Bike Advice

CMOI1979

Hello people

I am new to the forum and I'm after some advice on a decent bike.

I should start by telling you a bit about myself. I am 28, live in London and I'm attempting to get far more regular exercise by commuting to and from work by bike. I want to get fitter, save money on Red Ken's extortionate fares and hopefully start cycling with my girlfriend at weekends.

Anyway I live in East London (E2) and bike theft is very high so I only want to spend £100 or so. My old housemate had a £500 mountain bike stolen right outside our door so should something happen I don't want the hit to be to great.

I have seen this one on EBAY but I am not sure if it is any good.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... :IT&ih=024

Your advice and a few pointers (Both on good bikes and tips on getting fit via cycling) would be greatly appreciated.

Happy New Year.

jeffers696

If you intend on staying on the road, I would strongly recommend not getting a full suspension bike, as it will just waist your energy. Get a hard trail (without rear suspension) in the long run it will be better and of course you can always take it off road if you wanted

paul

CMOI1979

Thanks for the tip, I'll certainly listen to it. I'll be using it mainly on the roads but also on things like canal towpaths and the odd bit of grass I should think. Nothing too serious.

I might have to spend a bit more having looked around a little.

Is there any advantage to having disc brakes as opposed to the traditional v type?

OllyUK

CMOI1979 wrote:

Is there any advantage to having disc brakes as opposed to the traditional v type?

Disc brakes have much more stopping power and peform much better in wet/muddy conditions. The only real downside is that they are a tad heavier and slightly harder to install.
Take a look at the What bike thread here: http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12540401

And as the above poster said, stay away from cheap full sussers, they are always ridicously heavy and inefficient.

CMOI1979

I see, it sounds as if disc brakes would be good for riding around in the city on a daily commute with people cutting you up left right and centre.

I think my budget is a bit unrealistic if I want something reliable that will last 2-3 years. I won't be living where I do forever but I do wish the locals weren't so light fingered.

Cheers for the pointer to the thread, some good advice in there. I'll ignore the bike I saw on EBAY and go to my local store to see what is what.

batch78

Don't know if this is of any help but hope so! http://www.hackney-cyclists.org.uk/info.htm Seems to be lots of second hand cycle shops in town and would advise at least talking to them, whatever you decide though have fun be safe and DO NOT buy that bike off ebay!

batch78

Or here. http://www.londontown.com/shopping/Sear ... e=category. Dont worry too much about suspension and discs, well adjusted v brakes are fine and look less of a catch to our light fingered friends! I rode a fully rigid, v brake equipped GT for years on and off road and prefered it to a cheap front suspension fork that you have just for the sake of it.

CMOI1979

I will check out those second hand shops you posted on Saturday as I can't make them during the evening from where I work. Hopefully I can pick something up that will do the job and more.

I guess I am not the only person who has this problem either. Choosing a bike is a lot harder than I thought it would be. There is so much more out there than I realised.

Crash helmet and lights are next.

batch78

Worse thing is once you've got one you'll always then see something else a bit better and can quickly spiral out of control unless you've got a missus who doesn't let you go mad lol!

xcracer

Sounds like you need a hybrid bike to me. Something like this perhaps: http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=86865

A mountain bike would be overkill for parks and towpaths. The best thing to do would be to go to a bike shop and tell them what you want to do and how much you want to spend and then try out their suggestions. If you don't like them leave.

If you live in Hackney you have a Halfords and an Evans near you that will do reasonably priced durable bikes.

Do not buy that bike on ebay. It is designed so that kids can smash it/grow out of it/get bored of it quickly. It's not made to last too long.

stumpyjon

Nice to see someone actually taking advice on board. Seems like you're heading in the right direction. A hybrid or hardtail MTB should suit you and be way better component / durability / weight wise than any similarly priced full suspension bike.

Ideally you should be looking at spending £ 250 + (there are bikes that are fine below this price, but this is the price point that you usually start getting a reliable bike).

Couple of things to look for, V brakes will be absolutely fine for the type of riding you're planning to do (wasn't that long ago that V brakes were the latest techinical advance) disks are only really need if you going to be in the mud or screaming downhill fast and need to stop on a six pence (road bikes don't even use V brakes).

Suspension is unlikely to help much either if you are riding on the road, cheap suspension forks will probably slow you down (they'll add weight and probably bounce uncontrollably).

The other thing to look for is tyres, wide tyres and knobbles are for mud and poor surfaces, for hard surfaces and tarmac you want tyres that are thinner and have less tread.

Halfords do do some good bikes but be a little wary, they have a reputation for being anything from excellent to downright dangerous when it comes to advice and bike setup (most stores tend towards the latter), you'll probably get better advice from a shop like Evans who whilst a chain store are dedicated bike specialists.