Looking to buy a bike, need suggestions...

Try a BMX. Millions of kids can't be wrong.

Me riding a BMX, now THAT would be a sight to see

Exactly, why do you think I'm suggesting it?

How about this?

LOL I could go cruising in old Montreal on this badboy

Depends how much your looking to spend.. make sure you buy a bike from an actual bike shop, and not a department store. I have been into Freestyle BMX and light mountain biking since I was a kid, and have worked bike shops for years, so I can tell you, the service at a bike shop is, by far, superior. They generally offer good deals on service too, when you buy a bike at a shop.

Stick with name brands like Specialized, Trek, Gary Fischer (no schwinn!!), Giant, Cannondale etc. For what you want to do, you probably want a hardtail mountain bike.

Many people will buy an extra set of wheels and put street tires on one pair, and off road tires on the other. Wheels on all decent new bikes are usually quick release, so it takes a few seconds to switch wheel sets. If your going to be serious about riding, it might be worth it. Also, trail riding can be hard on the wheels, and you'll break spokes, and bend rims often. If you screw up your trail set, you still have your street set that you can use.

What type of riding do you want to do? Just exersice? Or do you want to do some "urban" mountain biking... (jumping of ledges, steps, doing grinds etc)?

for the money you cannot bet the performance and quality of a Gary Fisher
http://www.fisherbikes.com

Mostly exersice and taking some fresh air but I use to be a "special" bike messenger in my early 20's and would easily a hard 15-20 miles a day

Wouldn't mind getting back to riding like that, minus the messenger part

Thanks for the advices, there's a nice bike shop close to my place and will go check it out. I also dig the 2 wheels advice and will defenitly do that.

Here's a top notch Bike for someone of your stature

Yeah I can just imagine my pants getting caught in there and Pulling a Homer...

DOH!!!

I've had an aluminium frame Kona for about 10 years. Love it to bits. I have ridden it in london a shitload, just chucked slicks on it and rolled.

I had a Giant mountain bike last year, I bought it for $400

def get a fisher..

For a guy like you I'd say rent a bike for a day. That way you'll get it out of your system and you won't be wasting your money. If you buy a bike, you'll ride it once, get sore and let it sit in the garage.