O/T: Bicycles

[bright1064]

I'm thinking of buying one for work, but don't really know where to start. Had one ages ago but It was no good having got it second hand from Friday Ad, don't really want to make the same mistake again.

So does anyone know the best place(s) to buy a bike? How much should I be looking to spend? I will be using it 5 days a week, probably between 3-4 miles a day.

 

[Publius Ovidius]

well i have one you can have if you want. Its an Apollo Adult mountain bike bike, 15 gears, serviced earlier in the year, BUT I have nowhere to keep it so there is some rust on it. Its in excellent working order.

Let me know if you want it. ( I can't deliver it anywhere as I have no way of transporting it)

 

[Springal]

Get your work to sign up to the cycle2work scheme, you can get about 40% off, and pay it back over 12 months. Won't work if you are self employed or similar

 

[Pantani]

You will want a hybrid bike if you are riding to and from work. Read this thread too.

Good bike shops in Brighton

It is about mountain bikes originally but there is useful advice in the thread.

 

[Pantani]

Get your work to sign up to the cycle2work scheme, you can get about 40% off, and pay it back over 12 months. Won't work if you are self employed or similar

Good advice too. You can still enter a cycle to work scheme if you are self employed though. It is a bit more hassle (you have to do all the signing up to the scheme stuff yourself) but can still be done.

 

[Deleted User X18H]

Adopts oafish but girly voice, 'watch out for HB&B'

 

[bright1064]

You will want a hybrid bike if you are riding to and from work.

Pardon my ignorance but what is the difference between a hybrid and a mountain bike? In terms of only using it on the road obviously.

 

[Pantani]

Pardon my ignorance but what is the difference between a hybrid and a mountain bike? In terms of only using it on the road obviously.

A mountain bike will generally have suspension of some kind, which is totally unnecesary and heavy.

Hybrids will have thinner, smoother tyres that roll better on the road. They may also have bigger wheels, you can get hybrids with racing bike size wheels (700c) or mountain bike size (26"). Larger wheels and thinner, smoother tyres = faster bike, or if you prefer, less effort required for the same speed.

You can also get a decent hybrid for around the £300 mark, mountain bikes at this price are not up to the job.

Did you read the other thread? If not my main piece of advice is to try lots of bikes before making a purchase.

 

[dannyboy]

i started a thread on here about a similar thing a while ago and got some great advice (from pantani on here for instance ... cheers)

what i found.

get a hybrid... mine is a fast one with slick thin tyres. gives me loads of grip
DO NOT go to halfords
i got mine from evans in crawley and found them great. i had an idea of the bike i wanted and they got one out of the back room which had a couple of scratches on which was 2 levels up form the one i thought id get . they knocked £100 off it for the scratches!!!(you cant even see them) evans will often have these bikes in stock or ex demonstrators etc.
trek or specialised seem the ones to go for in a low price bracket.

i got this for £350 love it..... just seen they have put the price up to 499 so i got a serious bargain

Evans Cycles | Trek 7.3 FX 2010 Hybrid Bike | Online Bike Shop

at evans you get your first service free

 

[Sergei Gotsmanov]

If there is any chance that you may progress to some off road riding then it is worth considering a MTB.....you can put slick tyres on it and there will very little difference between an MTB and hybrid on the road. A road bike or a hybrid with thin wheels will not take much abuse so even bumping up kerbs can do a bit of damage so if you are after someting more robust think about an MTB.

If you will mainly be on the road then you want to go for a hard tail (front only suspension) as a full susser takes alot out of your legs.

With any suspension you can lock it so you dont get the suspension effect which words around town.

As suggested on here Evans can be quite helpful so for a novice its is worth getting some professional input.

 

[Aspinal's Body Double]

Three basic types of bike:

Road bike: very light, very fast, thin tyres, drop handlebars, some kind of caliper brakes (check carefully-these can still be a weakness on road bikes IMO), thin bony saddle (which can take bit of getting used to). I used to do 10 miles a day to work on a mountain bike, but when I went up to 25 miles a day I could only do this on a road bike.

Mountain bike: heavier, with suspension (prob front only for what you want), V-brakes or disc brakes which are superb (I still prefer former), very thick tyres and treads (therefore very few punctures-big plus for going to work), flat handelbars. Some will tell you not to bother with mountain bike if you are not going off road but most bikes sold today are MBs and they are generally fun and very comfortable. Suspension and gel seats are good for kerbs and pot-holes, not just off roading.

Hybrid-somewhere between the two. Still v-brakes, flat handlebars, tyres half way between. Nothing wrong with hybrids.

I've had all three (and electric, and folding...), all good for what they do.

You should probably expect to pay about £200 for good bike new (but lots of discounted bikes available from Evans, Wiggle et.c). Don't worry about make-almost all the big names made in three factories in Taiwan. Components come from two or three firms. Try before you buy, and just go for pne which feels good to you. I wouldn't pay more than £200 for what you want, you pay a lot more for something which will feel very little different to you above this price.

Others may have different views, but that's my experience.

 

[Pantani]

If there is any chance that you may progress to some off road riding then it is worth considering a MTB.....you can put slick tyres on it and there will very little difference between an MTB and hybrid on the road. A road bike or a hybrid with thin wheels will not take much abuse so even bumping up kerbs can do a bit of damage so if you are after someting more robust think about an MTB.

If you will mainly be on the road then you want to go for a hard tail (front only suspension) as a full susser takes alot out of your legs.

With any suspension you can lock it so you dont get the suspension effect which words around town.

As suggested on here Evans can be quite helpful so for a novice its is worth getting some professional input.

Pavements are for pedestrians. So there should be no problem with bumping up kerbs. Other than that I would agree, this is sound advice as is Aspinalls above.

 

[Eggmundo]

I just bought this baby from evans on the ride2work scheme:

BUT I have been appalled with the service from Evans.

I even complained to their main office office and they said they would investigate and ring me back; they never did