First bike - any advice?

Rouen

Hello all, this is my first post on this forum

I'm 20 and used to bike absolutely everywhere as a kid but stopped when I was about 14 and subsequently got fat. I've lost about 3 stone going to the gym but I'm starting college in September and want to save myself £80+ in train fares, so I will be getting a new bike on payday.

I've looked a little bit so far but I'm not really mechanically minded when it comes to bikes so the technical stuff goes way over my head. I did however go into my local bike shop and asked around. I was originally attracted by the Ridgeback Cyclone http://www.airevalleycycles.com/products.php?plid=m1b0s9p3601 because the majority (if not all) of my riding will be on the road, but I do plan on taking it into the rougher stuff when I get used to biking again, so I'm not sure if the slick tyres of the Cyclone/Urban bikes would be any good?

So been looking at some mountain ones, my budget is around £300 max for a Hardtail. So far I'm looking at these :

http://www.airevalleycycles.com/products.php?plid=m1b0s2p3568 Ridgeback MX2 2008
http://www.airevalleycycles.com/products.php?plid=m1b0s2p3405 MONGOOSE Tyax Comp
http://www.airevalleycycles.com/products.php?plid=m1b0s2p4123 GT Outpost
http://www.airevalleycycles.com/products.php?plid=m1b0s2p4397 GT Avalanche 3.0

I'm 6`2 and 14.6 stone, the guy at the bike shop said I would need to look at 19 or 20" frames. So, what do you think, any advice or suggestions? I think its between the GT Avalanche or the Ridgeback MX2. How do you think the tyres would cope with being on the road the majority of the time?

Cheers! 8)

Larok

Have a look here http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12540401

The ridgeback dosn't look great, go with something on the list - the GT is on there. You could get some semi slicks if you fancied, would speed up the bike on road.

Rouen

Hi, thanks for that. Also just noticed that I posted this topic in the wrong forum, sorry mods!

I know its probably an incredibly stupid question, but when it says "8spd drivetrain" does that mean it has 8 gears?

zeropoint

I'm 6'2", with 34" inside leg, weighing 13st. I have a 21" Rockhopper and it fits really well, both length and height. I used to prefer a slighly smaller bike, but if you commute, that can cause problems.

This is useful:

http://www.tredz.co.uk/sizingguides.asp#hardtail

And also look at the sizing guidelines for the particular bike you prefer.

I'll be buying these also:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/Schwa ... 300003751/

People seem to be fond of them.