I have no idea what kind of bike to get, looking for guidance. Sidebar Q’s answered.

• Your level of experience with cycling

I’m 42 years old. when I was a teenager I had a torker bmx and was riding dirt tracks 4-5 days a week. Not professionally or competing, just a little daredevil riding for fun. I’d say I haven’t ridden any kind of bike for at least 20 years but feel confident in my body, health & mobility etc.

• What's your price range, and have you considered second hand?

I did consider second hand, someone I know was selling a haro shift r7 LT but they think it’s the wrong bike for me. My budget is probably anywhere between Australian dollars AUD $700-$1,600

• What's your intention with the bike – commuting, fitness, touring, sport, etc?

My main intention is fitness, but not intense fitness. I want go for rides on the road (smooth road) but I’m not interested in going super fast.
Not interested in riding amongst the traffic, would be late night rides in suburban streets and even getting up on the sidewalk if I feel I have to.

I also have a lot of bush and fire trails in my area and part of me wants to be able to get out and get on them a little bit not sure if I go for a bike that does both or stick to one for now and look at 2nd bike in the future? Very confused

• How far will you be riding, and how often?

Not interested in riding too far. Maybe 3-7km rides, Not too sure. Or maybe 40mins to 1 hour. Something like that.

Want to ride 2-3 times a week

• Riding conditions: roads, pavement, trails, single-track, off-road? Flat or hilly? Traffic and weather

Sealed roads & sidewalk alone at night, good weather conditions. If possible to be able to once a while venture into a fire trail, or a grassed park area with kids, if not that’s ok.

• Your location (even approximate) can help other locals familiar with your conditions, too.

Sydney, Australia

• A bit about yourself: height, weight, and level of fitness can all help people understand your needs better.

169cm tall, 68kg weight, not extremely fit in the cardio sense but healthy bmi, great flexibility, mobility and balance.

I’m just so confused and feel like I’m getting nowhere on my own because I really want a bike again and every style of bike appeals to me.

I love fishing and I recently had a friend ask me what rod to get. I’ve got about 12 fishing rods and they are all for different things. No 2 are similar to me

I tried to explain to my friend how you can’t have 1 rod that covers everything and I had to pick his brain in order to narrow it down for him.

He was really set on just having one rod to cover all aspects of fishing and so my brain understands that with bikes it would be a similar concept.

Any guidance or push in a direction would really be appreciated