I need a new cheapish bike.

georgiac

Hi, I'm looking to buy a man's mountain-ish bike.

It will basically be used for the odd day out with the kids along cycle paths, nothing strenuous or too demanding.

I've seen several of the dirt cheap (£60) versions in JJB and Toys r US and wonder how these compare to the more expensive £150 next up ones in people's opinions.

I know it's a tricky question comparing a Fiesta and and Ferrari, but it will only be used a couple of dozen times a year and so I can't justify spending too much on this present. Any advice on makes to look out for/avoid, and which shops to consider would be much appreciated.

Thanks for looking

slowen

From personal experience I would advise against Toys R Us as their customer service is appalling and their staff will tell you anything to get you to purchase a bike like you have 30 days hassle free money back in fact it is only 14 days but they neglected to tell me when purchasing. A great line that they tell you is that they have "bike technitians" in store to assemble bikes, I would not let they make anything out of Lego let alone set up a bike as they are useless.

I was told in a mountain bike you basically pay cheap you get !!!!!! and better going for a good second hand bike if you only want to spend a little amount otherwise go for a higher price bike.

Apparantly Toys R Us get their bikes in bulk from the middle east for next to nothing and make loads of profit on them

julesgr

Tesco's if you have a larger store near you have bikes in again this year for about £60 I bought mine there last year, bog standard with gears no fancy suspension but for basic use and riding up and down the local towpath seems fine ( just added a wider saddle as i'n built on the comfy side)

Brighty

Hi there

What’s been said before is definitely true. If you buy cheap you get !!!!!!.

I would definitely avoid supermarkets and toy shops for bikes. Go to your local bike shop. One thing to avoid are definitely cheap bikes with full (front and rear) suspension, they are very dodgy and weigh a ton. Other things to avoid in a budget bike are disc brakes and even front suspension, though this is difficult nowadays as it seems all bikes come with front suspension. This leaves more of the budget for the rest of the bike, leaving you with a better, lighter, more reliable machine. Try and stick to the well established brands such as Specialized, Giant, Trek, Kona etc.

Just so you know, all the major brands bring out new bikes each year, usually just with a new colour scheme and that years components. This means you can now get ’05 bikes with good discounts compared with the ’06 version, I got £250 off my bike.

If you can stretch to it I would recommend the ’05 Specialized Hardrock Sport which is a very well thought of bike, I got my girlfriend the girls version for Christmas. You can get it for around £230 which I understand is way out of you budget. I’ll have a look in a few of my bike mags tonight for recommendations for cheaper bikes.

Brighty

georgiac

Thanks everyone for your input. I realise that you get what you pay for, I just didn't realise how cheap and nasty differs from mediocre to decent.

We carry our bikes on a bike rack on the car so weight is an issue.

Is it worth looking for second hand decent bikes and if so where? Do we try shops or ebay, especially if I don't know which model I'm looking for, that may be tricky.

Thanks again, much appreciated

Lorian

georgiac wrote:

Is it worth looking for second hand decent bikes and if so where? Do we try shops or ebay, especially if I don't know which model I'm looking for, that may be tricky.

Be careful if you don't know what you are looking for, and don't know how to thoroughly check the bike wheels and frame are true, gears work properly etc.

I recently purchased a month old (more expensive bike) from Ebay for just over half the new price, and it's mint, so there are bargains to be had if you know what you are looking for/at.

Here is a good place to be looking too. I've pointed it at the Hybrid page, as for the type of cycling you'll be doing they are more suited than mountain bikes or road bikes.

frosty

I have purchased bikes from https://www.sterlinghouse.co.uk they are cheap.

georgiac

Thanks for all the advice everyone, I think I'm going to push the boat, or should that be bike, out!

I've just been out with an Olympic gold medalist and his road bike ( a Trek )weighs about the same as my mudguard!

As weigh is a factor I think I may plump for a more expensive model, I'll take a look at the Hardrock Sport and see what else my local specialists stock.

Any further comments welcome.

sav_vas

I just received the Summer (!) catalogue from Edinburgh Bicycle Cooperative. They have an own brand MTB bike Revolution Cuillin for £199 which would be ideal as a street/towpath bike; or you could upgrade to the Cuillin Sport for an extra £50 or for an extra £100 the Cuillin Disc has (you guessed it) disc brakes.

When I lived in Scotland I used to regularly visit the shops in Edinburgh and Aberdeen and the service was excellent. They have now opened a shop in Newcastle. If you can't visit a shop they do free delivery on bikes and have 6 months interest free credit on bikes >£250.

http://www.edinburgh-bicycle.co.uk/catalogue/detail.cfm?ID=22630

EvilMonkey

The Edinburgh Bicycle Cooperative is well known for decent own brand bikes, so could be worth a look.

Another brand which gets good reviews, but can be found fairly cheaply is Claud Butlers. They do a range of bikes and something like the cape wrath normally gets decent reviews for the £300 mark bikes..

CashBash

If you are after a secondhand bike, have you considered a police stolen recovered one.

As the name suggests, when the police recover stolen items they try and trace the owner.
After a period of time, if the item is not claimed, it is disposed of.

Each police force manages this process itself and, unfortunately, they are not all linked together.

However, one initiative which brings together several police forces is Virtual Bumblebee.
You can see which items are being disposed of on their website:

http://www.bumblebeeauctions.co.uk/XcAuctionPro.asp

I would also suggest doing a search of the web for other police forces.
I found the following links after a brief search:

http://www.west-midlands.police.uk/general/auction-recovered-property.asp

http://www.police-information.co.uk/Docs/policeauctions/

Some forces also use eBay to dispose of items so that might be worth a gander.

Finally, be careful of any websites or eBay ads which promise to give you exclusive details of police auctions for a fee. This information is in the public domain and can be found for free with a little effort.

HTH.