Going to get a bike (advice)

[Cnyle33]

I've been wanting to buy a bike for sometime now and I think with my stimulus check here i'll be able to get one. I want a mountain bike so that I have the option of going off road if I want, but I don't know anything about bikes. I'm not going to be hardcore mountain biking but I will be using it for transportation and getting back in shape. I don't have much money to spend so I was wondering if anyone had any ideas as to what I should get. Thanks in advance.

P.S. I'm at work so I don't have time to "search". I'll try to respond to posts as they are put up.

[Chad Hamilton]

Fixed gear.

[MM17]

I'd buy a used bike from a local shop. You don't need a new one for what you are using it for.

[UWCyclist]

PM me and we'll get something figured out.

[spirez]

I bought mine of ebay for £150 less than retail because it was last years model. Still a brand new bike though.

Make sure you get some hybrid tyres that can handle on and off road though. They're a bit of a compromise but worth it imo.

Regualr MB tires are terrible on-road. They wear too quickly and make any journey extremely hard work. on the other hand road tyres suck off road.

I use the Schwalbe Land Cruiser:



On-road it runs on the continuous piece of rubber in the middle and off-road you just lower the tire pressure a bit and it gets traction on the knobbly bits. For road use mine are set to about 80psi and the difference between off-road tyres was night and day to me. They weren't amazing off road but i still had the PSI at 80 when i tried so it's bound to be a bit crap at such high pressure. For stuff like parks/fields/light trails though they are more than adequate.

[Cnyle33]

Originally Posted by spirez

I bought mine of ebay for £150 less than retail because it was last years model. Still a brand new bike though.

Make sure you get some hybrid tyres that can handle on and off road though. They're a bit of a compromise but worth it imo.

Regualr MB tires are terrible on-road. They wear too quickly and make any journey extremely hard work. on the other hand road tyres suck off road.

I use the Schwalbe Land Cruiser:



On-road it runs on the continuous piece of rubber in the middle and off-road you just lower the tire pressure a bit and it gets traction on the knobbly bits. For road use mine are set to about 80psi and the difference between off-road tyres was night and day to me. They weren't amazing off road but i still had the PSI at 80 when i tried so it's bound to be a bit crap at such high pressure. For stuff like parks/fields/light trails though they are more than adequate.

Thanks for the info. I'll look online and see if I can get some good prices. I'll also check some hole in the wall bike shops to see if I can get a a good deal.

[SocraticMethod]

Originally Posted by spirez

I bought mine of ebay for £150 less than retail because it was last years model. Still a brand new bike though.

I did the same, but at a bike shop - they had one of last year's models left on the floor, and I talked the guy down about $250. Look around different bikes hops, check Craigslist, etc. I wanted to get mine at the local bike shop, because I'd get free tune ups, etc. for life.

[SteveQ]

I got a mountain bike and a cheap set of smooth tires (and rims) for road work because riding on knobby tires on the road gets really annoying and you cant go fast - but I agree, the option of going offroad is really cool

[Cnyle33]

*************UPDATE****************

My boss hooked me up with a free bike that his brother-in-law left behind (he's in the Army special forces and is on his 2nd tour in Egypt). I biked to work today and except for a few small things that need to be tweaked i'm pretty stoked. Thanks for the posts guy and I'll look into getting some new tires.

[FirstNobleTruth]

So if you're going to be both off-road and on-road on a mountain bike hybrid tires are the way to go? I just got a new mountain bike that I'm going to be riding to school and am curious.