teach me about bikes

[GX4SEVEND]

I'm looking at getting a bike, not motorcycle, to ride. It would mostly be on road, not trails since I have a wife and 4 year old that might be interested as well. I have no idea what to look for or look at and what would be a good deal. I've seen a few of you on here post pics of your bikes before so hopefully you guys can point me in the right direction

 

[JohnnyT]

Go to ......

Bike Forums

 

[Millerad1651]

Bike forums is a pretty good website, but unless you know what kind you want, it can be daunting. I ended up with a Hybrid/Dual Purpose. Great on road, can handle some light trails, and is comfortable to ride. Here's my thread from a few weeks ago...http://www.toyota-4runner.org/off-topic/134310-help-picking-bike.html

Also, you can get a "better" equipped Hybrid for the same price as a similarly priced MTB or road bike that will be lower end models.

 

[1engineer]

There are several on here who do a LOT of riding on road as well as trail. I only ride trails anymore but have been riding a lot of "dirt road" stuff lately with my bride of 28 years. She is really enjoying riding unfortunately she can't quite go where I do or the distance so we are looking for a bike for her too! My point is you can get a Walmart Cruiser for a hundred bucks or get a S Works Specialized Full Mountain for 10K and have just as much fun on each, depending on what you want to do. If you are just getting started and want to enjoy with your family I too would recommend a "hybrid type bike. You can get a decent one of those for $500.00 or less. Here is what I am looking at for my wife and what I am currently riding. The bike I am looking at for my wife has a range of 40-50 miles at 20 mph lol. She can pedal with no assist, partial assist or full battery power.

 

[MtnT4R]

one like this would do nicely:

 

[MtnT4R]

I live in ski-bum country: in the summer, people routinely drive around in a $2k beater honda with a $4k downhill bike strapped to the roof. it is something to behold, that's for sure. if only they knew that you can ride the same trails with the 50 dollar bike for sale at the thrifty store across town...

I wouldn't worry about name brands too much. buying used is probably your best bet for finding a bike in the $100-$200 range. look for mountain bike models with front shocks only, and a comfortable gel style seat is always a plus. The biggest thing I could ever recommend is; buy some thick-walled inner tubes. Sometimes they're called thorn-resistant tubes. regular tubes are so darn thin, I used to get flats every week just riding around town. the thorn resistant ones have basically triple thickness rubber on the outside, and will save you a lot of frustration.

If you decide to go used/craigslist, when you are inspecting the bike, carefully check for broken sprockets on the gears. if they're worn down or chipped, sometimes the chain can slip under load, causing you to face check your handlebars, and that just always sucks.

 

[fish0281]

If I were going to buy a new bike right now, I'd be checking out some of these new designs that use a belt drive instead of a chain. They're cool, but also the maintenance on them is SO much easier, especially if you ever find your self riding in less than ideal conditions. The downside, for some, is that they're single-speed only. I personally like the single speed I have for the bike commuting that I do - but I also don't like working on bikes that much (they can be very finicky beasts).

Oh, also, disc brakes are the way to go. They've found their way onto almost all types of bikes (road, commuter, mountain, electric, etc...) for good reason; they work 100% better than rim-brakes.

What type of riding do you plan to be doing the most? Leisure cruise rides, grocery runs, commuting, all of the above? Also, about how far do you plan to go on typical ride?