Originally Posted by Labtech200

So I am entirely unsure of how to sum this up without losing important details here, but I'll try not to make this post too bloated.

I recently decided that I'd really like to get into biking / cycling as a summer past time to get me active and outside more often, and want to be able to participate in biking events in my community eventually once my strength and endurance has developed. I recently busted out my old hardtail CCM mountain bike and did my best to tune it up, but it was in a really sad state, the the bike was a good 20 years old and seriously not worth repairing. I went into my local "Bike Works" and asked about pricing, and to my dismay their bicycles start at about $500. See, I'm only 24 and my job is steady and okay, but I've got plenty of debts and bills to pay, so I won't be able to get a somewhat-decent bike from a real bike store until probably early summer of 2019 I would guess. I really wanted to get something so I could try my best to get in with what I've got, so I managed to find a Supercycle Reaction 700c on clearance for $150 (normal MSRP is $300 but this model was just discontinued) - its a big box store hybrid bike with Shimano rear and front derailleurs and Shimano-branded grip shifters.

I went into Bike Works SJ again today to talk to one of the folks I had met up with previously - I had a long discussion with him before about the state of my other bike and ways to go about fixing it, and I was hoping to get some advice about how to proceed and maybe a bit of embracing into the cycling community if I'm honest, since the people at that store seem really into cycling (as they should be) and I even mentioned that ultimately my goal was to be able to go back next year and get a proper bike from them. I tried to explain that I had tried to stick with recognisable parts from Shimano instead of going with off-brand unlabelled parts and that I was pretty excited to be able to get into it, and his responses ended up being along the lines of telling me that the bike should be fine as long as I just see it as a band-aid solution and not as a good bicycle, and that its a gateway but that they arent worth much in the long term, and pointed out some folks in the store that had 3 bicycles each - all of which were bike shop bikes and talked about how they costed a good 300 bucks a year to maintain. I know he was just likely trying to show that department store bikes arent really good and that its not a good permanent solution, but I really felt like an outsider; I kind of felt like that kid who gets told to come back when he's a bit older when he wants to participate in something.

Heck, some of my coworkers are into biking and they have bike shop bikes too, and I was really nervous about joining the forums here because of the bike that I have.

I guess my question here just boils down to; is it okay for me to participate here and consider myself as being into cycling and bikes if I don't have a good piece of kit? My budget is currently restricting me and I want to be part of the community, but the backlash against department store bicycles is so strong and universal regardless of whether it is in person or at my local bike store, so I thought I'd ask you guys directly.

Thanks folks, and please don't lynch me - I've done plenty of research, I know that just because my Bike has some Shimano parts doesn't make them good (as they almost certainly wouldn't even reach Deore level). I just tried to do the best with what I had.