Originally Posted by
discala242
hey all,
I am new to the biking world (well, having-a-nice-bike biking world anyway). Finally wanted to get myself a quality bicycle because I have ridden for years but need something worthy. My price range is around 550 at the high end of it.
Basically I am going to have the most time spent on the road and sidewalk, but I do want to be able to take if on trails if possible. Should I go for a hybrid? Get a mountain bike and deal with less efficiency on the road? Is it possible to switch out the tires for my terrain with certain bikes? Also pretty sure I want front suspension...
Lots of questions...I know. and I appreciate any help in this subject. I was looking into the Rockhopper, Specialized crosstrail, Trek 3900 and other treks in that line, gary fisher bikes, and cannondale f7. I realize most are mountain, but any suggestions would help a great deal.
thanks all.
First, sidewalks are for walking...not riding. If you mean MUPs those aren't necessarily sidewalks.
I would suggest against a hybrid because they will do either road or dirt but they just don't do them well. If you want to mountain bike, get one. If you want to road bike, get one of those. If you'd like to do both, I'd suggest the mountain bike because it can do both better than a road bike can do both. It will suck at road riding, however. Don't expect to be taking it out to your local crit and getting anything other than laughs.
You can put slicks on a mountain bike. Some people like doing this but I don't. If you have knobbies on the bike, it is harder to ride and it is slower but it's always ready for you to find an excuse to bomb down an interesting trail. And being harder to ride just makes you stronger
Get more bike then you think you need. You'll grow into it and outgrow a cheap bike very quickly. If you can push the dollar amount up by just a little bit, you'll get into much better bikes and you'll be happier for longer.