Best place to get a cheap bike?

citykid5

I've now had my subway 8 for 4 years and never had to do anything to it. I love the fact that it has sealed hub gears, so no noisey clicking when the deralier needs adjusting, and Kevlar tyres so touch wood never had a puncture either. plus is you stop suddenly in traffic you just select a lower gear on the indicator and it's ready to use straight away. a great value everyday commuter

airtool

Wife and i wanted a hybrid bike each, my first hurdle was i found that in my web research there were many "future" lance armstrongs on cyclist forums that just said buy a good secondhand bike off ebay, gumtree etc. don't buy a bike under £500, £300 £250 etc etc. your just going to get rubbish.
Not being utterly stupid and realising that money buys quality but at the same time we neither had any visions of owning a yellow jersey or cycling the pyrenees i did some research on what to look for on a cheapish bikes.
First try a few hybrids in a bike shop to get your frame size, ensure top bar clearance for wedding tackle and seat allows your leg to get straight when pedal on bottom also check handlebar not to far away.
Frame
hi tensile steel : just means a heavy bike but can be welded (who welds bikes nowadays ?
chromoly : very good lighter than steel
aluminium, 6061,7005 etc : light alloy very good, best bet on cheap bike
brakes : look for tektro
gears : i only looked at the Shimano make, altus is better than tourney levers are better than twist grip.
where will you use bike?
on the flat : single gear (hard work)
slight gradients hub : gear 3/7 gears
otherwise 21 or 24 gears common for general use.
wheels : look for puncture proof tyres/stainless steel spokes.
cheap websites
ukbikesdepot
bikes2udirect
Finally we bought 2 ridgeback hybrid bikes i also considered mongoose, i saved £120 on one bike buying from ukbikesdepot (cycle gear) it was classified as exdisplay/2nd's it came in box from supplier still with the paper on it and delivered in 3 days.
I am not a bike specialist and don't aim to be but i visited the decathlon store in Reading and found their own brand bikes very reasonably priced worth a look.
decathlon
sorry not allowed to post links ?
best of luck