Advice please

[nubie]

Hi Ladies, I've been reading this forum non-stop the last few days. I need some advice here. I'm new to biking. I hadn't ridden a bike since I was 8 (20 years ago). Well, I've been remembering how much fun I had as a kid, so a few weekends ago, I went out and bought the cheapest bike I could find (a huffy), especially since I wasn't sure I'd enjoy it enough to spend money. Well, turns out, its as fun as I remember.

So here's my problem. My "15-speed" cheap bike only really has 1 working gear (one of the middle ones), which makes even the slightest inclines feel like mountains. In fact, my legs are completely exhausted after 2 miles. The bike weighs about 35 pounds. My BF tells me if I invest in a nicer bike, I'll really feel a difference and enjoy it a lot more. But I'm worried that I'll spend money on a nicer bike, and find that its just me being out of shape, not really the bike that made the hills feel difficult. I hear the lower end "nice" bikes are still about 30 pounds, and 5 pounds doesn't really sound like a huge difference to me.

Anyone have any advice? Do you really think I'll feel a noticeable difference? I'm fairly in shape, go jogging and rockclimbing consistently. If so, I'm looking to spending no more than $500-600. I've thought about the Giant Rincon W, Specialized Rockhopper, and Novara Bonita or Piedra.

Thank you guys! This forum has so much info!!

[SouthernBelle]

If you don't have a full range of gears on the current bike, getting a full range will definitely make a difference. Although they won't appreciate the Huffy, a bike shop can probably adjust the gears on it so that you have the full range. If you recently bought it, take it back and say, Hey, the gears don't work. Give me the money!

[FreshNewbie]

Welcome on board!!!
For the budget you have you can get a decent road bike like Fuji or Schwinn. But I am not sure if you were looking for a road bike or more of a hybrid bike with thicker tires. I believe for $500 you can also get a really nice hybrid bike. If you have local bike shops (LBS) available to you, go there and talk to them about it.
When I decided to get back to biking I went and bought Honda mountain bike on amazon.com Let's just say that my younger sister is now using it to ride around the block. I then purchased new steel road bike on ebay for 150$ and used it for 1.5years before I realized I could now move on to something lighter. My steel bike also weighed about 30lbs and gave me a good training to climb those hills. So heavy bike is not so bad, it's just it needs to have all gears running. If you have some questions you can always try to search it on this forum, chances are they already been answered.
Good luck