What sort of bike?

corblimey

I want to get back into cycling soon enough, and was scouting for some routes I could take around my house. It's half for pleasure mostly, and half for just getting a bit active. The roads around my place though are rough enough, and I just don't fancy the idea of a racer (er, a "roadbike") so it's going to be either a mountain bike or a hybrid, I guess. I've read somewhere (probably here) that mountain bikes with their chunky wheels are hard work, so given all that, are my options basically limited to hybrids/commuters? I'm worried about the narrow tyres on these - are they sturdy enough in the event of me baling into a pothole or a ditch? :eek:

Not that I mind, there's still plenty of choice in that category, I'm just trying to make sure I'm facing the right part of the shop when I go in.

bobtjustice

Most hybrids can take a few bumps yes.. tires on higher end bikes are generally good, you could always update to gatorskins or Armadillos ( both high quality tires)

Have a look at the stickies for the types of bikes best suited to you. Theres a list of online stores in there which are great.

irishmotorist

With regard to the tyres specifically, my hybrid came with 700x28c tyres and they were fine. I've since changed them (just over time, not particularly just to change them) to 700x25c - that's just a bit narrower. I find these great on the road but I have to be more careful when going up onto a kerb for example. Going at the same speed and even with me distributing my weight around the bike to protect the tyre/wheel, I can feel it being a much heavier impact so I've slowed that kind of thing down a good bit.