With more and more people in Portland riding bikes, and more and more people moving to Portland because they can ride bikes here, the local stash of used bikes and frames is depleting quick. Craigslist bike prices are rising exorbitantly as people hark back on their economics 101, supply vs. demand. So while we would love to have more used bikes to offer, it is getting harder and harder to find them, buy them, do all of our work and stay within a reasonable budget for you, our customer.
As you'll hear if you're shopping for a used bike at our shop... every used frame / bicycle that you see on our sales floor has been thoroughly checked over and rebuilt. As a matter of fact they have all been stripped down to a bare frame and fork, all wear-out parts are replaced, and anything that doesn't quite work right is replaced with wonderfully working bits. This level of scrutiny takes time, yet it is the only way we can guarantee that the used bikes on our floor will work as new (better than new in some cases!) We guarantee every bike on our floor.
So as the used bikes in town are harder to get a hold of, we have realized we need a replenishable source of frames and bicycles to build. Enter our brand new Origin8 "Mixer" frames and builds. I just rode this beaut around and it makes a wonderful city rider!
Most new bikes come from the manufacturer with pre-selected parts. To keep the price down the manufacturer has cut some corners and the parts are low quality. NOT SO with our build! We've spent time, energy and effort in selecting parts that we can guarantee so we know you're on a delightful, dependable ride. Details we think are important to mention are:
Hand-built wheels (built in house, limited lifetime warranty)
5-spd internal gearing and braking (nearly maintenance free! And you won't lose braking power in the wet weather)
Mounts for racks and/or baskets (A front basket would be perfect on this bike!)
Mounts and room for fenders (installation is free when you buy them with a complete bicycle)
And as with any complete bicycle you buy at A Better Cycle, you get complimentary cable adjustments (within the first 100 miles, so we can adjust the stretch) and a complimentary tune-up within the first year!
The model we have built up, on hand, is a 54cm. We have 4 sizes of this bike to build up, so if you're looking for a bike and think a step-through might be the one, we've got your size.
And we're just getting started! You'll be seeing more new builds as we assemble the bits and spec out additional frame styles.
