What to do?
 

Hi all, so I'm new to the site so first I'd like to say hi. Lol
Anyway so I'm in a pickle I really want to start commuting to work but have a problem at the moment I don't have a rideable bike. Now here's my problem. My dad had an old GT ALL TERRA From the early 90's. And while I have a nwer mtb i really want to restore the GT ALL TERRA because it is sentimental to me lol. However with that said I'm a college student. I would like a bike to commute back and forth to work mainly to get into better shape and for the fun of it. Anyway I was told it would be better to buy a new bike like khs urban soul. But my delima is this would I end up with a better bike if I took the GT and upgraded everything or would I be better off to buy a new bike. I want to end up spending somewhere between 325-350. What would you all do?

Also secondary question I live in ky where there are some rolling hills and flat land. I was thinking of getting a single speed bike just for simplicity and not have to worry about gears. Is single speed bike that hard to ride. I've been seeing good and bads about the single speed bike what's your opinions on this.
Thanks for any replies.

Welcome,
It would be helpful to post pictures of the bike you're considering upgrading, so we can see the actual components & condition. Closeups of drivetrain, brakes.....
Upload to Photo hosting site, then link to them.
Also, links to other bikes helps so we are all looking at the same thing.

Sorry bout that lol. The bike is actually the GT Talera. From the early 90's. Not sure on the year but it's gray with red lettering. The hardware on the bike was a total loss the only thing I will be keeping is the frame and fork and that needs painted which I'm good at. Lol so basically frame everything else will get updated though I'm thinking of making it single speed. If I upgraded the bike I would make it a commuter put fenders rear storage rack lights and all the essential parts needed to run I heard with 350 I could get good parts and have a better quality bike than what I could buy for 350 new. The bike I was looking at the khs soul is in this link
URBAN SOUL - KHS BicyclesKHS Bicycles

Sorry I would take a pic of my Talera but my camera is terrible. The frame is in perfect shape though.

$350 might buy a nice used bike, compared to new.

A single speed is a little harder to ride. There is more of a learning curve because it is more about technique.

You can go here and see which year matches your bike using frame color and components 1995 GT Talera - BikePedia It was made from 93-97. The bike frame and components are entry level which means you would waste money trying to upgrade it. Spend only enough to make it work right. It probably needs new rubber - tires and brake pads for sure if the ones on the bike are original or old. When I get a bike of this age to refurbish, I do tires, pads, and a general cleaning and lubrication of all moving parts. If you do that, all you have into it is a little sweat equity. My first bike was a one-speed. There's nothing on God's earth that would get me to give up a multi-geared bike for one that had no gears.

Hey,

my my two cents is stay away from the fixie/ss whatever. If you are in great shape and a proficient cyclist then you could get away with it and enjoy the hell out of some ky hills. But realistically if you want to ride to work you are gonna want to carry some stuff and rain gear and tools and on and on. You could get away with a backpack but I can tell you from even my limited experience that gets old.

it would prolly be doable with your budget to fix up the gt and the gearing would be easier for commuting in hills. Fenders, a rack and bag, some lube and a chain and you are in business. I looked at some images of that bike and it seems like it might have a rigid fork which is always nice and easier to maintain than shox imo. Why buy a new bike when you could customize your dads old bike and ride all the time?

Buy a used mountain/hybrid bike and lube it up, new cables, install street tires and a rack.

https://lexington.craigslist.org/bik/5536996119.html

Explain in more detail the drawbacks to doing that because I'm not seeing any.

Restoring it if it is not overly expensive makes sense. Trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear doesn't. Stick with similar entry level components if you do a restoration. I didn't suggest restoring wasn't a good option but probably not if it means you are going to take the bike into a bike shop to do the work. DIY is fine but labor costs are too high at most shops to restore a circa 23 year old bike and still make economic good sense.