snorkel

Hello!

I was hoping for some advice in purchasing a new bicycle. I'm hoping to start getting in the habit of using a bicycle as my primary form of around town transportation, and am finding myself overwhelmed by all of the bike options out there. I have been a hobby bike rider up until this point, and I haven't used a bike as my primary form of transportation since I got my driver's license many, many years ago. My only experience with bikes is with the cheapy Huffy and Schwins that were the norm while growing up (the rich kids had Treks). My wife feels I should just go to Wal*Mart and pick something up off the shelves which is how I got my current Huffy bicycle, but I think that if I'm going to make a real go of making this dramatic lifestyle change, then I need to do some real research and get an appropriate bike.

So here's what's what..

I live about 5 miles away from work, and there are two very, very large hills separating my house from work. This ride would comprise the majority of my bicycling. These hills frankly have me pretty intimidated. I don't want the shame of having to walk my bike up the hill.

I am in decent shape, but have a lot of room for improvement. I'm not overweight but I am also not very muscular. I'm about 165 pounds and 5'9".

I live in Ohio, so will have all sorts of fun weather to contend with.

I'm not looking to do any mountain biking. There are some really nice bicycling trails nearby that would require some rougher riding, but not anything that a road bike couldn't handle.

I have a two year old and a bike trailer. Will want to haul this trailer with whatever bike I get.

The small town I live in is not exactly bicycle friendly. No bike lanes, and very few people using bicycles on the roads. Would like something with some decent visibility.

I am absolutely not opposed to buying used.

As I said earlier, the wife would like me to go just go to Wal*Mart and buy something cheap. Her opinion is that $200 is the appropriate price for a bike. I'm pretty sure that I could convince her to go as high as $500 (have a major birthday coming up that will help with this debate), but probably won't be able to go any higher than that. The research in bicycles that I have done so far has shown me that $500 is very little money for a quality bike.

So yeah.. I would really, really appreciate it if anyone could throw some helpful hints my way. Anything from type of bike (a hybrid is my leaning right now), make/model, where to buy from, how to select a proper bike, tips for making this lifestyle transition, etc...

Thanks to all!

10 Wheels

Your best bet would seem to be a used road bike.
I started on a 25 y/o, $15 road bike
Rode it 1500 miles.
What larger city do you live near?

snorkel

Thanks for the reply!

I live about an hour south of Cleveland, and very close to Akron, Canton, and Mansfield. Couple hours north of Columbus.

10 Wheels

https://akroncanton.craigslist.org/bik/1406372200.html