New to cycling

I am a marathoner interested in pursuing cycling. The only bike experience I have is the stationary bikes at the gym and when I was a girl I would ride around the neighborhood with the "pink elephant" as I called it that had the pink strings hanging off the handlebars. I would like to get a bike that I can ride around the city though. So I am asking all of you professional cyclists out there what bike I should get to start out with and any other helpful advice you can give me would be great! Thanks!

 

For city riding I like a mountain bike with 1.25 tires. I can see better and jump curbs and such without fear of damaging the bike. The new hybrids are a nice option too. I spend time in Thailand in the winters and am going to get a hybrid for there, too old to be a racer. haha

 

For city riding I too prefer an upright style of bike. Either a mountain bike with skinny tires, a hybrid, or a upright style single speed.

My personal bike for casual city rides or errands is a Trek 4500 mountain bike that I converted to single speed.

 

Hi there,

I used to row before moving into cycling and at the time I lived in london and I started with a moutain bike. I found being more upright in the traffic was better and having to stop at traffice lights all the time, it was much easier to manage. If you just want to use it for commuting or riding round the city, then a hybrid would be great, but given that you have run marathons, is there a chance you might want to do more than this? if so then I think a moutain bike with skinny tryres would be better as it gives you more potential use long term as you could use it off road as well, where as a hybrid won't be good off road.

Hope that helps

 

It seems like a mountain bike or a hybrid would be perfect for you. I suggest getting something such as a Giant Boulder SE, because it is built like a tank and will last forever. I have one, and i have put it through so much. I haven't ever replaced a part on it (except cables, and chains). If you would rather have a hybrid, I would prefer the Giant Roam.