Opinions Please - Argos Hybrid Commuter

seataltea

I know it's from Argos so please don't go nuts about that but it'll be faster and lighter than my road converted FS MTB plus cheaper to maintain etc

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/p ... mpid=COJUN

I haven't had a road oriented bike since my eddy merckx in the 70's as a kid so I am very out of touch but I now also have a wiser head on my shoulders and at ths price I am tempted.

Some quick views would be great, thanks.

roger_merriman

if the FS MTB has slicks fitted it is likely to be faster.

how far is your commute? the bike is likely to be heavy and clunky fine for short distance/low speed but hard work for any thing else.

I use a like bike, perfect for short commute and popping into town but, both the MTB and the old roadie are a lot faster.

but once settled down it costs almost zero to run, I oil it once in a while and give it new brake blocks.

seataltea

16 miles return and very recently the most part is along a perfectly smooth newly tarmaced canal towpath. It then includes some good old yorkshire cobbles and at least one Pennine valley to summit hillclimb (think Hovis advert). On the MTB I can do it in 1/2hr after a large cup of coffee. Trouble is the MTB was previously used for marathon events and was great when the towpath looked like something form the blitz and I arrived at work covered in mud but I know that with the new surface a road bike would be so much faster and easier. The MTB has semi road tyres btw.

The purely road variant gets a decent review on here.

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... d-09-34648

supersonic

It doesn't look like bad value at all. Alu frame, 8 speed cassette, aheadset, racks and guards. Seen a lot worse for this money.

cyberknight

All i can say is pity they cannot even get the wheel size right..... 28 inches? i assume they mean 700c and it does look chunky .

I assume it would be for home delivery and therefore under the distance selling act so you could return it withing 14 days if it turned out to be crap?

That all said i used to think muddy fox was a good brand although i could be wrong, certainly for the price it seems a good deal.

Edit check this

http://www.muddyfox.com/milano_hybrid_2008.html


seems to have a high gearing for commuting with a 52/42 chainring and a 13-26 cassette ,if you have hills i would think you are going to struggle.


You could try giving the company a ring and ask for more details....


Enquiries & Customer Care

Phone: 0844 888 8484
(8:30am to 6:00pm, Monday to Friday)

Email: info@muddyfox.com

UndercoverElephant

Looks pretty good for the money, in fact for that money it looks very good. Also, there aren't many hills you couldn't get up at 42/26, unless you live in the Alps.

oscarbudgie

WTF? its from feckin Argos and will be utter sh!te....and for the money you could get a decent s/h proper bike

cyberknight

UndercoverElephant wrote:

Looks pretty good for the money, in fact for that money it looks very good. Also, there aren't many hills you couldn't get up at 42/26, unless you live in the Alps.

True it just depends on how much you carry in extra weight in panniers .

il_principe

Not with a bargepole.

downfader

For a little extra money have a look at the Carrera Subway 1 for around 220 quid in Halfords.

Carrera have kind of taken off where Muddy Fox left off in the 90s. MF just dont appear to be the same company thesedays, I've seen a couple of their bikes about lately and they do look cheaply put together. :?

cyberknight

I have a subway 1 , its a cracking bike for the price but i was only trying to review the MF.

If you have the money i would go with a subway ,at least you get a place to take it back to if it goes wrong even if it is halfords ( i know some are good some are not ).The subway is a mtb size wheel but stick some slicks ( i have city jets26x1.5) and it can really motor.

redvee

Heard somebody riding home from sportsdirect on their new bike this morning. The crunching of mis-indexed gears was a giveaway and frightening at the same time.

seataltea

supersonic wrote:

It doesn't look like bad value at all. Alu frame, 8 speed cassette, aheadset, racks and guards. Seen a lot worse for this money.

supersonic I respect your short opinion and have ordered it, it is after all three tanks of petrol worth of bike with an alloy frame and Shimano parts. Argos may supply it but it'll be me who copper slips, threadlocks and allen keys the build, I'll fit some spare spd's and a pair of Schwalbe LUGANO tyres.

Should be a nice ride.

supersonic

Yeah, just need to give it the once over and as with any budget bike, keep well maintained. Should do the job nicely.

desweller

Looks like ideal commuting fodder to me. Check your wheel bearing preloads and verify that they are adequately greased before taking it out - my cheap hybrid (Dawes 2Four Tourismo, £160) had over-tight cones and they consequently failed after just over 1,000 miles.

Rest of the bike's still going strong after 7,500 miles so as long as you take care of it you'll be fine I reckon!

Good luck!

seataltea

It came today and I've just built it up.

It is well worth the money, nice components, good quality frame and paint, Kenda Kwest tyres which get good reviews so will stay. Fairly light for a cheap bike I reckon about 26lbs, I removed the rack and put 70 psi in the tyres to start with. Front brakes needed a little adjustment and after a couple of rides I'll adjust them again along with the rear derailleur. Fitted some spare SPDs and a spare Ritchey Seatpost

I'm 5'10 and the fit is perfect, I think at 6ft and above it would feel a little small.

I may fit some bar ends for a more prone riding position but I'll see how it goes.

A really nice deal, right I'm off to cycle to work.

josephjago

seataltea
Wonder if you can help, also went for this, but find the gear shifters very vague, the trigger you pull to notch down a gear does not seem to work too well, it appears you have to pull and push to get it to operate and then you don't appear to be able to lower more than one gear at a time. The lever once pulled does not go back to its original position so you are unable to operate it again without pushing it back. Is this an adjustment issue or pilot error? Would be grateful for any suggestions, thanks.