Originally Posted by
badgermac
Would a better question be:
"What brands should I look at and are there any I should avoid?"
That's a fair question. When I give advice to friends who are beginners, or who are at least not bike-crazed like I am, I suggest brands like: Specialized, Giant, Kona, Trek, Gary Fisher. I do not rank the brands in any order. I suggest those particular brands because they are brands I personally would spend my own money on, and because there are good, local dealers who carry them.
Then I pass on my thoughts about the different local dealers. For example, one particular LBS seems to have more going on in the way of commuter bikes. Another tends towards high-end mountain bikes. Another has a very enthusiastic bike mechanic whom I happen to enjoy talking to.
In the "avoid" department, I caution friends on buying department-store bikes. I won't come out and say "don't buy them". But I will suggest that simpler is better. A $200 recreational Schwinn is a safer department-store buy than a $52.99 full-suspension mountain-bike. I have plenty of personal anecdotes to pass on that give friends a flavor of what to expect from cheap bikes. Mostly though, I focus on the positive, and on pointing beginners towards the local dealers.