General Cycling Discussion - What Bike ? Road or Mountain (please help)

Haven't had a good old bike for 15 years or so, but wish to purchase one to help with a little fitness battle. Anyway, the only bike i had previous was a standard road bike, BUT now with the coming of the mountain bike i'm not sure what to get. There seems a lot more mountain bikes for sale on the like of ebay than road bikes, is this the trend.

I'm generally going to use it to casually cycle around locally, maybe up to 7-10 miles at the farthest point.

whether you conclude road or mountain, could you suggest a decent bike in the range or 100 - 150 pounds, cant go any more than that.

thanks for the help :confused:

could you suggest a decent bike in the range or 100 - 150 pounds

Gee, that's really heavy! My road bike weighs only 18 pounds......

If that is really going to be the extent of your riding then I would look at the Trek Navigator series. I believe the 100 can be had for about $300 USD and would totally fill you bill for fitness and the distances you mentioned.

I just recently started using a road bike (I used to use a mtn bike with knobby tires). Road bikes are much faster than mountain bikes; their smooth tires have much less rolling resistance.

If you're just going 7-10 miles, a mountain bike would certainly work fine (it would probably give you a better workout than a road bike!). An introductory mountain bike is also usually cheaper than a introductory road bike. The choice is up to you.

Try going to your LBS, describing what your riding plans are and seeing what they say. You can try out both types of bikes to compare them.

Good luck!

What about something in-between like a hybrid http://catalog2.zen.co.uk/actinic/Bicyclenet/index.html

Or a cyclocross bike? There are several in that price range on E-Bay.

Originally posted by celestial48
I'm generally going to use it to casually cycle around locally, maybe up to 7-10 miles at the farthest point.
I hope this doesn't sound sarcastic, it's not intended that way.

My suggestion would be: if you're going to be on pavement, get a road bike (which could mean any bike designed for pavement, including a touring bike or a hybrid bike.) If your going to be mostly on the dirt (or on very bad pavement,) try a mountain bike.
Each bike is designed primarily for a given kind of riding. No bike
type is better than another, only better suited for the specific riding conditions and purposes.

But don't get a mountain bike just because someone has a lot of them for sale. It's kind of a fad, much like the 10 speed fad in America in the 1970's. People went out and bought 10 speeds because they thought they were better than 3 speeds or single speeds, and paid more for them, but may have gotten less for their money.

But today, there are so many good brands and types to choose from. Just be sure to buy from a bike shop, you feel comfortable bringing your bike back to for repairs. As long as you do that, you'll probably do well. (Stay out of the toy stores and discount stores.)

My wife and I have trek navigator 300's, nice because of front shocks and seat post shock. We wanted to go farther and cruise a little faster. We put 1.25 avocet cross 11 tires on them. What we came up with were very comfortable upright sitting position bikes, best of both worlds. I really like my lugged frame Bianchi Premio, but if I was going to do a century ride, I would be on my trek. But then I'm a geezer and I'm looking at it from a 55 year old perspective. Just my thoughts on the subject.

does a 100-150lb bike exist?

Dear Celestial48

Tell us something about your fitness level and biking goals. Also, are you a handy do-it-yourselfer, or do you like to keep your fingernails clean?

I ask because you usually find a sweet machine for $300US on Ebay, but that route is only for the knowledgeable tinkerer. I assume that any used bike from Ebay has hidden problems.

If you buy new, then $300 will essentially get you a shiny, temporarily functional junker loaded with cheap imitations of trendy bike gadgets you don't need.

Raise the bar to around $400 or so and maybe you can get a deal on last year's mid-level Comfort/Hybrid bike at the LBS. Whether a road, mtb, or hybrid is right for you depends on where you want your long term bike relationship to take you.

BK

Originally posted by WorldIRC
does a 100-150lb bike exist?

Not 100-150 lbs

I think he means £100-£150

100 - 150 Yen, that's like a buck!