Help buying a new bike please

littleredhen

My current bike has a Peugeot frame and suspension, thick nobbley tyres
I do realise that certain factors will make cycling more difficult such as wind etc, however the old railway line has a good path, mostly Tarmac most of the way and very sheltered from wind. Don't want to spend vast quantities of money on a new bike but do want to commute by bike and enjoy it, I just don't think my old bike is the right bike and may put me off before I have even started, if I thought I could by a good bike for £200 and that would make the difference between cycling or not then I would do it!

littleredhen

Can't post a picture for some reason!

Norman_Castle

littleredhen wrote: »

Thanks for advice, I was changing gears and tyres are fully inflated.

Inflated to what?. Try 50 psi. If you have one or can borrow one I find a footpump the easiest. If you find that makes a big difference fitting road biased tyres would help.

AndyBSG

littleredhen wrote: »

My current bike has a Peugeot frame and suspension, thick nobbley tyres
I do realise that certain factors will make cycling more difficult such as wind etc, however the old railway line has a good path, mostly Tarmac most of the way and very sheltered from wind. Don't want to spend vast quantities of money on a new bike but do want to commute by bike and enjoy it, I just don't think my old bike is the right bike and may put me off before I have even started, if I thought I could by a good bike for £200 and that would make the difference between cycling or not then I would do it!

Sounds to me like what you really want is a lightweight hybrid, no suspension, with semi slick tyres.

The Carrera Subway and Boardman Hybrid at Halfords are a good deal if you can put up with the ineptitude of a lot of Halford 'Bike Mechanics'(my tip would be to buy from Halfords but take it to an LBS and pay them to set it up properly after 6 weeks once everything has bedded in).

Other good value hybrids for under £500 to look at are the Giant Roam, Giant Escape, Specialized Sirius, Trek FX, Pinnacle Neon, Cannondale Quick and Scott Speedster.

I got a Carrera recently as a backup for my road bike and to let me do some dirt track riding and am pretty impressed with it for the price despite not being a fan of Halfords.

I also looked at getting a Charge Grater which also seems like a really good value bike.

Just factor in that on pretty much all of those bikes you'll be wanting to swap the tyres for a decent set of puncture proof semi slicks such as Marathon's or Specialised Armadillo's which will probably set you back about another 50 quid and you may also want lights, pump, water bottle and cage and a decent lock for it.

Tobster86

Changing to skinnier, hybrid slick tyres that can take higher pressures made a huge difference for me.

E.g, these should fit your current wheels if they're 26": http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-Kenda-K193-Kwest-Tyre-Black-Size-26-x-1-50-inches-/171708607654?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item27faa16ca6 (Note I paid £15 for a pair of these a few months ago, so shop around!)

If you're wanting to start commuting I'd suggest that as the first (and possibly only*) change.

*Bar decent lights, if it doesn't have them already.

richj

if you have a decathlon near you take a look at their bikes, they offer really good value and get rated very well in all the reviews.

littleredhen

Thanks will try changing tyres, still have 6 weeks to practice run on new tyres then commute for real in August with a new bike possibly!!

littleredhen

My current bike is super heavy, I tried to lift it onto a bike rack on my car and just couldn't lift it much past my waist!!

richj

can you post the make/model and poss a picture?

littleredhen

I can't post a picture for some reason, as I mentioned in earlier post it was put together from old bikes, it's a Peugeot frame with suspension