hadassah

We just moved to Missouri last June and I am wanting to get biking again now that I've been walking for the last 3 months. I am 48 and in good health. I did some biking for an hour a day prior to moving... it was a cheap Walmart bike. I am ready to move on up to something around $500 - $650 with at least front suspension and disc brakes. We have dirt roads out here with loose gravel... and some paved. Would I look at 29" tires? I am leaning towards a Diamondback or Trek Marlin 5 or any ideas anyone else has. I don't know if I need a mountain bike since there will be about 1/3 paved roads possibly.... or something else. I fear a hybrid would be too wimpy on gravel/dirt roads... but I don't know, that's why I'm here. I am new at this as far as trying to figure out what would best meet my needs so any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!

prj71

Suspension isn't necessary if that is all you are going to ride. I would look at the Giant ToughRoad if I were you.

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/us/bikes-toughroad-slr

WannaGetGood

A hardtail mountain bike would be a great option. It will give you the option to do more types of riding if you wish to progress into something more "dirty". For your price range, I would look into something used for maybe the best bang for your buck.

jjry89

There is a fantastic video for buying a beginner level mountain bike by a YouTube names Seth's Bikes Hacks. My "newness" to bike forums doesn't allow me to post links, but the name of the video is called "What's a good beginner bike? - Budget mountain bike" . Happy trails!

hadassah

Thank you so much for the link. I didn't see this until now but will still look at it as I may need a different bike. I just broke my leg today on my first outing. The bike slid out from under me on a simple turn. I'll be asking about it on a different post. I bought the women's version of the Trek Marlin 5 (Skye S).

jjry89

Brutal! Sorry to hear that and hopefully you heal fast!
My girlfriend started mountain biking on a very similar bike (2014 Norco Forma 7.2) and those skinny tires don't do anyone any favours especially when the tire pressure is too high.... My gf found that out the hard way too. She managed to do two xterra races on that bike and rode it quite a bit until I kind of persuaded her to upgrade to a full suspension.

Rider_88

You need a hardtail bike model with good tyres. Take a good look on the amortization of a new bike. It will allow you to ignore off-road and feel comfortable even while riding on dirt and rocks. Merida hardtale bycicle woluld be a great choice.

JonathanGennick 

For pavement and gravel roads, I'd look at something like the Raleigh Redux:

https://www.raleighusa.com/redux-135691


The wide tires and low pressures will be plenty for gravel roads, and there's no cheap suspension to worry about.