Absolute beginner needing some buying advice.

gdoug10

Hi,

I'm a complete newbie here and not ridden a bike for 20 odd years since I last owned a Raleigh Gold Super Burner and looking for a lot of advice.

I've recently moved from the city to the Northumberland coast and would like to take advantage of cycling the coastal paths. The routes I plan to use will be a mix between roads and very light trails/paths.
I don't have any plans to start 'proper' MTB and don't need anything too fancy...yet...

From the little I've gleamed from here I guess I'd need something like a hybrid or a hardtail but I'm really not sure. I have a birthday coming up and the wife will gladly buy me a bike up to about £250.

Any help/advice is greatly appreciated.
Cheers.

supersonic

Hi and welcome to bikeradar.

I don't think you need an MTB, a hybrid will be a bit lighter and better suited. But hybrids can vary a lot from being almost MTBs to basically flat bar road bikes. MTBs however are more versatile and will put you in good stead should you decide to venture further off road.

What shops do you have local to you? It is always a good idea to try bikes out first so you get the correct size.

Also have a read of the Beginners FAQ thread in this forum section.

gdoug10

I'm working in Telford atm and from google there's a few bike shops nearby as well as a halfords.

So from the FAQ I guess I need a Hybrid bike with V brakes, decent alloy wheels, good fork and with higher gearingto cope with the roads.
I'm 6'3" so I think I'll need a 21" frame tho I'll try a couple of the bike shops and try them out for size.
I have absolutly no idea what model's are best to go for or which ones are better built or easy to maintain?

supersonic

You don't really need a suspension fork - though fewer and fewer are coming with rigid forks these days.

Have a look at the Carrera Subway

gdoug10

Is it best to try each bike or for example could I go to halfords and work out what size frame I need then get the bike online from Evans, or is that a really bad idea?

I'd also like some opinions on this one from Evans, it seems to tick all the boxes but I've no idea if Specialized are a good make or not....
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/spe ... e-ec001477

God I thought this would be easy but theres so much to it now!!! Things have changed a hell of a lot since the choices were a Chopper or a Grifter

Banned!

problem with sizing a frame is that every manufacturers idea of a 21" frame will be different. some will measure it from the BB to the top tube, some will use the seat tube, some will use the point where they meet, some will use the top and others the bottom.

plus the length of the top tube is more important than frame size. you might have really long arms and feel cramped on one bike but will have plenty of room on another.

halfords have a really limited selection so go to as many shops as you can and try as many as you can fit into your time. one will suggest itself, you'll know which, it will just feel right.

oh, thats specialised is hideous and a rubbish bike too.

supersonic

You can go that route, but buying locally has the advantage of easy to reach after sales service, free builds and services etc.

The Specialized looks a bit nasty really!

This looks better:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/rid ... e-ec001140

Banned!

i used to have a ridegback Diablo jump bike. excellent little machine it was and the after service was brilliant. i met the glasgow rep in Gear and told him my crank arm was coming loose on the non drive side. he took my adress and about a week later I got a new crank, bb and chainring ensemble.

so yeah, thats much better than the sepcialized.

gdoug10

Ah, I see I was blinded by the price and a massive description ( that I couldn't understand anyway) ho hum... That looks like a great bike, good colour too

Right there's an Evans shop in Gateshead which is on my way back home from Telford so I'll leave a bit early tommor afternoon and drop and check out the sizes. Incedently if they don't have the Ridgeback model I'm after but another Ridgeback would it be ok to try thaty one for size or do manufacturers vary sizes between models???

Thanks for the help guys it's really appreciated, with a bit of luck I might have bought one this weekend.

Banned!

the geometry of the bike will depend on what its built for.

I have a 16" frame, but its a dh bike so the set up is completely different from that of a jump bike or a trail bike.

test the bike youre actually going to buy.

keirtristan

Had a Ridgeback Velocity Hybrid. Great bike for what it was. Sold it to my nephew the other month and bought an MTB, happened to by a Genesis which is a sister/off shoot company of Ridgeback.

Would definitely recommend their hybrids.

Mickey Eye

If I was buying a hybrid I'd be sorely tempted by something like the Trek 7. FX bikes. Look! Rigid forks.

If you can bump the budget up a bit (pay for some of it yourself) the 7.5 looks really sweet.