hybrid bike for under £250 please

jud!th

hi - I'd like the best hybrid bike I can get for the money.

I don't know anything about bikes at all, except that I want a hybrid as I'd use paths and roads, and I think I need a 17" frame.

I don't think it matters if it's not a women's bike... does it?

thanks very much for any advice!

Judith
x

kittiwoz

I don't think it matters if it's not a women's bike... does it?

Provided the height from the ground to the cross piece doesn't exceed your inside leg measurement it doesn't matter. Most bikes now have a dropped cross piece so you can step over but if they have a cross piece straight across like a traditional man's bike you have to mount by swinging your leg over the rear like getting on a horse which you wouldn't be able to do in a skirt, hence the intoduction of ladies and modern unisex style bikes.

The best bike you can get for the money is a secondhand one. They last well and a lot of people buy them and then get bored. Check out the classified ads or buy a used bike which has been reconditioned from a dedicated cycle shop. Alternately I believe you can often get good discounts on the previous years models.

Pegleg2001

If you plan to cycle to work and your employer partakes in the Cycle2Work scheme you can buy a new bike tax-free. See:

http://www.halfordsb2b.com/bikes4work-schemes.asp

http://motoring.independent.co.uk/features/article348133.ece

Fatal_Swan

Instead of a hybrid you could think about a mountain bike set up for road use. A while back (here) I posted about Halfords' 'Subway' range of Carrera bikes. The relevant bit I posted was:

They look more or less like MTBs but the frames are a little more upright than most nowadays, with slick but fairly fat tyres (maybe 1.5"), rigid (non-suspension) forks, and a suspension seatpost to take the sting out of the bumps. I have to admit they also look quite nice with an 'all black' sort of look about them. The £200 and £300 models looked very good value anyway, and would probably give you a more comfortable ride than a hybrid, and certainly more comfortable than a road bike...

Anyway, I was walking past the Halfords in Exeter a couple of days ago and in the window they had the cheapest model (Subway 1) reduced to £159 and the next one up (Subway 2) to around £230 I think. These are both excellent value for the quality of the frame and the components you get. Don't be afraid of the cheaper one either, since a lot of what you pay for on the Subway 2 is probably not too relevant at this price bracket: a slightly lighter frame and a cheap set of disc brakes which are probably not much more effective than the standard rim ('V') brakes. I noticed that these offers aren't on the website, they only have the new 2007 models at full price. I think they're probably selling off the 2006 stock and so it might not be nationwide - maybe worth phoning your local branch if you're interested.

They may have a women's model (Halfords often do) but I'd follow the previous comment, that if you can stand over the top tube of a man's bike, go for one of those. It might be worth keeping £20 or so back for a female-specific saddle in that case though. On a hybrid, on the other hand, due to the larger 27" wheels the standover height is likely to be higher so if you go for one of those maybe a women's model would suit better.

Finally, just a thought on buying second-hand... Due to the low price of new decent quality bikes like the above, it doesn't seem especially cost effective to me to buy used at present. (Though for quality bikes this is not necessarily the case.) Used parts will need replacing sooner through wear (brake pads, chains and sprockets) even if nothing breaks - and something usually does. The cost of individual new parts is relatively expensive and if you know little about bikes the chances are you'll be paying premium prices from a high-street shop and then labour on top. That'll certainly be the end of any saving you made on the original purchase!

Sorry if that's a lot of information, hope some of it's useful.