No bike will give you "a speed hike". Only your legs and lungs can do that. I have a regular 20 mile circuit that I've ridden on one speed beach cruisers, four speed beach cruisers, a mountain bike, a heavy road bike, and a light road bike. My times for the ride tend to vary by how I'm feeling, how hot it is, how windy it is...but the average times don't very much between one bike and another.

And, why do you want to "go faster"? If you go for a one hour ride, is it a better ride because you finish it in 58 minutes? Would you get "fitter" or enjoy the ride more if you finished two minutes sooner?

Instead of worrying about "going faster", think about where you want to ride, and how you want to use your bike. Suppose you want to take some 200 mile week-end rides, and take along a tent and sleeping bag. There are bikes designed for that. Or, perhaps you want to ride on dirt trails and gravel fire roads. There are bikes that are ideal for that. Every sort of bike has some role that it excels at.

If someone wanted to have just ONE bike (heaven forbid), the best choice might be a mountain bike in the $400 to $600 range. This class of bikes is tough, durable, and fairly simple in design. It can go just about anywhere on the planet, on any sort of road or trail. And, as Houston bike messengers prove everyday, with light weight slick tires, such bikes are a great way to get through the urban jungle as well.

If you decide to buy a road bike, the "best buy" are used bikes from the 1986 to 1992 era. You can buy bikes from that era that were "pro" quality, or near "pro" quality...Reynolds 531 frames, Reynolds 531 forks, Shimano Dura-Ace or Ultegra components, or Sun Tour Superbe components, for as little as $250 after restoration at a good bike shop, or for $40 or $50 at a Goodwill store (plus the cost of restoration. For under $300, you can have a bike that rides about as well as a new road bike that sells for $600 to $1,200 dollars.

BUT, look out. On the used bike market, I see bikes that sold new for $2,000 selling for $200. And, I also see bikes that sold new for $200, twenty years ago, and the seller is asking $200. Unless you know a lot about road bikes, the best place to buy a used road bike is from a good shop that only sells good bikes that have been restored to ride "like new".