Any keen bikers out there? (Cyclists not motorbikers)

aliasojo

OH was into running and did various runs over the past few years, half marathons and the like.

However, he seem to have a problem with his leg and he pulls the same muscle constantly. It's been happening for months now. He went to a sports physio who massaged the leg and gave him advice but he still has problems and the muscle plays up regularly.

He's now thinking of stopping running for a longer time but is keen to not lose too much of his fitness so is considering taking up biking.

Not road biking so much but trails/hills etc.

Problem is, we have no idea what kind of bike or price range he should be looking at. We wandered into Halfords to have a look and were shocked to see bikes at £500 upwards.

The one local bike shop we found is for serious bikers (some of their bikes are thousands of pounds :eek:).

He doesn't want the cheapest bike out there (he had a Halfords Apollo job before and it was awful, heavy bike, cheap parts, constantly needed tightening up etc etc) but we can't afford to be spending huge wads of money.

Can anyone who knows more than us about bikes, advise on brands/models/ the kind of price range we should be looking at?

VestanPance

I'm a runner/cyclist/triathlete in my spare time.

It's mostly road biking I do though, when it comes to cycling. When you say trails/hills, do you mean cycle path type trails or is he keen on proper off road mountain biking?

That would determine the type of bike he'd be best going for. If it's mostly cycle paths and a bit of road cycling then he'd want a hybrid. If he is thinking of proper off road mountain bike type trails then he'd need a proper bike for that, one that can take the abuse and impact they have to deal with. I can certainly recommend some bikes and point out what to avoid, but it really depends on what it is he's planning to do cycling wise.

A good bike can cost a bit that's true, but there are deals to be found. Also worth checking out if you or your husbands work are signed up to the bike to work scheme, which is a great way to get a good bike on the cheap.

GlasweJen

In Glasgow there's a thing called "bike station". Twice a month on a Saturday the council sell bikes that have been found abandoned in the city. The bikes are professionally serviced by an engineer and come with a 3 month warranty. A few of my friends have picked £800 bikes up from there for £100.

If you google "2nd hand bikes" and your area you might find something local to you.

billa_champion

GlasweJen wrote: »

In Glasgow there's a thing called "bike station". Twice a month on a Saturday the council sell bikes that have been found abandoned in the city. The bikes are professionally serviced by an engineer and come with a 3 month warranty. A few of my friends have picked £800 bikes up from there for £100.

If you google "2nd hand bikes" and your area you might find something local to you.

for that kinda saving I might have to trek up to Glasgow from London!:D

billa_champion

VestanPance wrote: »

I'm a runner/cyclist/triathlete in my spare time.

It's mostly road biking I do though, when it comes to cycling. When you say trails/hills, do you mean cycle path type trails or is he keen on proper off road mountain biking?

That would determine the type of bike he'd be best going for. If it's mostly cycle paths and a bit of road cycling then he'd want a hybrid. If he is thinking of proper off road mountain bike type trails then he'd need a proper bike for that, one that can take the abuse and impact they have to deal with. I can certainly recommend some bikes and point out what to avoid, but it really depends on what it is he's planning to do cycling wise.

A good bike can cost a bit that's true, but there are deals to be found. Also worth checking out if you or your husbands work are signed up to the bike to work scheme, which is a great way to get a good bike on the cheap.

I'm looking to do mostly cycle paths and a bit of road cycling and would (realistically) have a budget of no more than a £500 but like the OP have no idea where to start. Any help would be appreciated!

j.e.j.

Does GumTree cover your area? Sometimes you can pick up 2nd hand bikes on there, or on EBay. I don't think I've ever actually bought a brand new bike, as they're so pricey!

VestanPance

billa_champion wrote: »

I'm looking to do mostly cycle paths and a bit of road cycling and would (realistically) have a budget of no more than a £500 but like the OP have no idea where to start. Any help would be appreciated!

Best type of bike for you would be a hybrid. It's lighter than a mountain bike but sturdier than a road bike (racer) and designed to be a more comfortable ride rather than built for speed.

Specialized and Trek are good brands that do hybrids in that price bracket. The Specialized Sirrus Sport, or Crosstail Sport are good bikes, as it the Trek 7.x series of Hybrids. If you have an Evans Cycles near by you could go and view them or check out the bikes on their website. If you have a good local bike store all the better.

Once again make sure to see if your work is signed up to the cycle to work scheme. That way you can get more bike for less money.

Chaos_Monkey

Good post, VestanPance.

Once you've decided what kind of biking you're/your husband is going to do, have a look on wiggle.com and ribblecycles.co.uk (I think that's the suffix on that one) for some research. I probably wouldn't say to buy a bike online unless you know exactly what you're after, but websites are good for seeing price ranges and spec etc.

Also, perhaps find your local bike shop (not Half0rds et al), and get some professional advice - they do actually cater for most budgets and styles of rider. They'll be able to answer any and all questions, no matter how daft you might think it is!

My DH has (among others) a Specialized Langster which cost him about 400quid a few years ago and he loves it. It's a singlespeed road bike, so not to everyone's taste, but if it's fitness you're after, a singlespeed can do the job!

Hope this helps
CM

aliasojo

Replies much appreciated, thank you.

He reckons a hybrid might be the best bet. He thinks it would be mostly flattish (but maybe stony) trails that you would walk/cycle that he would mostly be doing at least at the start. He would be cycling on the road too but only a little.

No work scheme so no help with costs unfortunately.

Can anyone advise a ballpark figure of what we're looking at to spend please? We had originally thought a couple of hundred but I think that's a bit naive now. :undecided

(Will bear in mind the Glasgow bike station thing, thanks.)

VestanPance

If you are looking at a new bike I'd say £400-500 is a realistic budget for a good quality entry level hybrid that would last you many years. If your budget is lower than that I'd look to the second hand market.

aliasojo

VestanPance wrote: »

If you are looking at a new bike I'd say £400-500 is a realistic budget for a good quality entry level hybrid that would last you many years. If your budget is lower than that I'd look to the second hand market.

Thank you. I guess we will just have to revise our (obviously unrealistic) initial thoughts on price and expect to pay more.

I'll do some searching around on the models you mentioned above and see what kind of prices they are.