Advice on buying cheap but good bikes needed

gazzard

Are there any biking fans out there who could recommend good places / tips for buying a good new or second hand bike.

I have an absolute maximum budget of £300 including other essentials like helmets and locks. Ideally I'd like a bike for going around town or parks - not interested in mega mountain biking bikes!

Would really appreciate advice on -

Good value brand bikes
Reputable places to buy
Places / brands to avoid buying!
Any other things a biking expert thinks I should know...

I'm an absolute newbie when it comes to bikes so I don't reckon I'd know how to pick up a bargain on eBay, but any and all help much appreciated!

dianah

i'm just about to buy a bike and while i don't want to spend too much, i'd still like to buy a decent bike.
there's a guy at work who does triathlons and knows a lot about bikes and he recommended i either get a bottom range 'specialized' or 'trek' - they both do ridiculously expensive bikes but he said the bottom range is very good.
These cost over £300 on the isle of man where i live but everything is more expensive over here than in the uk as everything needs to be imported so you'll probably be able to find them cheaper - I've had a look online and they seem to start in low £200 and you will probably be able to find special offers (we only have two bike shops on the island)
He said that for that you'll get aluminium frame, v-brakes, decent gears and that the range up from these that are about £500 over here would be good enough to be used for racing (which i am not going to do so i'll just stick with the bottom range)
Anyway, these are the brands that were recommended to me. I will be buying a mountain bike but these brands do road, sports, mountain, hybrid bikes.

What I would advise though, if you want to buy a bike online (bargains!), I'd still go to a shop and 'try' bikes just so you know what size frame you need.

buyitall

I agree that you shoud go to a shop and try the different brands and sizes - different ones suit different people. Have you thought about getting one on the Bike to Work scheme?
http://www.cyclescheme.co.uk/

gazzard

Thanks very much you two. I've heard good things about Specialised from a couple of friends too, so will try and get down to a shop on the weekend and see how they suit me.

Cyclescheme looks interesting - I might have a job convincing my boss to go for it, but it's worth a shot!

onetomany

i got my son a 18 gear perfect moutian bike for afiver from the tip

photome

This site is worth a look, they often have last years or older models in stock cheaper than current models but often same spec

If you are anywhere near Dereham in norfolk they do have a physical store
http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m1b0s0p0

gazzard

onetomany wrote: »

i got my son a 18 gear perfect moutian bike for afiver from the tip

Really!? I didn't know you could buy stuff from the tip, although last time I went to one, I was 17 and with my parents...

dianah

spam reported

re: tip - i don't know whether all the tips work like ours, but ours has a recycling centre and you can just pick up stuff from there for free. i've actually never taken anything but we've dropped some stuff off there.

Clowance

we used to be able to get stuff from the tip but the council stopped this a few years ago and now it all goes to landfill - mad!

mcduff16

Kona bikes are good, I`ve got one and its the best cycle i`ve ever bought!