[Rick TYler]

Buy a used bike. I would much rather have a 10 or 15-year-old Trek or Cannondale or Fisher than a brand new $250 bike. I just searched the Seattle Craigslist site (for example) and found 23 Trek bikes for $250 or less.

Any bike that cost $500 or more when new is going to be pretty good in the used market. As long as it hasn't been trashed, a lot of old bikes don't have a lot of miles and will be great values. Remember, that things that wear out on bikes can all be easily replaced. If the frame hasn't been bent, you should be good to go. What you might have give up on older bikes are some of the cool things like fingertip bump-shifting and carbon-fiber forks (I'd still prefer chrome-moly forks, old-guy grumbling).

Personally, I would sweat the fit and condition a lot more than brand name. There have a been a lot of frame makers through the years, and at given price points they are very similar. Some good signs on a used bike are component groups like Shimano DuraAce, 105, Ultegra, Deore and XTR. My 1990 Cannondale road bike has a Suntour/SR group that has been bulletproof through more than 6,000 miles. On frames, look for chrome/moly, aluminum, or composite. Any new $250 bike is going to be a soft-steel frame that is heavy and relatively weak.

Another advantage of a used bike is that you can usually resell it for about what you paid for it if you don't like it. New bikes are like cars -- they depreciate a lot as soon as you write the check.

There is lots of other advice, but you can find a lot of it just by googling. Have fun!

ADDED LATER: If you are riding on pavement, get a road bike. You'll be amazed at how much better a road bike is than a mountain or "cross" bike on the hard. Once you've ridden a few hundred miles on a road bike, pedaling a mountain bike on pavement feels just like pedaling a motorcycle.