text: choosing my first bicycle. what should i look for? i am interesting in buying a bicycle for leisure and fitness purposes. i am looking for the comfort and speed of a road bike mixed with the sturdiness of a mountain bike, so something hybrid. something that can be used to go around town but on the weekends can go wild with. finally, i am willing to drop $400-500 for one. can anyone give me suggestions or tips? sounds like you know what you want already, so check out the various brands, and find out what they have in your price range, then go to the shops and test ride the ones you are interested in.  if you want to ride off road make sure your tyres aren't too slick.  i wouldn't think that a road bike is particularly comfortable by the way, since it's primary concern is speed, it's designed for a riding posture that minimises air resistance, with your spine leant a long way forward, for comfort you need a bike that allows an upright spine.  also if your thinking of riding down anything particularly steep off road, i would reccomend making sure the frame shape allows the seet to be lowered quite a lot. so that you can shift your weight back a lot, and also so you can jump off the back easily if you need to  also tell the people at the bike shop what sort of riding you intend to do they would be able to give you further advice.