Quote Originally Posted by aicabsolut View Post

While you may save some $ buying second hand, it's not the best if you don't know much about bikes yet and what you need, or what parts of the bike to inspect (and what to look for). Plus, some shops will give you free services, swap components, and developing a relationship with them can save you more cash in the long run.
Yeah, I sort of think it might be better to get my first bike new (maybe on sale, but definitely new), so that I can ask them stuff that I don't know, instead of just ending up with a very expensive machine that I don't know how to take care of! I would also rather have for a new bike, one that I know has not been slammed around, messed with, etc. I don't want to inherit someone else's bad mechanical skills the first time around.