Hi there, I just have a quick question if someone has a moment to give me some input
I am a former runner looking to take up biking as an injury has prevented me from continuing on with my running. I started taking out my husbands mountain bike to see what I thought about moving into the biking world and I love it. I have no idea where to start though. I need a new bike...I would like to be able to bike on pavement, and gravel pathways. What kind of bike should I buy? I am looking to spend anywhere from $3-$500 on my bike. I have tried researching this but it is getting confusing Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks so much
PS I live in Ottawa if that makes any difference.

Go shopping!

Visit all of your local bike shops and test ride bikes to your heart's content. When you come up with a short list of the bikes you liked the most that fit you and fit your budget...report back to help you narrow it down to 'the one'.

Thanks I will def do that

My opinion, I'd stay with a mountain bike. You can swithch out the tires. Knobbie tires for dirt and gravel which are wider with tehm little knobs on them made for trction in the dirt.

I fyou feel like a littel more speed, switchthe tires to slick tires, more narrow and higher pressure for more speed and less rolling resistance.

SOme might say go with a hybrid which is half road bike and half moutnain bike. But many opinons say that the hybrid doesn NOT do any one thing well. I'd say go with the mtb and a set of each tire type.

Now if you want to do long distance 50-100 milers (which most riders end up doing), go with the skinny tire road bike.

I'm ALMOST with Beanz on this, but given the kind of riding you've described, I'd lean toward a hybrid or a cross (short for cyclocross) bike.
I have a roomful of bikes, from full-on mountain bikes to full-on road racers, but the one I use as much as all the others combined is a Rivendell Atlantis. It's sold as an "all around" bike, and it is, but if it weren't for marketing, it would be a hybrid. With just a tire change, as Beanz recommended, I've ridden it on pavement centuries, long tours and on fairly technical gravel roads and dirt. If you don't want to change tires, you can get spare wheels (easy to swap) or use a slightly fatter tire, like Panaracer Pasela, and get decent performance on all surfaces. You do give up a little at each end, but a hybrid or cross will be stable, fairly fast and more versatile than either a roadie or a mountain bike. FWIW, my wife was an infrequent rider for 20 years until she tried a friend's hybrid. Two days later she went to REI and bought one, and she's been riding 24 miles round trip to work two or three days a week since.
The "go shopping" advice is excellent, too. Go to two or three bike shops, tell them your budget and what you want to do and see what they say. There's no better way to learn.

Sounds like a toss-up between a mountain bike or a hybrid. Hybrid , if more riding on paved streets, mountain if not. Like mentioned above, swapping the knobbie mountain bike tires to a smoother & faster riding tire is no problem. I do that on my mountai bike . https://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-us/bikes/women/ Look over this site at their mountain & lifestyle [ what many of us call hybrids ]. I like Giant bikes & can recommend them, IF you have a dealer close by. $300-500 is a lot of money to many,, including me,, but it won't go far in a bike shop. Fortunately, Giant has a good many bikes that are well priced. The right type bike & the right fit, for your body size, is important !

I'd probably look at something like the Kona Dew or the Specialized Crosstrail. The Dew is an example of a bike with no suspension, which is going to be more efficient (and lighter in weight) when riding on reasonably smooth ground such as pavement or a gravel jogging path. The Crosstrail will have a suspension fork, which might be nice if you are also hitting some mountain-bike trails.

Most of the major brands -- Giant, Trek, etc. -- have bikes similar to the above two. I just threw out the Dew and the Crosstrail as examples. Oh, and those two bikes have 700c wheels, which I greatly prefer for road-riding.

If you're going long distances, you could look at a cyclocross bike. That'd give you drop bars. Not sure about getting one for $500 though.

you have a mountain bike to use so just buy an entry level road bike that feels comfortable to you. do lots of test riding and go to at least 5 bike shops. ask advice at the shops but don't make any snap decisions. get drop bars and padded bike shorts.

Thank you all so much for the advice and the links. I will definitely let you know which direction I go in as we are going out today to a few shops
If I could get a bike from this site at cost are there any bikes you would recommend? https://www.jamisbikes.com/canada/index.html

MHO - It's true that a hybrid does everything, but nothing particularly well. BUT... getting a mountain bike whose strong point is dirt trails will be over-reacting. I'd say a flat-bar road bike, as opposed to a hybrid, would be a good choice. With 28-32mm tires it'll do light dirt, but still be good for pavement. A mountain bike, even equipped with slicks, still sucks on pavement.

So what do you guys think about the Jamis Allegro 3X 2X or 1X ??? Any opinions?

They look just fine. The 1 or 1x seems close to your budget. If you don't need the suspension fork (not doing any heavy off-roading) I'd go with the 1/2/3 with the rigid fork.

https://www.jamisbikes.com/canada/the...turasport.html

I have a 2007 Jamis Ventura Sport and it has been absolutely great with 1300+ miles on it. The problem is that I wouldn't ride it on gravel....paved roads only.

For roads and gravel I would recommend this:

https://www.jamisbikes.com/canada/the.../09_codaf.html

I like the Eclipse because of the category and because it's steel. I recently test rode a Fuji Touring and found it very comfortable.

The big problem with starting cycling- is not choosing the bike- It is finding the right local Bike Shop (LBS) They are hard to find but you will know when you have found the right one. The make of bike that they carry or can get for you is going to denote the Make of bike you will get.

So start the search for the LBS and all will be revealed.

I agree with go to a LBS and ride various bikes to see what feels comfortable to you. One bike that works for one rider will not feel the same to someone else. Take your time and ride a few until you find the one that feels right to you. You'll know!

Good Luck!