Originally Posted by
andrewkv19
I'm new to SF and have a 2 mile bike ride to Caltrain every morning and a 3 mile bike ride home. The morning ride is flat / downhill and through the city. The night ride back is mostly flat (taking the Embarcadero north) and then hilly at the end (would be fine just walking it up at that point since it's steep but short).
I was hoping to keep the budget around $700 or less, but could be convinced of the merits of going a little beyond that if necessary.
I don't know a ton about bikes, but am hoping to have this bike for a long time. I'd love some recommendations on a specific bike or type of bike that I should look at purchasing.
Thanks everyone!
- Andrew
Have you looked at Linus?
This is a great affordable model:
http://www.linusbike.com/products/roadster-sport
but they have a few other options as well. When you say you want a bike that you hope to have for a long time, my guess is that you want something that is nice, functional, and affordable. When I first started biking I got a low-end aluminum mountain bike and really did not enjoy riding it, then I ended up with a steel bike and it was a completely different experience, so much more comfortable and fun. Hence, I always recommend steel bikes to people new to the sport. The Linus line are getting good reviews. I know one person who has the Gaston model and he uses it for commuting and is pretty pleased with it.