Help buying a new bike please

richj

ah ok, as above if it's older parts then it will probably be quite heavy. If you wander down to halfords or a local bike store (lbs) have a look and see what takes your fancy. there is a lot of bike out there for not a lot atm. Halfords are having flash sales for the tour de france - today they have the carrera crossfire hybrid heavily discounted

PasturesNew

littleredhen wrote: »

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!!

That is heavy. I'm the world's unfittest and weakest person, I don't do any exercise, I smoke and eat pies... I am also tiny. I bought an aluminium frame bike and managed to carry it in one go up 100 steps up a cliff path from a beach without even breaking into a sweat one day when I was pootling about.

I didn't take to cycling because every time I went out the chain would fall off and it was a right pain in the butt ...and the only advice the man at the shop could offer me was I wasn't cycling fast enough

Or the other time, when I got a puncture....

Bl00dy nuisance. Never had this with my old fashioned bike.

Keep_pedalling

PasturesNew wrote: »

That is heavy. I'm the world's unfittest and weakest person, I don't do any exercise, I smoke and eat pies... I am also tiny. I bought an aluminium frame bike and managed to carry it in one go up 100 steps up a cliff path from a beach without even breaking into a sweat one day when I was pootling about.

I didn't take to cycling because every time I went out the chain would fall off and it was a right pain in the butt ...and the only advice the man at the shop could offer me was I wasn't cycling fast enough

Or the other time, when I got a puncture....

Bl00dy nuisance. Never had this with my old fashioned bike.

More likely to be cheap derailiers very poorly adjusted

Richard53

£500 will get you a very decent bike. Probably best keeping that kind of sum for later, when you know your needs and tastes a bit better. Halfords are doing hybrids at the moment for around £200 or less that seem very well specified and get good reviews. If your current bike is so heavy you can't lift it, you will be amazed at how light modern bikes are. You'd get a new bike (admittedly Halfords' mechanics can be of variable quality) and a bike that was much more suitable for your needs for less than half what you are planning to spend.


You do not need suspension (especially on the rear) unless you are doing serious off-road jumps and rough trails. All it does is soak up your energy every time you press the pedals. A rigid frame will be fine for roads and decent paths.


As others have said, good lighting is essential. Hub dynamos add weight and always have a slight drag, even when the lights aren't on. My current lighting set-up is a Cat-Eye oval rear light (under a tenner, runs on AAA batteries, and has done over 30 hours so far in flash mode without going dim) and a Moon Meteor front light. The Moon is expensive (around £50), but it fits in a pocket, is bright enough to set fire to hedgerows, and recharges from the computer's USB port while I am at work. That will do an hour on its brightest setting, and is bright enough to ride on unlit country lanes up to about 15 mph. I tend to ride with a small flashing light front and rear, but my riding is on rural roads where vehicle speeds can be high and sightlines short. If your miles are on a disused railway, this may not be an issue for you.


It's an old adage, but your current heavy bike will probably put you off cycling for life. Spend a bit to get a decent one and you will have a source of pleasure, transport and fitness for a long time. I have been cycling to work for the last three months and have lost over two stone - best decision I made for years.

Keep_pedalling

Richard53 wrote: »

£500 will get you a very decent bike. Probably best keeping that kind of sum for later, when you know your needs and tastes a bit better. Halfords are doing hybrids at the moment for around £200 or less that seem very well specified and get good reviews. If your current bike is so heavy you can't lift it, you will be amazed at how light modern bikes are. You'd get a new bike (admittedly Halfords' mechanics can be of variable quality) and a bike that was much more suitable for your needs for less than half what you are planning to spend.


You do not need suspension (especially on the rear) unless you are doing serious off-road jumps and rough trails. All it does is soak up your energy every time you press the pedals. A rigid frame will be fine for roads and decent paths.


As others have said, good lighting is essential. Hub dynamos add weight and always have a slight drag, even when the lights aren't on. My current lighting set-up is a Cat-Eye oval rear light (under a tenner, runs on AAA batteries, and has done over 30 hours so far in flash mode without going dim) and a Moon Meteor front light. The Moon is expensive (around £50), but it fits in a pocket, is bright enough to set fire to hedgerows, and recharges from the computer's USB port while I am at work. That will do an hour on its brightest setting, and is bright enough to ride on unlit country lanes up to about 15 mph. I tend to ride with a small flashing light front and rear, but my riding is on rural roads where vehicle speeds can be high and sightlines short. If your miles are on a disused railway, this may not be an issue for you.


It's an old adage, but your current heavy bike will probably put you off cycling for life. Spend a bit to get a decent one and you will have a source of pleasure, transport and fitness for a long time. I have been cycling to work for the last three months and have lost over two stone - best decision I made for years.

Well done on on the weight loss, that was the reason I took up longer distance riding. Managed to lose 4 stone, although I've put some of that back on and need to up the mileage again. Planning to do a 150km ride with my brother at the week end.

On the subject of hub dynamos, yes they do add drag but with the lights off you would be hard pushed to notice any difference, and the weight of them is only going to add about 100-150 grams over a standard hub, something that will make no difference to the average cyclist, in fact if you had a wheel built with hub and lighter rims it would improve performance. I can just about detect a touch of drag at high speed (which usually means down hill) with the lights on but otherwise it's not that noticeable.

I don't have one on my now stolen CF road bike but I do both on my town bike and touring bike. I have done day rides of up to 300km on the tourer and can honestly say that having a dynamo hub has not really slowed me down. It's nice knowing that the lighting is always there, although if I'm going to be doing a lot of night riding I have a back up rear light, and carry a head tourch both as a backup for the front light, and for dealing with punctures and other mechanical issues that might occur.

littleredhen

Wow well done on your weight loss, I guess I am worried about spending even a couple of hundred pounds and it being the wrong bike!
Maybe a silly question but will Halfords let you do a test cycle.
I am really keen to start cycling to work as I am sure I will enjoy it, when I was a teenager I loved riding my bike, just coz im old and fat doesn't mean I can't again!!

Richard53

littleredhen wrote: »

Wow well done on your weight loss, I guess I am worried about spending even a couple of hundred pounds and it being the wrong bike!

Thank you! What you need to remember is that bicycles hold their value far better than cars. If you bought one and sold it for half what you paid after a week (not that I think you will), you are still down only a hundred. Try doing that with even a cheap car. Most bikes seem to lose about 1/3 in the first year or so, and then devalue very slowly. This is why buying a newish s/h one is such a good idea. But to do that, you really need to know a bit about what you are looking for, or a knowledgeable 'friend'.

Maybe a silly question but will Halfords let you do a test cycle.

I have no personal experience, but I have heard of it happening. I can't imagine they would expect to sell any bikes without allowing that. From what I can gather, Halfords stores vary enormously. Some are staffed by enthusiastic and knowledgeable cyclists, others by semi-literate monkeys, and it's anyone's guess what you will get, so personal recommendation is useful. I still prefer a proper bike shop over a chain, though. In the words of the great Richard Ballantine, "the little extra you pay buys you an awful lot."

I am really keen to start cycling to work as I am sure I will enjoy it, when I was a teenager I loved riding my bike, just coz im old and fat doesn't mean I can't again!!

Just get on and do it. You won't regret it.

Richard53

Keep_pedalling wrote: »

On the subject of hub dynamos ...

Fair enough. My experience of hub dynamos goes back to the units of the late 70s. I am prepared to concede that things may have moved on since then!


Bottle dynos - now there was a nightmare. More drag than Eddie Izzard.

littleredhen

Am going to look for an independent bike shop and get on and do it!!

littleredhen

Just had a better idea, going to go to my local Bike Station, they do reconditioned bikes and are experts in their field. Why hadn't I thought of that sooner!!