Road bikes

Road bike typically refers to bikes geared for speed and long distance. They're highly efficient but some find them less comfortable and they can get pricey. Hybrids or commuter bikes will typically yield a comfortable ride plus you can throw panniers on them for runs to the grocery store and such. The brands Paul mentioned are all quite good. I'd check out Kona as well. I think they give you a little more bike for your buck although in general all the brands mentioned will give you a very similar bike at a given price point. An $800 Trek will have about the same components as an $800 Specialized or an $800 Giant.

Local Bike shop is a pretty good place to start. It's really as simply as riding a few, seeing what you like and what fits your budget and riding off on one.

Decide if you're going to be the rider who changes into a bike outfit and does a workout on the bike, or would you rather wear normal clothes and ride slower (and less sweaty) to get to where you want to go? Ie, workout vs transport. It can be both if you plan ahead.

How tall are you? Women over about 5'5" or so can fit on men's bikes just fine, so a women's specific bike isn't always necessary. At that point, it comes down to preference.

How much and what kind of riding do you plan to do?

Honestly, I'd go used for your first bike. If you're not comfortable with used, then anything entry level from Cannondale, Specialized, Trek, or Giant will probably be just fine. Department store bikes are also fine, but it can't hurt to have a bike shop give it a once over before you ride it to make sure it's assembled correctly and everything is tight and secure.

lporter229 wrote: »

ovidnine wrote: »

Yeah, its tough to get a bad bike. I'll admit to not being overly impressed with my wife's Specialized Dolce, but lots of Specialized stuff are great.

Jamis and Fuji are two other companies that make great value for your money bikes.

Great advice on picking the right bike for you in here. Also, I cannot overstate enough how important it is to have your bike set up properly for you. It will make a world of difference.

I have the Specialized Dolce Elite and am not overly fond of it either. I am very short (5'0), so my options were limited to women's specific bikes. There is a limit to how high I can inflate the tires on this bike or I get rubbing on the front fork. It's due to the size of the bike, but I would recommend not limiting yourself to women's specific bikes if you are tall enough to fit comfortably on a standard bike. I've found that the selection for women on road bikes at many bike stores is not too good.

Yeah, that's how my wife ended up with it too. She's 5'2 in tennis shoes and this was pretty much the only option locally. Jamis makes some neat looking women's bikes that seemed nicer, but the nearest Jamis dealer to me is about and hour away.

Its ok, but for its price, I wasn't impressed. She likes it for the most part which matters more than my opinion. lol

What Robyn says...go to your local bike shop. You can talk to someone and best of all you can ride it before you buy.