annette

Hi. Let me preface this with an apology for my ignorance on all matters bike. All I know is that I love to ride, and I need a better bike to keep riding, and I really don't know what I'm doing when it comes to purchasing kinds of bikes. Any advice you have would be much appreciated.

I'm trying to buy a used road bike for regularly riding 50-80 mile rides or more. I don't have a ton to invest right now as I'm in grad school. I was hoping to find something 5 years old or less that I can get used for $150-$300. I know that realistically I can't get a fabulous bike for that price, but I've been riding a 1978 Fuji Sport 12 for a long time now and I need to get something newer and lighter.

I have found two used bikes for sale through craigslist. One is an Innova Giant women's bike from 2000, and they are asking $50 for it (original price seems to have been about $550). The other is a Trek Navigator 200. The thing is, I looked up photos of each of these bikes and they don't have the dropped hook-shaped handlebars that my current bike has--they have straight handlebars. I think they're touring bikes? Would bikes like these be good for 80 mile rides? Is it possible to put dropped handlebars onto bikes like these if I prefer that kind of handlebars, or is that a horrible idea? 50 bucks for that Innova Giant sounds like a really sweet deal right now because I'm poor and because the person selling it said that it's only been ridden a total of about 5 miles since its purchase--but I don't want to get a bike that I won't even like or want to ride long distances. I'm afraid it's too much like a mountain bike and too little like a road bike.

Please, please help so I can get back on the road again!