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OP here, I can't get cock out of my mouth and I have more questions to ask.
Today after work I've visited two bike stores in my city, both are a part of a chain.
In the bigger chain I asked for his recommendation for what I need ("an a-to-b bike that would still be comfortable even for a 10km ride), he recommended some form of 29" MTB (either Trek or Merida or some shit, roughly 510$) and gleefully announced everything below that price in the store is hot garbage, he rubbed me the wrong way somehow so I tried the next one.
In the next place the guy recommended me a bike called 'Marin san rafael ds2', it was a bit pricier than I had hoped to spend (588$) but it does look nicer and you guys have successfully put me on edge about spending too little, catch is it's specification seems awfully impressive for an 80$ difference, had hydraulic disc breaks, 3x8 instead of 3x7 and to be honest it looked better from an aesthetic point of view (it wasn't the boring white in the picture, some sort of orange-red-ish color), I can't help but suspect this means it too has similar quality parts, except different, more expensive ones.
Both had suspensions, for some reasons it's difficult to find a fully rigid one at the lower price ranges, I guess it's to make them look better than they really are?
When I asked both of them about single speed bike they made a face, one said 'nah, you'll put too much effort into riding, why bother?' and another one said 'nah, I don't sell those here' with an obvious disdain for the city hipsters that would stereotypically ride those.
So my questions for today are:
>Would I REALLY miss gears if I ride mostly flat terrain with the rare, very limited incline? even if we talk about long rides?
>was asking for recommendations from the staff a mistake? I couldn't help but feel I was pushed the shit they couldn't sell
>pic related, y/n?
>Would I escape my trouble if I raise my budget to at least 600-ish dollars?
