Hi there, last April I was told to get a breathing test done by my Dr. to check for asthma, well when I showed up the test, they took my blood pressure, it was 185/105, that's when i decided to get something done and I was not going to ask for blood pressure meds ,instead, I got my 8 yr old Next mtb out and started riding the local river walk, about 7 mile round trip from home, then after about a month of that, I decided to get a newer cheap bike, I didnt want to spend big money till I knew for sure it was what I wanted to do, I went with a Walmart/Mongoose Paver, it did fine till about 400 miles it started to fall apart, I knew by then IO was ready for an upgrade.
I looked all over for a bike less than $500.00, that would be a good foundation to build upon. I was'nt happy with the pricing the LBS was telling me cause I knew if I stuck to my limit, I'd eventually find what I wanted, there are deals to be had.
I did find a 21inch Trek 820 that holds up well and is a good base to make a tourer on, I commute to work almost daily 25.5 miles round trip. I'm happy with the bike and I lost 20lbs since and my BP is near normal, AND I still love riding as much as possible!