I have 2 very nice bikes. One is a Japanese 10 speed and the other a 21 speed mountain bike. I got both bikes used. I have put thousands of miles on the 10 speed with some minor repairs. Hundreds on the mountain bike. Used to be one could get used bikes at garage sales but maybe that avenue has gone bust for the meantime.

Found one!

I ordered it this morning. All told with bike, assembly, tax, fees, and misc it came in at just about $400. Now that's a reasonable price for a bike. Shipping was free but it'll take a week and a half to get here then I have to schedule assembly. I'm looking at around two weeks before I can start riding.

It's this one - [walmart.com]

So I got a new bike from a reputable manufacturer at a fair price. It's Miller time!

But with coffee.

Walmart has decent bikes starting at under $100. I won't even pay close to your low end of $350 for what you call "reasonable". I own 2 folding 26 inch bikes - one 6 speed, one 18 speed; both which cost less tha $200 to buy and ship to me....a few years ago. I now see, on Amazon, folding bikes with disc brakes in the low $200's.

[amazon.com]

For $6 I bought a great old Schwinn at a Goodwill and rode it all over Seattle for six weeks. What a bike! Cleaned up it looked like new.There was a ratchet in the chain wheel, enabling it to turn constantly so you could change gears without pedaling.

I expect you could find a useful bike at Walmart for a few hundred bucks, thanks to our Chinese friends.

I bought my last for $12 at a garage sale.Then paid $20 for a new pump, $10 for an inner tube, $10 for a 2nd hand carrier + bag, $3 for an unused electronic Speedo, $15 for new cycling shoes, $5 for a 2nd hand stationary cycle mount. Now I haven't used it for 2years and its rotting away!

That’s ridiculous.. It’s likely safe to purchase a bike through Craig’s List. That’s how I recently sold a couple, from $100 to $150, both ‘youngsters bikes,’ but quality ones. Seems you could find something used for just a little more.

Though, a sister of mine blew quite a bit on a new one from some specially shop … just shook my head sideways while I helped her look.. ‘But they adjusted the seat to perfectly match the pedals,’ she said. ‘I’d have done that for free’ Not sure about ‘now,’ but six months ago she’d likely have sold it for a small fraction of the original price ..lacking time to actually ride it.

Like so many things, they’re either junk (Walmart), or outrageous ‘quality’ (described above), with little in between

I am thinking that the prices will come down a lot when the lockdown has been over a month or two, the market may then be flooded with a lot of second hand, and overall demand should go down. I am not going out much now anyway, since the lockdown here in the UK is very strong, so meh! I can wait.