I'm just getting into riding and looking for some advice. Ultimately I'd like to have a road bke and a mountain bike but with a kid in college the funds are severely limited. So, who rides what?
Lots of open roads where I live (west/central Texas) and lots of off road stuff available.
Any advice is appreciated, I would really like to not have to spend more than a grand on a bike.

 

Look for a high quality (i.e. lightweight, name brand), used, "fitness" bike. Straight bars but road bike wheels and geometry. You'll get a good workout, can ride quickly on pavement and packed dirt, and can switch out knobbier tires to do some light off-roading.

 

Look up Cyclecross bikes, Solid riding skills and proper tire pressures allows one to take a cycle cross bike just about anywhere. Send me a PM if you would like more info.

 

Marin makes some good stuff, I'm a fan.

They're mostly mountain bikes but you can have a shop build a set of road wheels and swap them out as needed. A mountain frame is fine for the road (slight extra weight and drag) but you don't want to use a road frame off the asphalt, it won't hold up for long and the failure mode is catastrophic.

 

Yes, Cyclocross, or "cross" for short.

 

Yes, you can get a decent cross bike for a grand. Plan another $500 for all the crap that goes with it (helmet, clothes, shoes, etc..)

 

At the 14-17mph avg pace of most casual riders, it isn't the bike that makes you go fast, it is your legs, lungs and heart.

I have a 1983 Nishiki Olympic chrome-moly frame and Sun Tour components I bought in high school, a 2009 Fuji Paris-Roubaix aluminum frame carbon fork and Shimano 105/Ultegra components, and a 1992 Trek 1400 aluminum with period Shimano 105 and old school downtube shifters in pristine condition that I paid $400 for on Craigslist last year. The Nishiki is a 26lb steel beast and it rides like a Cadillac, and it only slows down on big climbs. I paid $400 for it brand new. It was made in Japan.

The Fuji was recommended in a bike magazine as a good buy in the $1200-1500 price range comparison against a Schwinn and something else I can't remember. I got it at the start of the recession for about $1000 during the inventory clearing end of year fire sales. If the Fuji could time travel, Greg Lemond would have easily won one or two more TDFs between 85 and 91. It weighs about 21 lbs in a 61cm frame size. It is twitchy, seems to always need a tweak of the drive train, or some adjustment. The drive train seems to want to jump gears or miss a shift and pop the chain at the worst times. It was made in Taiwan.

The Trek frame was made in the USA. At 63cm it weighs about 22lbs, and it will go a year without needing anything but air in the tires and chain lube. The drive train is smooth and feels bulletproof. I put over half of my 2,500 miles last year on this bike.

Find someone who knows old bikes and look for the Trek 1000, 1100, 1200, 1220, 1400, or 1420 series bikes from 1990-1996. The 1400s have all aluminum frames and slightly better components. The others have slightly lesser quality aluminum frames and chrome -moly steel forks. But they don't weigh more than 23lbs. Put on a modern saddle and get them tuned up and they will go forever. In pristine condition they are in the $400 range, in normal wear and tear with scratches and torn seats and jacked up handle bar tape, they are $250 ish. The older Cannondales in the same years with that time period Shimano 105 drive trains and down tube shifters are also USA made frames and similar quality bikes.

20 year old Trek mountain bikes which would be hybrids in today's world make good all around bikes, if you can find one in good shape. I have a 1989 Trek 830 steel frame Antelope that I bought new at Nav School. About 15 years ago, I put street slicks on it, and I can average 15mph on flat pavement for about 20 miles. There was an aluminum version of these bikes, the Trek 7000 and 8000 series. I paid $225 for a 1992 or so 7000 for my wife two years ago, put slicks on it and it is her road bike. It weighs about 23lbs in a 19 inch frame. The steel frame 830/850 Antelopes or Mountain Track between 1990-1996 are $200-$250 depending on condition, and weigh 26lbs in a 22 inch frame. The 930/950s are a little more robust frames and are harder to find. The 800 series were made in Taiwan, the 900s were US made and so were the 7000/8000s I wish I had not been such a poor lieutenant or I would have bought one in Sacramento. Any of these are ideal for light trail use, watch out if the 7000/8000s were ridden hard off road, those frames were early ventures into aluminum and are prone to cracks. But if you find one that was barely ridden in pristine condition, jump on it.

Vintage Trek Bikes- Information on Steel Road Bicycles made by the Trek Bicycle Corporation, bike

Good luck on your quest to find a ride. Be patient. Check pawn shops and Goodwill. Sometimes they get good stuff and have no clue what its true worth is.

 

I second the opinion above to get a quality used bike if you only have a few hundred bucks to spend, rather than any new bike from the racks of any big box discount store (Costco etc.). Good bikes can readily be repaired and last many years. Ask you local bike shop what they have in used bikes, and look for the good makes on Craigslist. Some standard good makes are Trek and Cannondale, but there are a lot of quality bikes out there. I have a Cannondale Super V that I paid $150 for, it is a mid 90s bike that cost $2500 new and had maybe fifty miles on it through Craigslist. You will also want a relationship with a local bike shop to keep any bike you get in tune.

One thing that no one has mentioned though, is that bikes really need to fit the rider. Go down to the local bike shop and find out what fits you. The fit of a bike to a rider is very important for comfort and power because the bike more or less becomes and extension of the body. The other thing is, even when you know the numbers for the bike size, usually a top tube length, don't assume it will still be the best bike for you because geometries vary and the same size in a differing geometry may be totally uncomfortable. I think this is why people get crazy about certain brands, they find their fit in a brand and do not want to try anything else. One way to reduce this conundrum is to try and find a seller with similar physical attributes as your body (tall with light build and long legs, etc.)

 

Good info! Thanks for all the insight. I'm leaning more toward a road bike and hopefully get a mountain bike later for fun. I can't find much in the way of used bikes locally so I'll have to be patient if I go that way and I probably will. In the meantime, I'll keep getting in better shape by riding this lead sled ( I weighed it at 43 lbs) piece of crap I have now.

 

Go to craigslist and find a bike. Especially now in April with Specialized rolling out their new models. Most avid riders will dump last years models in favor of a new ride. My case in point is that I picked up a Specialized Tarmac Expert for only $1800 on Craigslist. They run $3699.00 MSRP.