Originally Posted by
rydaddy
You are much better off with a solid used hardtail for a little more money than a cheapie dept store bike. When deciding cost versus safety you should weigh the latter more heavily.
I agree... I see decent used hardtails come up on my local craigslist for the same price as most x-mart cheap bikes are new. For example, I paid a whopping $200 for my Kona last year, and all it needed was a new bottom bracket.
Deals like that are a bit of an exception, but I personally would feel a lot more comfortable on even a used entry-level LBS hardtail than I would on an x-mart bike. After all, some of the dept. store bikes I've seen even have warnings on them that they are not intended for off-road use...