Get existing bike fixed or buy a new one

thelawnet

I'd look at Forest, which is £9 for 5 days for dockless e-bike.

Or the Boris Bikes at £120/year (or proportionately more for a month).

I wouldn't want to reserve the bike every day. 

DanielDeronda

Here are some details of the actual bike I bought.

https://www.bikeradar.com/news/boardman-bikes-2011-performance-series/

From Halfords £499 was the Boardman Hybrid Comp.

My commute is only an option for the bike. For my job I have to regularly visit stores to track competitors, promos, our range of products. I have to walk or get public transport. Having a bike will mean no need to reclaim expenses & could easily get to a wider range of stores (geographically).

And also just a good way to improve my fitness.

MilesT6060842

bouicca21 said:

Independent bike shop all the way! Develop a relationship.  Paddington to Covent garden is easy, but has OP checked whether it is equally easy to book a bike space on a Reading to London train?  

Since Daniel (OP) mentions Paddington, I can recommend Westminster Wheels on Church Street, NW8.  

Not too far from Paddington, and it is a social enterprise which services bikes but also trains unemployed people to become bike mechanics.

rollingmoon

Keep_pedalling said:

I would take a third option, rather than spend money on a service or a new bike, take a bicycle maintenance training course and buy yourself a set of tools that will enable you to do all your own basic maintenance. That investment will last you a lifetime and save you a lot of money over that time. 

https://www.wiggle.com/p/lifeline-bike-tool-kit-18-piece

There are also plenty of YouTube videos on how to service and repair your bike. 

This. A bicycle is not a complicated machine, and my limited experience of the shops that support them since I took up riding again is that they are fairly useless in most areas other than charging like a wounded rhino. I took mine - a Dawes Suburbia e-bike - to the nearest Dawes dealer indicated on their website to have the rear wheel bearings replaced, only to be told he wouldn't touch it because "there'll be wires and god knows what else in there" (the rear hub). A shop closer to home told me they'd do it, but - sucking through his teeth - the proprietor told me what a terrible job it was and it'd cost £300. 

Thankfully I'm OK with the spanners, albeit more used to cars and motorbikes, and stripped it down myself... total cost £6 for a pair of SKF bearings (this is only my supposition, but I'd put money on bike shops sticking 50p Chinesium bearings in there on the basis that no-one will know). It took me half an hour to strip the old bearings out, and the same again to refit the new ones.

Yep, a bit of effort in learning to fix your own bike and a few quid spent on spanners will pay dividends.

MacPingu1986

rollingmoon said:

Keep_pedalling said:

I would take a third option, rather than spend money on a service or a new bike, take a bicycle maintenance training course and buy yourself a set of tools that will enable you to do all your own basic maintenance. That investment will last you a lifetime and save you a lot of money over that time. 

https://www.wiggle.com/p/lifeline-bike-tool-kit-18-piece

There are also plenty of YouTube videos on how to service and repair your bike. 

This. A bicycle is not a complicated machine, and my limited experience of the shops that support them since I took up riding again is that they are fairly useless in most areas other than charging like a wounded rhino. I took mine - a Dawes Suburbia e-bike - to the nearest Dawes dealer indicated on their website to have the rear wheel bearings replaced, only to be told he wouldn't touch it because "there'll be wires and god knows what else in there" (the rear hub). A shop closer to home told me they'd do it, but - sucking through his teeth - the proprietor told me what a terrible job it was and it'd cost £300. 

Thankfully I'm OK with the spanners, albeit more used to cars and motorbikes, and stripped it down myself... total cost £6 for a pair of SKF bearings (this is only my supposition, but I'd put money on bike shops sticking 50p Chinesium bearings in there on the basis that no-one will know). It took me half an hour to strip the old bearings out, and the same again to refit the new ones.

Yep, a bit of effort in learning to fix your own bike and a few quid spent on spanners will pay dividends.

I do think you've been *incredibly* unlikely with your bike shop experience there. For comparison, in London, I've just had a full strip to bare frame, service and rebuild of my road bike (which has electronic gear shifting, the works etc...) and it cost about £250 - and that's the first time I've had to do that in 8 years of owning - to basically return it to "completely new" condition 

rollingmoon

MacPingu1986 said:

I do think you've been *incredibly* unlikely with your bike shop experience there.

The way I look at it, these two shops have actually done me a favour. Since then, when anything else has gone wrong with the bike (not much tbh: a broken spoke, new brake cable and blocks) I just fix it myself and think of the money I've saved.

Username03725

Learn to look after it and fix it yourself. As above it's a life skill that will pay you back many times over. Bikes are a collection of the most simple engineering concepts known to man - simple levers mainly.

Start by learning the M Check - the M loosely follows the shape of the bike from gears to brakes & seat post, to chain & front gears then steering, front brakes and front wheel. https://www.cyclegrampian.co.uk/safety/m-check-bike.html

Or the simple ABC check that kids doing Bileability are taught:
A is air - check the tyres are inflated, and that they're in good shape not worn smooth or down to the canvass and no obvious splits or tears on the tread surface and on the sidewalls. Check the wheels - securely & tightly fitted not loose, spokes are all tight, the wheel is true and doesn't rock on the the axle.
B is brakes. Check that they work, that they are fully on before the lever touches the bars, that the pads are in good shape and lined up with the rim not the tyre or the spoke nipples. Check the cable is free and not frayed or rusting at the lever end and where it clamps to the brake mech.
C - chain. Lubed, in good shape, dark / grey / black / shiny. Not orange & rusty. 

Anything that doesn't look right is generally an easy fix with a million YouTube vids showing how to go about it. Tools are pretty basic - a set of decent Allen Keys, Pozi screwdriver, spanners to fit the seat clamp & brake cable clamps if not Allen bolts or quick release, and some lube. And a track pump. Tyres go down, just like balloons do.

Do one bit at a time; don't see it all as a massive overhaul & service task but start with the easy stuff - seat clamp, air in tyres. Your local bike shop will be happy to sell you parts and tools.