Could anyone recommend a mountain bike that will help an unfit cycler get fitter but doesn't break the budget?

[TrinityRhino]

I like riding a bike but I dont want my arse to hurt after 10 mins

also I think I need a fair few gears

anyone? oh pleeease cause I was such a good girl and put it in the right topic and everything

OK - firstly, do you actually need a mountain bike, i.e., are you going off road? If not something like a hybrid might suit better otherwise you're lugging round knobbly tires and suspension for no reason...

Secondly, a comfortable saddle is about getting the saddle to support the right bones, lots of padding actually makes it less comfy.

Decathlon always gets good reviews for cheap bikes; and you could do worse than to head over to www.cyclechat.net, we're quite friendly...

ooops massive cross post there, sorry neilsboar

will read your post now

I'm seriously impressed with the shameless bumping though...

hmm, I'm not going off road
never really thought about other types of bike, whats a hybrid?

Try these hybrids

A hybrid usually has tires which are a little bit knobbly (will do paths in parks easily enough), have no suspension and are quite light - still have lots of gears and flat/straight handlebars.

What's your budget?

What is your budget?
Problem is that it's no fun to ride a cheap bike. The ride is rough & slow & the bike wears down quickly. That's why cheap quality bikes get so little use. So if you want to keep the habit up, it's better to invest in a better quality steed. Which means £££.

You could try to find a good quality 2nd-hand exercise bike. I know some folk think they're naff, but no one need know, and weather no obstacle.

You could try to find someone knowledgeable about 2nd hand bikes & get them to help browse Ebay with you, if you really want a road-worthy bike.

what is your budget?
where will be riding ? (road/park/forest etc)

I got a hybrid because mountain bikes are actually quite heavy and not that well suited to the type of cycling I wanted to do...mostly cycle and tow paths. You can get them in Halfords but I found the local independent cycle shops to be better value, competitive on price and good for after sales help and advice.

riding on roads and grass sometimes

less than 500 pounds if thats possible, you're scaring me now

how do you know what size your are?

I like the look of those hybrids neilsboar

At that kind of budget I'd find a good local bike shop and go in there to try some bikes. Failing that Evans are pretty good and in most cities. The most important thing is that it fits and is well set-up - anything over £300 is likely to be pretty decent; anything under that need choosing with extreme caution...

you'll pick up a decent hybdrid easily on that budget. Ask for female specific saddles, preferably a touring saddle as it will support your arse bones. A good shop with adjust everything to your height and reach.

Frame size can be roughly determined based on height and gender, leg length is better, but ideal is to go somewhere that will fit it properly - different frames (even the same size) will suit different back/arm length combinations; sometimes it can be adjusted by changing the stem.

But if I was spending that much I'd definitely want to go and try the bike and make sure it was comfortable for me.

ok I wont buy online then

we have a large halford near us ish, they any good?

Just remembered, the Carrera Subway is well thought of (from Halfords) - however, the quality of Halfords bike staff is extremely variable; there are, apparantley, some Halfords staff who know a lot about bikes, but not many. I would advise taking a knowledgeable friend if going to Halfords, and getting them to check the bike after delivery as I have heard some horror stories about the way they have delivered bikes to customers...

Halfords generally aren't great: is there a small bike shop (rather than car shop that sells a few bikes) near you?

If not, Halfords is much better than the likes of Tesco, but they don't have a great reputation (waits for someone to come along and disagree).

right ok i'll be careful, thanks

I'd second finding a local cycle shop for the bike itself. You'll get good advice then, and they can do bike 'mot' to keep it in working order. For accessories like helmet/lights etc these may be cheaper online/halfords/Argos.

right i'm going to find a bike shop

I dont want to go to halfirds

Halfords is better than tesco, in that at least they do sell some pretty good bikes - yes the staff are very variable, but they have some good bikes at good prices, So especially if you can find a friend to make sure they put it together okay, and help you size it etc. then you'll be okay.

Decathlon are probably the only other bet, independant bike shops would be good too, but there you sometimes go the other way and even the cheapest bike would be too expensive (well more expensive than you need to spend)

A 2nd hand bike could be an option too, local to us we have a "recycles" bike shop which sells 2nd hand bikes done up nicely, if you had something similar it could be good - likely to have a more knowledgeable staff too.