I have never bought an expensive bike...

ChrisLS

...I have been cycling for 25 years, ridden tens of thousands of miles, and I have never spent more than £700 on a bike...as someone once said to me, "it's more about the legs than the bike." mine are lovely...

stueyc

interesting post!!!!why??

ChrisLS

...I think some people may be put off cycling because they think they have to spend thousands on a bike. Just get the best you can afford and ride it...

robbie the roadie

To be fair £700 buys you quite a lot of bike these days. But yeah some good legs and a good attitude will take you far in cycling.

stueyc

£700 does buy a tidy bike..very tidy

il_principe

Yeah, but a lot of people seem to think that £200 is a lot for a bike!

Parkey

You can get disk brakes and full suspension on a bike from Argos for £80. Why spend more?!

cee

£200 is a lot.

not especially for a bike, but just in general

redddraggon

The most I've spent on a complete bike is £270.

(Although I am currently building a bike which will end up being made of bits worth £1500)

webbhost

Mine was £400 at the time,

Planning to buy a £2000 one in spring, however this is strictly for training only... No commuting on it, and it WILL be staying in the house regardless of what people tell me. It isn't staying with the bugs in the back yard like the other one.

toontra

I'd never spent more than £80 on a bike (all second-hand) until last year. In 2006 I rode from London to Aberdeen on a mountain bike I'd found in a skip (upgraded a few bits, admittedly). I've commuted by bike almost every day for 30 years. I actually had the same bike (a Raleigh) from the age of 13 to 39 (and did a paper round on it every day for four years!).

I've just received my new bike - a Van Nicholas Yukon, which (with extra bits & pieces) cost £1800. It feels very extravagant, but the way I see it is I spend a large amount of time on my bike, and I'm planning a LEJoG and the LEL next year. And, heck, I have the money.

So it's not all about the bike, that's for sure. But, if you have a commitment to cycling, I can think of a lot worse things to spend money on.

APIII

ChrisLS wrote:

...I have been cycling for 25 years, ridden tens of thousands of miles, and I have never spent more than £700 on a bike...:

I have. But I understand your sentiment.

fossyant

All my bikes (3) have been either good spec or top of the range.

MTB - early one - cro-mo frame Deore LX - still going today as my commuter. - Maybe 14 years old (had a respray) but most bits still original (except BB, headset)

Training bike - Ultegra Equipped 653 steel frame - some bits 22 years old, frame is probably 10 years old - many parts replaced.

Best bike - Custom Columbus SLX, with full Dura Ace 7400 series 8 speed - mainly original parts, except new wheels....16-17 years old.

Thing is there has been an investment in these, but they have lasted me a long long time......

All ride really nice, look great, work great....... I'd break a cheap bike.......

I'd strongly recommend buying a good bike - £500 say, cos it's a damn lot nicer that a £100 one, and it will last...

cycologist

For my 50th b'day iI was going to get a new bike costing around £1000 but settled for a second hand one for £250. Have done over 7000 mliles on it and am considering replacing it soon out of the "change" from my original budget.

stueyc

toontra...£80 to £1800 is hell of a jump!!....why now after so many good times on your £80 machine???

toontra

stueyc wrote:

toontra...£80 to £1800 is hell of a jump!!....why now after so many good times on your £80 machine???

Hah - yes indeed! A couple of things really. Firstly, I'm planning on increasing my cycling in the next few years, including quite a few multi-day high-milage rides, so I wanted something that would be comfy, fast and reliable. After a lot of research I decided a titanium frame would fit all these requirements. Once I'd decided on that then I narrowed it down to the Yukon.

Secondly, I did some mental arithmetic and realised that if I used public transport (or a car) I would be spending at least thousand a year on travel, so this money is just a small part of what I've saved over the years (delusional self-justification, I know!).

I did feel very attached to my "skip" bike, as I did to my original Raleigh, but the ability to go 2 - 3 mph faster really adds up over long distances. Also, as I say, I have the money at the moment and couldn't think of a better way of spending it.

stueyc

Fair point...commuteing/buses/cars/petrol nevermind reduction in car insurance does add up

my weekly commute by car costs approx £50 including parking...bus about £25

added up over the year works out at a tidy amount ,tough work at times through the winter,however cost and time taken to travel to work on my bike...which i can gauge be about 5mins regardless of traffic more than makes up for it

i can understand your £1800 investment adds up...

why titanium?

toontra

stueyc wrote:

why titanium?

I've always had steel frames. I've tried ali and carbon and found they both transmitted too much vibration from the road - carbon not so bad but I know I would be too worried about damaging it.

For me, titanium has the strength, comfort and durability of steel (in fact even better in all these aspects from what I can glean) but is noticeably lighter. I also like the fact that the Yukon frame is raw titanium, so no paint to worry about chipping or scratching.

Also, Van Nicholas give lifetime defect warranties on their frames. Even if you write it off yourself they will offer you a replacement at 50% reduction (you give them the damaged one back for them to recycle).