Buying A Bicycle

TRADESIZE

point of note.

mountain bike have 26 inch wheels. road bike and some hybrid bikes have whats is known as 700c wheels, they are 28 inches. If your regularly communiting 700c will take you there quciker and with less effort than mountain bike sized 26 inch wheels. Any journey you make regualry more tnan 3 miles away I'd go for a hybrid 700c wheeled bike.

I ride a fixed gear bike on a 20 mile round trip most days a week to work and back.
that is the crank (pedals) dont stop turning unless the back wheel does. It also has no gears.
In the UK you dont really actually need gears you know, they will only need adjusting al the time. 3 speed is more than enough, but finding a good 3 speeder is nigh on impossible.

I've just ridden john a groats to lands end too, unfortunatly i had to use a geared bike for that!

Suffolkman_2

Whatever you decide. Make sure that the bike fits you properly and can be adjusted to fit by a friend or by a decent shop. I wouldn't buy a mountainbike unless you want to ride off road as the cheaper ones are heavy and slow on the road. You are better off with a road bike, a hybrid or fixed for road use.

brianbrian

I would think about spending a bit more on a mountain bike that the Halford offerings - You can't go far wrong than a Specialized Hardrock or Rockhopper - you get a decent bike for a few hundred quid. I bought from a local bike shop Noah's Ark in Gloucestershire and have been very happy with my Specialized

bosseyed

DKLS wrote: »

Specialised
Trek
Orange
GT
Kona
Cannondale (Which is what I have, with two sets of wheels, one with knobblies for off road use, and the other set has slicks for road use)

They all manufacture bikes from a few hundred quid to thousands.


what sort of riding are you wanting to do? as that will affect your choice, do you want to go off road?, Is your idea of off road cycling, along the canal tow path, or launching yourself of a welsh mountain at great speed?

I agree with that list - I'd also chuck in Gary Fisher as a decent make. You can often get a very good level of kit for quite cheap with Gary Fishers.

I have a Kona and I can vouch for the build quality - its awesome.

Specialized are lovely bikes, as others have said, but I have found them to be a tad on the pricey side. if you're penny pinching then you can often find a better specced bike for cheaper, just because it doesn;t have specialized written on it! Bit like Sony really.....

Depending on your budget, you can buy last years model of a certain bike which is generally a lot cheaper and not often that different from the new model - I bought an 08 model Kona which was £500 cheaper than the 09 model and has essentially the same level of kit.

Personally I wouldn't say having a mountain bike with big knobbly tyres is a bad thing for commuting. I commute regularly on mine and whilst it will be more effort than skinny smaller wheels, its not that much of a chore, plus you can then use if for offroad stuff on the weekend. Or just buy a set of 'commute' wheels/tyres for it and swap them over.

And I would say spend spend a little more than the Apollo style halfords offerings. Not being a snob or anything, but Apollo has always been a cheap, heavy make with poor spec levels and (especially these days) pointless, useless heavy suspension. Look for second hand if need be. As long as its not creaking and wobbling with bits falling off and cranks grinding etc, its hard to go wrong with a second hand bike.

Mids_Costcutter

If you're working, does your employer offer the Cycle to Work scheme via payroll? The typical saving on a new bike plus equipment for an average taxpayer is between 38-45 %. This might mean you can buy a better quality machine than you might have otherwise have budgeted for, plus you pay back in instalments.

For more info. see:

http://www.bikeforall.net/content/cycle_to_work_scheme.php

marmitedog

TRADESIZE wrote: »

It also has no gears.

Apart from the one you're in of course!