Hi. I'm completely new to biking, as in this prior weekend. I used to do a lot of paintballing, but there's such insane ongoing cost to that I couldn't really keep it up. I'd spent over $1200 on one of my markers, and would still end up spending $50-$100 on paint, air, fees, etc every weekend. So I needed to find a new hobby that
a) allows me to get some excercise,
b) lets me tweak and work on something in the meantime, and
c) doesn't break the bank EVERY time I do it!
-So I think cycling will fit the bill. I got a cheap-o wal-mart bike to start with (Schwinn Varsity 700c). If I can stick with it I may buy a nicer one, but the friends I'm riding with all have much more expensive bikes, and I can't really tell the difference in feel. Mechanically, I'm guessing there's probably a lot more chance of breakage on the cheapo, but I like working on stuff anyway, right?
So this way I don't have to be scared of messing up a big investment, then when I get tired of fixing it, I can buy something nice and I'll already know a bit about how to work on it