Originally Posted by
ill.clyde
Solid advice here ... Keep an eye on Craigslist for used ... should be able to get into a used 90s MTB for just over $100 or so. If you're ok with sharing your "general" location I'm sure people here would take a peek on CL for you to give you a few ideas (I'd offer but CL is blocked for me here at work).
Aside from your weight, how tall are you?
And thank you, for your service. It's much appreciated.
I just recently made deals for two used mountain bikes with 2 different LBS in my area. One of the bikes, based on an American made Trek 930 steel frame, cost me a bit more than one would expect for a 20 year old mountain bike, but it was completely rebuilt with modern SRAM 8 speed shifters and Velocity Wheels. And a very nice Marin fork. A bike like that would be perfect for someone like you because of the quality of the frame, wheels, the rigid fork, and slick tires. That bike cost me $300 and change, but it was completely built up by a bike shop and came with a store warranty.
The second bike was one I bought for my son. It is an early 2000s Schwinn Moab. This was a $1,000 aluminum mountain bike in its time, and came with Deore XT and LX components. Bike shop tuned it up, replaced the brake pads, chain, cassette, and right hand shifter. This bike cost me $200. I kept the aggressive knobbies because my son wants to try more trail riding and mountain biking, but if you got such a bike, you would probably want to swap out the fork for a rigid one and put on some street tires.