>>1501605Absolutely MTB, I feel like I can almost always find someone something in the $500ish range that will get them what they want done safely, touring, road, crits, whatever. Will it be amazing? No. Will it get them into it safely and comfortably? Sure. But trying to buy a cheap MTB goes like:
Used and 'cheap': this shit has been ridden to death, and is decades out of date with zero service parts available for its weird pivots that are miles away from failing.
Used and kind of nice: $500 over original list price despite having lots of drivetrain wear because they threw a King headset and some Deity bars on and want to be reimbursed.
Cheap and new: a fork so fucking soft and flexy that you're better off just riding a rigid, 3x9 drivetrains and a wheelset that may as well be filled with water for how heavy they feel.
I fucking love riding mountain bikes, but any time I try to sell someone on it and can only dig up $1K+ builds I lose them on it immediately.
