I reported my stolen bike to the police this morning, and we're calling the insurance company this evening to find out how much they will pay out - which more or less dictates the next decision; what bike to get next.
I rely on a bike as my main method of transport to and from work. It has to do less than ten miles each day - all on roads of varying quality, and in all weathers. Thinking sensibly, some sort of hybrid bike would probably be the best choice - but they typically cost a fair bit more than the same spec of mountain bike (probably because there are less economies of scale). I'm not so sure I want a hybrid either - they
look like the kind of bike the village policeman used to ride when I was a child.
The last time I talked to the guys in our local mountain bike shop they tried to sell me on the idea of a mountain bike with enclosed gears and brakes, and with unpuncturable tires. It sounded great, but also doubled the price due to the trick bits on it. Apparently the police have been buying them because they can take more abuse and require less servicing.
The other end of the spectrum is a
really cheap supermarket mountain bike - Tesco and Asda in the UK are selling bikes for 70 GBP (about 100 USD). I've had something similar before... it was okay, but it disintegrated within months - in the first year I had a replacement crank, replacement rear axle, and replacement chain set.
In all likelihood, once I know how much I have to spend, I'll walk into the local bike shop and say "how much Trek mountain bike can I get for this much?"
