So I wanna get a bike for getting around town faster and such

$500 for a low end MTB sounds about right. Something like a Trek 820.

>>40277855
Also the bikes you find at Big W and Kmart are just garbage, aren't they?

>>40277915
yep, rubbish. I got a Giant brand bike, its tough as. only cost $350. Best to shop around I think. Keep away from k-mart specials ect. Get a known brand unless you want a rubbish bike. you may want to look at a commuter bike, or explain to the bike shop what your use will be. That way you wont be getting something that isn't built for what you're going to be using it for.

>>40277971
He showed me a commuter bike, cheapest they had was $650 and they're the only cycle shop in town.
That $500 MTB is the cheapest they had if not stepping down to BMX

>>40277971
Should have mentioned that my bike is second hand, I should have gone new as it wasn't mechanically perfect when I got it.

>>40277995
do you remember the make and model of the bike?

>>40277995
This city has a lot of specialty stores marking up higher than they should (Like a $500 guitar being sold for $700 to $800) so I'm half considering going online if there's any retailers there

>>40278012
I do not sadly but like I said here
>>40278013
It's probably overpriced

>>40278026
best to go back for a look, get the make and model and their best price. Don't make it obvious because the bike store guy will probably get shitty, but check the price online and make sure that the online stores post to your location for a reasonable amount.

You can also try Reid, an online bike retailer which usually has good value for money. I'd generally recommend a used bike but sound like you live in a tiny town without much of a used market. Any bike that's new under $500 is pure garbage, there's no way around it unfortunately.

For what it's worth, I've got a nice Trek road bike and a shitty Kmart bike for riding to the train station. Kmart bike has about 600km on it and its still working, sans the rear tire getting obliterated in like a month. So if you're really poor as fuck get a Kmart shitbike and deal with the maintenance, or if you can stretch it a little get a Reid (still not great bikes at that price range but a bit of a step up).

>>40278152
Wagga Wagga so not so tiny, but most used bikes are old Kmart bikes that I'm sure aren't worth the $20 asking price
I'm not at all poor it just seemed like a big number at the time and I wanted to be sure. That's good to know though thanks, I'l also check out Reid

>>40278053
I'll get around there and do this today too

You guys have been great help thanks again

>>40277855
I have a Trek 820. It's great.

>>40277842
Bikes are really expensive if you want something half decent. I rode my $200 ebay bike around for about two weeks and when i realised i liked it enough i dropped $5000 on a serious mountain bike.

>>40277842
Buy a used bike, bike shops usually have brand new models you dont need to spend the extra money on. A higher end bike from 2012 will cost you as much as a shitty 2017 bike. I dont know about Aus but i would use pinkbike.com

>>40277915
Never buy a bike from department stores. You've seen the people that work there, right? You think they hire professionals to assemble those bikes they sell for $99?