(no subject)

[ktron]

i think i'm shopping for a bicycle. i haven't had one since i moved up here; the bike i had in cookeville spent the winter outside and rusted enough that i didn't want to deal with moving it.

since i'm now gainfully employed and living in a house with a garage, there's no longer a pressing need to automatically default to the cheapest bike i can find.

but i don't have a big budget, either.

anyone have any advice? what features are important if one desires to be a casual bicycling hobbyist? i know i want the quick-release front wheel so i can stuff it in my car and go someplace with less traffic, and i'm pretty sure i'll go for a mountain bike over a road bike since i'm not so much on the racing but could forseeably want to tackle rougher terrain. but other than that i'm kinda clueless. help?

Comments

[ktron.livejournal.com]

thanks so much! ah, and the mention of bike nashbar reminded me that just because my dad's a much more serious biker than i have any intention of becoming doesn't mean i can't ask him for advice on this one... we always had the nashbar catalogues around the house when i was a kid. also, the performance bicycling ones. i wish there'd been more family biking -- the tandem sounds awesome! just asking for advice has already got me an offer of a helmet that's too small for him. and rapid fire shifting sounds awfully nice - my last bike tended to get stuck in certain gears, so i eventually just found the comfiest one for level ground and stuck to it. which makes hills extra-good exercise, i suppose, but not much fun.