bikes is fun
I started off biking on mostly mountain bikes, and think the point about it not being the strongest bike to start on is fair - but maybe doing a cyclocross bike or a touring/commuter style bike like the Surly Long Haul Trucker would do well. My rage at my first road bike getting flats so easily is the kind of thing that those bikes don't have as big a problem with, while they're not super heavy/slow. And if anyone gets into doing more than 50 miles a day for multiple days then they can get into doing bike touring - the truly insane impulse of "I want to bike across a state, or a country, or a continent." I aspire to be that insane. My daughter riding a single speed road bike in high school and in college really helped she with her weight and well sanity. I also appreciated the comment about the value of buying a nice bike from a bike store rather than spending less and getting a bike that will only make biking miserable. Personally, I can't decide whether