[this_is_vv]

thanks Salis...

i am thinking the same i drove the REI for close to 2 miles and i was so out of shape.....so much that doing straight to office with my current condition is not possible....i might have to rent a bike for 2-3 days and see if i want to do it long term....


here i found some good deal...

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/cafe_sprint_disc.htm

Also how hard is to make your own?...dont u get more stuff with same money....just asking......

V

[Doublej]

Where do you live? Find yourself a good Local Bike Store that will work with you. They will let you try a dozen bikes and may allow you to swap out some parts for a better personalized fit on a stock bike for no additional charge.

Ask at work. Someone may have a bike that fits you and is gathering dust. They might be willing to loan it to your for a bit.

Softer rides can be achieved in a number of ways:

Bigger tires,
Rower tire pressure.
Suspension front or full. Many of the dual sport bikes have a lockout on the fork. So during your test ride you can see the difference between front suspension and no suspension.
Seat post suspension. This puts a little bounce in the seat to make it easier to handle the bumps.
Frame material and geometry. Aluminum is friggin' STIFF. Steel has some give to it. http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/bike-frame-materials.html
Fork geometry and material. That's why you see carbon fiber forks on bikes.

I'd go back to REI and try this http://www.rei.com/product/861485/marin-muirwoods-29er-bike-2014.

And start walking everyday, NOW.  If you are that out of shape any bike is going to be brutal!

[JEaton]

Also how hard is to make your own?...dont u get more stuff with same money....just asking......

Not terribly difficult, but it requires some special tools and a little knowlege. You'd almost certainly end up paying to have a bike shop or a good mechanic do at least part of the assembly. You won't save anything there.

And in the end, you can't get the same value for the money, since large bike builders have economies of scale in buying parts that you can't hope to achieve. And that's on name-brand parts. They also save by buying many direct-sourced no-name parts that you may not notice. Things like cables, seat posts, pedals.

[JEaton]

i am thinking the same i drove the REI for close to 2 miles and i was so out of shape.....so much that doing straight to office with my current condition is not possible....i might have to rent a bike for 2-3 days and see if i want to do it long term....

Nine miles each way is no joke. Especially at the end of a long day when you just want to get home, have something to eat and relax.

You might have to ride in the evenings and on the weekends for a couple of months before you want to think about commuting 18 miles every day.

[murphy11]

Good suggestion about practicing and working up to 18 miles over the course of a few months.

My daughter got her license last year and we could not swing a 3rd car so I did a similar bike search this Spring. I work from home and wanted a bike so I could make short trips to the store, get around town and not feel stuck when she has the car. I own a MTB I bought in 1992 (Belmont Shore) but the gears get out of whack when not used and I didn't want to put money into fixing an older bike so I looked into hybrids. I looked on craigslist for bikes under the max price I wanted to pay that had a frame size that 'should' fit me.

I ended up with an REI ETA (sort of a commuter) made in May 2011 that had been very lightly ridden and literally looked brand new. The guy had original manuals, receipts, etc and I paid $250 for a bike that retailed for $800 and sold for as low as $650 new. I figured that by riding it for 6 months, I'd get some experience with what I liked and didn't and if I didn't like it enough I'd sell it or maybe change out seat, etc. If you get the 'right' deal on a used bike, you have low risk and can easily sell on CL without too much of a loss and maybe make a profit.

I'm 50 and am in pretty good shape and have more hills than you. It took maybe a month to 6 weeks to build enough endurance where 6 miles could be done easily. I attend a meeting a couple of times a week that is 6.5 miles away and I shower before I leave. I always wear a helmet which makes my head sweat but dry fit clothes keep my body cool enough. In So Cal you should make out better than my weather in Philly. If I were in your situation I could easily commute 9 miles to work, cool down, change clothes and not shower in under an hour.  Within a few months it should be doable for you.

Over time, you will learn how and when to shift and other techniques that will make biking easier, safer. There is a learning curve but it is not very steep from my experience. 
I'm keeping my bike for now and overall I am very happy with the purchase. In hindsight, I thought my bike was the best or 2 worlds - enough of a hybrid that I could use on streets and take it off road if I wanted to mountain bike. In reality, I have not taken it off road yet and the narrower tires and overall ride make it really a single purpose street bike. Down the road maybe next year I will consider selling it and putting the money into a road bike. Good luck in your search.

[jschwenker]

Let me add to some of the recent voices of reason here.  Start yourself off EASY. 

Do a goodly amount of shopping around or a number of visits and test rides with a dealer you like.  Buy a modestly priced bike that you really seem to enjoy, right now.  Start with shorter rides on evenings and weekends.  Maybe after a while you can try out the route to work on a weekend day. 

As titillating as all the bike tech talk is to many readers of this thread, don't sweat all the recommendations in the beginning here.  After 6 or 12 months you may have a much better idea of what sort of biking you want to do, and can do a more focused job of picking out your next bike.  You could end up wanting to do anything from biking to work full time with lots of recreation/group riding on weekends to just simply enjoying your own relaxed rec rides on a few evenings each week.  Either way you'll be on a path to some better fitness habits.

I've seen plenty of folks who get a bit discouraged with a particular fitness/athletic pursuit by jumping in too hard - buying equipment that is beyond their initial level or just simply setting goals and expectations that are too high for themselves.  Start out slowly and build gradually to find your place.

Here's to seeing you have a heck of a great time getting out and riding.  As we claim in our other pursuits, it's more about enjoying the music rather than the equipment...

Cheers,  John

[Folsom]

Bike Direct bicycles work. But they're closer to Wal-Mart. The two I linked you too, they're just high quality in general compared to everything on the market, for their price point. In fact the All City frame probably doesn't make the company too much money. It's closer to a frame builder in a 1st world country than it is Taiwan (there's some top notch builders there but they work on carbon and what not these days).

Building your own: You get a LOT for your money, but you can't actually buy a lot of the lower quality parts you'll find on commercial bicycles. Basically there is a buy in point. The best way to save money is finding a good used frame, and building from there.

For example if you bought an All-City frame and did your own build it'd cost you more money, the difference being that the quality of the one you made would exceed the pre-made by a wide margin. If you buy pre-made used wheels and some used parts you might be able to match or lower the price but I wouldn't count on it.

But there's something else to consider, would you not have fun building one? It'll teach you all the little things before you need to learn them on the road.

I mostly would advocate building your own if the price point can be had where you end up with a better bicycle than with Bikes Direct. To me they represent a company that offers what people think they want, but are shielded via shipping and internet from the downfall; and dependent on people not realizing how much better other bicycles are.

An important question! What is your mechanical knowledge like? These days there only a couple of tools you can't do at home. But since there's so little you have to do it correctly, and not screw up reverse threads and what not.

[Doublej]

Walmart? Seriously? I did not realize that a bike with Shimano Ultegra components is Walmart 

[Folsom]

Walmart? Seriously? I did not realize that a bike with Shimano Ultegra components is Walmart 

I can sell you a $20 amplifier with a $800 power cord....

Wal-Mart sells "high-end" too.

[Doublej]

I can sell you a $20 amplifier with a $800 power cord....

Wal-Mart sells "high-end" too.

OK, but the frames for all the big names are coming out of the same factories as Bikes Direct according to the web. So I guess you are saying that any big name market bike is Walmart-ish. But at a $600 budget you are not going to get a niche manufacturer bike unless perhaps you want a single speed which is the last thing a newbie needs.

[pslate]

I do an 18 mile round trip almost every day. It can and will change your life if you get into it. You will learn so much by doing, you may not need to start with the best bike, but if you're mileage continues to rack up, then reliability comes into play. One of the best things to know is how to change a tube fast and carry spares and a pump or c02 inflation system with you. Good luck, it's an awesome ride!!! Hit me up for advise if you're interested. If mileage gets big, and your route permits it single speed and internal hub options can be great, but hey, for me it's all about reliability.

[ctviggen]

OK, but the frames for all the big names are coming out of the same factories as Bikes Direct according to the web. So I guess you are saying that any big name market bike is Walmart-ish. But at a $600 budget you are not going to get a niche manufacturer bike unless perhaps you want a single speed which is the last thing a newbie needs.

I had a friend who bought a Bikes Direct bike who said it was great. He looked a long time before buying via Bikes Direct.

As for building your bike, I don't think you can save much money.  You also need to have special tools, so factor that cost in too if you don't have them.  The good news is that the tools are used for maintenance and repair, though, and the cost of entry isn't as high as it once was (they have sets of tools now that are relatively cheap). 

[Folsom]

If you build your own bike you'll need a BB tool, Allen wrenches, and a pedal wrench. The headset is for shop tools that cost an arm and a leg.

Building wheels takes a truing stand, and a spoke wrench. A community bicycle shop would be best for this, if you have one.

With frame manufacturing you get what you order. However a lot of frame builders just don't do low end high production. In Tiawan they don't care. That being said while anyone can enjoy a bicycle from anywhere. His budget isn't $600 either.

Most bikes are the same relatively. I don't believe that the two I posted are. Just to say I don't even think Surly is a decent buy except the 1x1 for a special reason.

As far as single speed first gears, barring way to high of gearing, I think it's literally all in people's head whether they need gears or not. Most geared bikes have one sprocket worn to nothing and the rest get used occasionally down a big hill (that most people don't go up). Frankly SS is the lowest maintenance, lowest cost, and feels great. For commuters I prefer fixed, but SS is great too.

[charmerci]

Walmart? Seriously? I did not realize that a bike with Shimano Ultegra components is Walmart 

It's their website. They're getting into the amazon act. They're not actually stocking and shipping them.

[Folsom]

It's their website. They're getting into the amazon act. They're not actually stocking and shipping them.

They did a few years ago. No joke they had a $2k carbon bike...