kramer wrote:
Thanks for the responses so far. I know $500 may not get much of a bike
in the eyes of an enthusiest, but it's no Huffy either I suppose I would
like to get a good, solid bike and if I really get into riding, I will know
exactly what I want before I drop considerably more cash. Another piece of
the puzzle is that I am primarily looking at 2 neighborhood bike shops (one
by my office and one by my house) and they carry mainly TREK, Gary Fisher,
K2, Harro, Fuji, Cannondale and Klein, but the best selection seems to be
either Trek or Harro, fwiw. Unless anyone has a specific dealer in
Portland, OR they would recommend. I would even consider used.



If you are open to getting used, you can often get some pretty good
deals. Many shops will take tradeins of brands that they sell. If you
do your homework and are not in a big hurry, you can sometimes find a
good used model. Trek for example offers several different models new,
assuming your shops carry most of them. You can check out the MSRP on
line to make sure the price you are being quoted is reasonable.