Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Sin City, Nevada
Posts: 2,886
Bikes: Catrike 700, Greenspeed GTO trike, , Linear LWB recumbent, Haluzak Horizon SWB recumbent, Balance 450 MTB, Cannondale SM800 Beast of the East
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I'm not into upright bikes anymore but I can see why the bike shop recommended the Trek Verve 2. It is priced within your budget at an MSRP of $800. It comes in 5 frame sizes so you can actually buy one that fits. The front fork is rigid - no useless cheap front suspension to deal with. It weighs right around 30 pounds which is not light compared to many road bikes but not grossly overweight. The tire width is the 45C tire which works out to be 1.77 inches wide so this is similar to what you find on a mountain bike with ordinary tires. It should provide a more comfortable ride as compared to a road bike with narrower and higher pressure tires.
That's a giant step up from a Walmart bike which often is very heavy, comes in one-size-fits-all, and has useless bells and whistles (like front suspension) that means money spent on basic components like the drive train and brakes gets short shrift.