bikes for adults

[kfeusse]

My husband and I are looking at bikes for us.  Not for long bike rides, not for racing or cross country...not even for major exercise....but something to take leisure bike rides while camping or for a little afternoon ride....a mile or so.

 

So we are looking at hybrid bikes, comfort bikes and cruiser bikes. 

 

Do you guys know anything about any of these? Brands that are better than others...etc.

 

We are looking to spend between $200-$350 or so each. 

 

thanks.

[prairiewindmomma]

I have a comfort bike and dh has a cruiser. Try to find a used Giant or Trek. You can’t buy new for $200-350, but a quality bike makes for a more enjoyable experience.

[prairiewindmomma]

Coming back to add...insist on a suspension fork if you are sensitive to jarring. I can ride on rough gravel roads now and feel entirely comfortable. My comfort bike has 18 gears and so peddling is efficient too.

 

A cruiser is heavy and not efficient..I would lean comfort or hybrid in your situation.

[Kalmia]

I have a Jamis Citizen comfort/hybrid bike with suspension fork. Very comfortable. Upright riding posture. I also tried the Giant comfort bike which was also good.

 

Some people like the step through comfort bikes as they are easy to get on and off of, mine just has a regular crossbar.

 

Cruisers are not what you want. They are heavy and most of them have only three gears. Their super cute retro designs are adorable though.

Edited March 23, 2018 by Kalmia

[PeterPan]

I got a recumbent bike on craigslist. I'm a little wobbly so it was a great choice for me. I can go FOREVER on it, while my dh will be complaining, on his much swankier bike, much earlier in. :D

 

As far as the types, yes to suspension. The other thing you're looking at is frame weight. There's also a name for the better gears. The name is slipping my mind, but even some of the Walmart bikes will have them. What you can do is going to a bike shop ($600-700), a sporting goods store ($300), and Walmart ($150) and by the time you try them in all the places you'll have a pretty good opinion of what you like.

 

Getting the right size is important. The best place to do that is the expensive shops. They'll sometimes even have tracks inside, so it's kind of a fun thing to do, hehe. But don't try out recumbents unless you want to break your heart. They're like $1k to start, plus you want goodies. If I were plush, I'd get a folding recumbent so I could just throw it in my trunk. For about $3500 you can have one that folds, has suspension, the works. That's my dream.  :driving: