New member looking for tips
 

Well, I haven't gotten a bike yet. That's one of the reasons I joined here. I'm trying to pick out a bike. There is a paved trail near where my apartment is and it goes for about 6 miles, which isn't much, but I could do laps. Past that, it goes to limestone. (Plus, I'll be living in the mountains of West Virginia, so I can ride the hills if I decide to stick to the streets). I was looking at a Trek 1.2, but now I'm thinking I would be better suited getting something more like the Trek 7.3 FX or a mountain bike.

Ultimately, my goal is to bike for fitness; I weigh around 240lbs and want to get under 200 by my 21st birthday (in 13 months). I used to ride a BMX bike around town daily years ago, so I've always enjoyed biking. And since I never got into running or anything else besides golf, I figured biking is a 'fitness program'/hobby I can stick to.

I have done a lot of reading on this site and have decided against the cheap $150-300 bikes as I would like my first one to last a while. I also realize that I can't make any decisions before going to my local bike shop and trying one out (which is why I'm leaning towards the Treks - the store in town mainly deals with Trek). I would just like to go into the store with an idea of what I am looking for.

I appreciate any input and I'm looking forward to learning more while being a member of this site.

-Frank

Are you planning on doing a lot of mountain biking in WVA? If not, I would go with the plan to get the 1.2. You can ride MTB on paved roads, but you waste a lot of energy. Although, since you want to lose weight, that might not be such a bad thing.

Hmm.

Let me do some more pondering on this. You can also ask the advice of the Clydesdales/Athenas in the C/A forum.

Welcome to BikeForums!

East Hill

I know there are a lot of trails and parks within driving distance that are dedicated to mountain biking, but I think if I can, I'd stick to the roads and paved trails.

Thanks for the welcome.

Then you probably want to go with a road bike, rather than an MTB type.

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