Gloo, I think the bigger seat will make a BIG difference, it did for me. When we went for our first ride, I hurt SOOOO bad, I felt like I'd been sexually assaulted. Owwwwwee, even to walk or sit, for DAYS! When I was brave enough to try again, we bought Walmart's biggest gel seat, and gave it another go. Thankfully, it was fine. There were even bigger seats I could have purchased online, for $30 - $60, but Walmart's largest gel seat was fine.

In my experience, a cheap bike is just about as useful as a cheap treadmill: it is heavy, clunky, uncomfortable to use and as a result, won't be used. Bikes from Target, Wal-Mart etcetera are crap, sorry. I used to ride and mountain bike a lot so I guess it's turned me into a bike snob. :(

R.I.P. my Gary Fisher Tassajara. :bike2: Like Jessica's, under $300 AND OMG WHEN DID YOU CHANGE YOUR AVATAR? YOU LOOK EVEN MORE GORGEOUS!

It may be one of those situations where you don't know what you're missing until you experience it. Once you spend 5 minutes talking to the guy at the bike shop about your needs, he'll be sending you on a ride around the block on one or more bikes. Each one of those bikes will be lighter than the ones at the department stores. Each will be more sturdily made, feel more natural as you ride, shift more smoothly, brake better. One of those will be perfect for you…and you'll be spoiled forever!

Tips for sore butt:

• gel seat and a nice wide seat (already mentioned)
• gel shorts. Yes, shorts! They (well, Junonia) sell bike shorts that have a padded butt! It's bliss!
• regular biking. It's possibly the best incentive to keep up with your biking routine: if you do it daily, your butt will develop a nice "butt callous" :lol: and you'll be able to ride longer and longer distances without feeling any pain.

Jessica - I've had a feeling for a while now that you are a Goddess after my own heart. You rock! :D

So you know that whole thing about never forgetting how to ride a bike?

Uh, not so much.

Dear LORD. My 30 second journey from our driveway to our neighbor's driveway was like, death defying. The wobbly thing. Seriously. I don't remember how not to be scared!

Here is my 2 cents... and this is for someone who is actually planning to ride a bike more than 1 or 2x a year:

IMO, buying a quality (not super high end, but not a Target/Walmart bike) will be money well spent. I have ridden for years and have an ex who was a rep for Trek bikes, so that may make me biased. Having said that, cheap bikes have MANY drawbacks to include being incredibly heavy (makes for a much less enjoyable ride), poor shifters (what good are your shifter if they don't work anymore after 2-3 rides?), cheap parts - chains, derailleurs (what makes the bike shift), even pedals break off.

I would go with others' suggestion to at least check out your bike shop before buying a WalMart bike ... and then decide. Biking is an incredible experience and a type of exercise that can be done for life... it is something you very well may get hooked on, and I would hate to see you regret spending 80 on a clunker when you could have invest 2-300 for a really enjoyable ride.

I researched bikes for "heavier-type modules" like myself last year. If you want to lay out some money- go with a Cannondale.

If not- some good rules to stick with. If you are over 200lbs, you want a steel frame. Yes, they are heavier. Means the frame won't break under your weight. Count the spokes on the wheels. You want at least 36 spokes per wheel. Keeps the tire frame from bending (higher end sporting and racing bikes will have 24-30 spokes).

I need to get another bike and start cycling again. It's an exercise I really do enjoy.

Awww thanks Tricia and Amy! You totally make me blush! :o

I am no personal experience with this, but this thread was quite helpful (in addition to the awesome advice you have already gotten) http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=70279