Originally Posted by
LesterOfPuppets
Performance bike was blowing out their Fuji 26ers a little while ago. Aluminum frame, XCM fork, Altus shifters/Acera rear derailleur. Pretty nice bikes for $229. Looks like they're all gone now, though.
Well, I almost always recommend a Nashbar flatbar road bike at this juncture ... but that costs three times what the Mongoose costs.
Normally I would never recommend a Wally-bike to anyone I didn't hate completely ... but I have a friend whop bought one and seems satisfied.
For people who don't ride much, don't ride hard, but might want more than one gear and maybe want a rack for groceries, the Mongoose seems like the minimum. It has a real cassette and freehub, seven speeds out back and nothing up front (simple enough for novices, and for anyone who doesn't plan on competition or live in the mountains (or San Francisco) and is basically 30 lbs of steel with some 28-mm tires.
For someone who barely pedals, doesn't plan to grind down curbs or get big air .... and wants to spend basically nothing or close to it ... and doesn't want to have to do much adjustment .... (not much to adjust ... )
If the OP wants the baseline Real bike, he is looking at over $200 and probably $300 or he will be wasting money on something not much better than the Mongoose.
IMO.