]

I understand the budget thing, but it's still a waste of $200. You can get something for closer to 5-6 from your LBS with much better everything that will last with trail abuse.

A commuter, i guess doesn't matter. Get the hardtail in that case.

[ou2mame]

Why don't you check out bikes direct instead of dealing with these glorified walmart bikes

Sent from my 831C using Tapatalk

[mabrodis]

I figured the CL selection couldn't be that bad...so I just pulled up Toronto's CL...wow...there is not much to pick from there. From what I saw you might as well get a dept store bike, at least it'd be new, many on CL are just used dept store bikes anyway.

Even on bikedirect you're looking at $300-400 but what you're getting for that price is a descent, though admittedly entry level bike.

If you go the dept store route then (as others have said) go into it knowing you are basically throwing your money away. How much is a used dept store bike worth, not much, how much is a used broken dept store bike worth, even less. However, any bike is better than no bike, so do whatever you have to do to get a bike, ride the snot out of it...it'll be heavy so you'll get a good workout.

Reminds me of my brother (very good rider, on a race team for mtn and road) visiting my sister and rode her bikes around, which are Walmart-ish bikes, he had a great time, but he took it on as a challenge to make that bike go harder and faster than it had ever been before. He even got some Strava KOMs on that bike, but only from the ridiculous amount of effort.