New bike vs repairing old bikes

armyknife

Well done, enjoy the cycling; don't try too hard, too soon and put yourself off it, break yourself in gently.

Steve-o

I did a dry run to work yesterday: the first half mile was a real bone-shaker, although I can reroute that bit with some relatively flat roads; the rest was quite pleasant to ride on, especially in the sunshine.

I came back with a flat rear though, both on myself and the tyre. Luckily only the tyre had a puncture, and it got me home before deflating. Time to get some better tyres methinks.

airtool

Interesting to hear about your flat rear end :rotfl:, the wife and i tried out our new bikes last Sunday and found the cycling to be good but the seat ruined us both after about 20 miles, Ridgeback could not surely have found a more uncomfortable seat if they tried.
We took with us a gel seat cover(from decathlon)to test and found that made very little difference.
Against all opinion from many who say in time or by wearing padded shorts you will be fine we will be trying a larger, sprung, padded, softer seat since we are leisure cyclists NOT road pounders. watch this space.

airtool

Tried out the silica seat i bought from amazon yesterday over 20 miles, original ridgeback seat 1 out of 10, gel seat cover 2 out of 10 this was 8 out of 10.
No doubt no good for the professional riders who like pencil slim seats, but for my more sedate cycling bliss.

AspiringlyFrugal

Hello, I don't know if it's too late yet but, here is my 2p.

There is an alarmingly huge difference between a quality bicycle and the sadly omnipresent consumer product equivalent.

It would be preferable for you to fix your 2 bicycles instead of buying yet another bike, particularly the steel frame bicycle. Otherwise, I would recommend that you donate your 2 remaining bikes to a charity/second hand shop which can fix it up and sell it on e.g re-cycling of London.

Many older bikes (steel frame, up to the early 1990s) are built to a far superior standard than most of the bicycles you will get nowadays for less than £500. Before mountain bikes dictated the 'style', bicycles were generally built for practical daily use e.g.:

• Upright / good riding geometry
• Rear Rack / Panniers
• Strong steel frame
• Strong wheels
• Dynamo Lights
• On bike pump

Whether you decide to use your existing bicycle(s) or use a new one, I suggest you go to a proper bike shop (Evans, Cycle surgery, or a local bike shop) test ride a quality bike for at least a mile (and uphill) and ensure that whatever you choose rides as well (or better than) this bike.

Examples of reputable bicycle manufacturers are:

• Pashley
• Azor
• Gazelle
• Brompton
• Bobbin
• Pre 90s Raleigh

AspiringlyFrugal

On the saddle front, I would recommend something hard. Soft saddles can cause unpleasant side-effects (especially with Men.) Saddles such as Brooks leather saddles may take some getting used to initially, but shall soon 'bed in' to a luxuriously comfortable saddle which will be long lasting.

Brooks saddle recommendations:
B17
B17 Flyer
B33 - for sit up & beg position

If you fix up one of your preexisting bicycles and add one of the above to it, then it should feel like a new bike