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Thanks for the tips – I found one or two items I may buy thanks to you, Greg. I was just spending some time looking through Amazon deals, and while I haven’t found much for biking, they do have 25% off some Diamondbacks, among a few other small items.
Still no snow in the forecast on the east coast (at least in NY). We’ve been really lucky with the weather this fall – but I’ve been in the skiing spirit, so when it does come, it won’t be all bad.
Sounds like you’re in the same place I was about 2 or 3 months ago, and Schwim described exactly what was going through my mind when I bought my DB Axis. I can tell you I haven’t regretted the purchase and I’ll probably settle in somewhere around that middle-of-the-road casual rider once the novelty of checking out new places and making quick strides at a new sport wears off.
I wound up getting my bike from Amazon as there was no place within a reasonable distance to me selling it. As of now, it is no longer available there. My wife’s bike is available online depending on your location (they are based out of California and don’t ship all over the US – check GT’s website for details), but I preferred getting it from my local bike shop, and as it turns out, I was able to negotiate the price down $50 from retail and get the complimentary tuneups on both our bikes, which is a great perk. Consider buying from a shop if possible for that reason alone.
What dex says is true, Craigslist can often be the best option. It’s how my brother, a seasoned biker out west, tends to acquire the best deals. However, being new to the sport and not knowing anyone really into biking around my area, I decided to buy new as it felt like a safer option. I think Diamondback is kind of known for having pretty good bang for your buck on entry level bikes, though there are plenty of other companies, both big and small, that have good options. You just have to do your research and figure out what you want. Jeff provided you with a good link to a few of the options. This is another page I visited at the start of my search: http://www.davescheapbikes.com/cheap-mountain-bikes/
It should help you to get started.
I rode Winsor without any issues.
Martina, I did a ton of research on this a few months ago in buying both my first bike and my wife’s first bike. Our budget was $500.oo or less. I wound up getting a Diamondback Axis Pro at about $450.00. I got my wife a GT Laguna for $350.00. Of course there are many things to consider before buying a bike (I started by deciding between hard tail and full suspension), but we’ve both been very happy with our bikes, and we can say they’ve held up to some decent tests during our first season.
I also strongly considered a Diamondback Overdrive for myself and a Liv bike for my wife – both come in at around $500.00, and both are well reviewed. Liv is made by women specifically for women, and as such, Liv bikes (as well as GT) tend to be more forgiving to the vertically challenged.
Easiest and cheapest way: roll up the pant leg. Making locals worried you belong to a gang is added bonus.
