Bicycle Help please!!! from you experts out there! :)

Magenta15

I want to get my butt in gear and bike to work on the days I can (ie - when i don't have to bounce from our 5 locations for meetings)... lets face it, it's not far, gas prices suck... and my *kitten* needs it! LOL

So I have a 2nd hand bike that hasn't seen the light of day since early last spring, or was that the spring before??? eeep lets just say last spring lol... I went cheap and bought a 2nd hand 2 or so year old bike because i know myself and didn't want to spend a lot of money on something i might not keep up with... rightly so. But then I got into spin in the colder months, and I love spin!!!! So now I'm ready to commit to the bike thing again a bit more whole-heartedly then before, I figure now my butt won't suffer as much as it did pre-spin hehe!

So my question for all of you out there is do i just stick with the 2nd hand bike I have for my short rides to and from work and random bike rides??? ( I have to get it out of the neighbors basement but I believe it's a CCM? mountain bike)

OR

do I look into buying a quality bike (I have no idea where mine is as far as quality goes I know nothing about bikes)
and if I do look to buy new, do I stick with mountain or do a road bike?

I don't do trails or at least hadn't planned on it at this stage, it would be to work and for fun but not on trails,

road bike? not really sure what all the differences surmount to, i know tire size and different handles and such but not the ins and outs of why and which is better for what I want... I would just assume road because of the name and that's where I am riding lol!

OR

comfort/hybrid???? HELPPPPP!
so sorry long winded but any help is more then welcomed please and thanks!

Oh and one last thing,,, if I wanted to buy an indoor trainer later on, can they connect to either type of bike?

Pandorian

Go to your local bike shop and at least get fitted "properly" before any further bike purchases, use what you have right now, I am... one I recovered form the landfill with a seized chain that I soaked in oil and it's perfectly fine.

and the winter trainer attachment I want for my bike doesn't care whether its a road bike or a mountain bike as it's free-wheeling on the rollers.

missy1970eb

i have a mountain bike and its only come out the shed just recently, been in there 4 about 2 yrs lol, i would stick with the 2nd hand 1 and see how u go, then decide if u want 2 invest in a new 1

meljean30

GOOD FOR YOU... you will find .. if your like me.. that you will dread spinning after the open road!!

the best advice i can tell you is take your bike into a GOOD bike shop and have them check it out. Be careful saying " should i just buy a new one?" who wouldnt want the sale?? But your "old" bike may just need a little love and last you for a while. If you are going to be into some trails etc.. stick with the mtn / or hybrid.. a road bike ( which i have and love ) is strickly for pavement!! and the smoother the better!!

Where do you live.. call around to a few bike shops .. see who is cool and not cocky, ( being honest, some of those cyclists can be snoody..)
see how much they are going to charge you for a tune up. it will be worth it.. Also!! right now alot of places are having bike clearances.. sooo.. check it out!.. My advice,, stick with a good name .. cannondale, fisher etc... trek.. holla if you have any ?'s

georgiajuly

I agree - don't upgrade your bike until you find out whether in general bike commuting is for you. Doing battle with traffic during rush hour is not for everyone. After you get a bit more experience, visit the bike forums, meet people who bicycle, you'll have plenty to lust after. Two points: most bike commuters prefer a rack with panniers, rather than a backpack or messenger bag. Second, if your bike has knobby noisy tires, you may want to invest in a pair of "city slicks", which will be quieter and a bit faster.

bethvandenberg

I would stick with the old bike and a good tune up before riding. You know lubed, tubes, make sure tires are ok etc. then as you get going and are really sticking with it you can decide what you would like in the bike world.

I just borrowed a road bike from my neighbor so that I could train for a tri and he has one of those trainers. It's pretty cool. I'd love to get my hands on one of those for windy/icky days. I live in a pretty hilly town and when it's windy I can't imagine riding. I would think that they would work on all bikes but I have no idea.

Good luck on your new adventure and let us know what you decide to do.

Magenta15

I agree - don't upgrade your bike until you find out whether in general bike commuting is for you. Doing battle with traffic during rush hour is not for everyone. After you get a bit more experience, visit the bike forums, meet people who bicycle, you'll have plenty to lust after. Two points: most bike commuters prefer a rack with panniers, rather than a backpack or messenger bag. Second, if your bike has knobby noisy tires, you may want to invest in a pair of "city slicks", which will be quieter and a bit faster.

I live in a small town so there is no battling with traffic or anything, literally like a 10-15 min bike ride (if i make it that or longer to make it worth it)

Magenta15

Thanks for the replies

hroush

I am all about second hand bikes, never paid more than $35 for one as I am so hard on bikes. Definitely use the old bike to know whether you want to do the biking thing.

georgiajuly

You're welcome.
Oh, sorry I didn't answer the question about the trainer before because I thought it had been answered, but I didn't notice that the other poster is using rollers. You will probably not want those at first. I believe most of the standard mag trainers and the like will handle either a road or mountain bike, but it never hurts to check before selecting a particular model.