Originally Posted by Firebreak
Hi There,
Someone mentioned this question would be best posted in this forum. I have not owned a bike in ages. My primary reason is for excercise. I'm a fairly heavy guy. (About 270 lbs at most) I am getting ready to puchase a bike, but my money is extremely limited. I'd probably have to cap myself at $400 CDN, but might possibly be able to stretch it to $500 if needed. I'm looking to get the best bang for my buck, but have no idea what brands/models are good. Once I get used to biking again, and have built up a little endurance, I plan to start riding to work on it. Can anyone suggest any particular bike models that would suit me? I realize that if down the road if I really get in to biking, I may need to upgrade it, but I'll cross that bridge if/when I come to it.
Chris
I'll assume your in Canada, if so what part? If your near Toronto, ON. then PM me, and we can chat. There are some decent deals out there. For example sometimes you can pick up a last years model, for a lower price then the current model. Now it really depends on the kind of riding you want to do, and whether you plan on riding in the winter. You said about commuting, that usually means a commuter bike, the problem is, they are not commonly sold in this country, so most commuters adapt one of the other kinds of bikes.
Bike shops usually have three kinds of bike, the mountain bike, the hybrid and the road bike.
The mountain bike, is the SUV of the cycling world, built to take abuse, home in mud and snow, tend to be on the heavy side, has low gearing so that after that 5m .01% grade decent, you can go up the 5km 12% grade accent, that always seems to follow. I always wondered how it was possible to have long steep uphills, followed by short almost imperceptable downhills, but still end up at the same level at the end of the trail
. Tires tend to be knobby and wide, rims are a smaller diameter for better wheel strength.
The road bike is the sports car of the cycling world, built for speed with high gearing, skinny tires, and everything designed and built to be as light weight as possible.
The hybrid tends to be in between, the other two, often with road bike wheels and brakes almost every else from the mountain bike. Including the lower gearing, but because the wheels are larger, it's not quite as low.
For commuting you may find a hybrid with racks, fenders and lights attached, would work the best for you, and should come in around your price point at the lower end. Best is to visit some bike shops and try a few bikes out.