Advice on buying a bike.

Don't put yourself down about not being able to afford a car! I just spent $13,500 on a car this evening, and I WISH I could get by with just my mountain bike!!! At your height, I would possibly consider something from Trek (the number one selling bike shop brand in the world) in a WSD (Womens Specific Design) geometry. I am NOT putting anyone down, trust me, but shorter men tend to have body geometries similar to women. Women do tend to have longer torso's than men, so the WSD bikes from Trek take that into consideration. The best thing I can recommend is going to your local bike shop, and have yourself fitted for the different bike types (mountain, road, cross, comfort...) and find one that is suited to your body. Generally at your height, depending on brand, you can expect to ride either a 13" or 15" (33 or 38cm) frame in a mountain bike or comfort bike. In a road bike your size might be between 38-42cm but those are very generic assumptions. You won't know for sure until you spend some time with one of the fit qualified salespeople at your local shop. They are the ultimate authority for fit. As for brands... if it is a genuine BIKE SHOP, you can pretty much trust any brand they sell, some of the most popular are Trek, Giant, Gary Fisher, Klein, Jamis, KHS, Litespeed, Marin, and a host of other smaller brands! When it comes to components, since you will most likely be buying a comfort or mountain bike (the two most popular bike styles sold in the US and Europe) you can expect Shimano components. They are by FAR the number one component maker in the cycling world. Honestly you will mostly likely be dealing with Shimano's MTB line of components, and if you had a choice, I would highly recommend Shimano Deore (brand and groupo) as your minimum level for overall quality, performance, durability, and value. If a Deore equipped bike is still a bit above your comfort level, the very minimum I would comfortably recommend would be Shimano Alivio. This is Shimano's workhorse groupo (groupo is just a term for component group) and comes in on bikes at a VERY reasonable price point. The lower groupos (Acera, Altus, Tourney) are generally VERY low on the quality scale, and often find themselves thrown onto Walmart/Target/Kmart/Big Box Retailer bikes (this is NOT a good thing!) Check the brand websites below for a beginners crash course in bike tech! Source(s): http://bike.shimano.com/catalog/cycle/pr... http://www2.trekbikes.com/lang_redirect.... http://www.kleinbikes.com/us/home.html... http://www.fisherbikes.com/index.asp... http://www.khsbicycles.com/ http://www.jamisbikes.com/usa/index.html... http://www.litespeed.com/ http://www.marinbikes.com/