budget commuter bike advice

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  • cyberknight
    cyberknight Posts: 1,238
    Daniel B wrote:
    I bagged my Carrera Subway one, with a fitted rack, for a paltry £80 - it was 2 years old, but had never been used, had sat in the chaps garage all that time.

    That was off the Friday ads website.

    I expect you would get a good Subway 1 or 2 for your budget second hand, or maybe even new if you get lucky with one of their sales.

    Mine is a similar commute to yours, and the only issue with mine has been the rear brake had a bit snap off - that was a year ago, and I bought a replacement but have not yet gotten around to fitting it :oops:
    I stuck a full set of SKS MTB guards on too, around £20 worth.

    Mine has twist grips, not used them before myself, but for the commute they are excellent, especially in winter when you can still wear big gloves and change gear with ease.

    Cheers

    Dan


    +1 on the subway 1

    I used mine for over a year 10 miles each way with no problems, keep is as a back up now as i convinced the wife i needed a road bike ...
    Only thing i changed was the tyres as i ride on a shitty piece of cycle path with regular bits of glass on it.
    FCN 3/5/9
  • roundthebend
    roundthebend Posts: 205
    UPDATE:
    Still have my 13 year old Carrera and it's still going reasonably well.
    The handlebars and forks seem to wobble about inside the tube so maybe the headset needs replacing or adjustment.
    Something on the back seems to be rattling/knocking on bumpy paths. Sounds like the deraileur is loose or something.
    The front gear changer doesn't seem to work, but I stick to using only 7 gears anyway.

    I went to my LBS at the weekend and a Trek Navigator T30 caught my eye. But at £350 I can't justify or afford it yet. Maybe if C2W starts then I will.

    So, I'm thinking that I can get through the summer by buying this Muddy Fox Milano Hybrid
    .....and then seeing where we're at with C2W for winter. If it's not looking good, I can tweak the current MTB to get me through winter.

    Only problem with that bike is I have to drive 20 miles to the nearest Argos with stock. And I might find when it's built that I don't like it so have to take it apart and return it.

    Payday on Friday so could well pick this up at the weekend. Can anyone talk me out of it?
  • WesternWay
    WesternWay Posts: 564
    roundthebend wrote:

    I'd like a new bike because the MTB is bound to give up soon. But I probably can't afford more than £150.

    Shove me in the right direction please :?:

    I would avoid a new bike at that price, it will be nasty.... I reckon that a second hand steel bike could be lovely at that sort of money...
  • roundthebend
    roundthebend Posts: 205
    but the milano was originally on sale at £380. this bike gets good reviews and appears to be an end of line at argos which they are struggling to shift.

    find me an alternative though, in budget, and i'll reward you for your efforts if i end up buying it.
  • mickmcg
    mickmcg Posts: 48
    roundthebend wrote:
    but the milano was originally on sale at £380. this bike gets good reviews and appears to be an end of line at argos which they are struggling to shift.

    find me an alternative though, in budget, and i'll reward you for your efforts if i end up buying it.

    not sure if you have a Decthlon near you but for £100 you wont do much better than this:

    http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/rockrider-5-0-men-s-66750262/

    bought the better half the ladies one last summer as we didnt want to fork out £££s for something she might not use - actually been very impressed with it and has so far been trouble free (touch wood)

    i'm thinking of buying myself one as a hack bike or the £70 single speed they do

    EDIT - apologies, they deliver now!
    2011 Genesis Equilibrium 10 (black frame) | 2011 Tricross Sport | 2008 Carrera Fury
  • UndercoverElephant
    UndercoverElephant Posts: 5,796
    Plus the Milano has full Shimano Sora gears, which is usually found on road bikes costing between about £500 - £700 (flat-bar shifters though, which are cheaper). I'm sure there are compromises, but it does look decent enough.
    Sun - Rain - Snow
  • mickmcg
    mickmcg Posts: 48
    UndercoverElephant wrote:
    Plus the Milano has full Shimano Sora gears, which is usually found on road bikes costing between about £500 - £700 (flat-bar shifters though, which are cheaper). I'm sure there are compromises, but it does look decent enough.

    the Argos description is pretty carp but if you look on the Muddy Fox site it's actually quite a well specced bike, especially for £160

    forget my Decathlon suggestion, get the Muddy Fox if it meets your needs
    2011 Genesis Equilibrium 10 (black frame) | 2011 Tricross Sport | 2008 Carrera Fury
  • roundthebend
    roundthebend Posts: 205
    Well, I went and did it.
    Got the bike on Saturday and have taken care over the weekend to build it as well as I can applying grease and lube as required.
    Nearly disappointed when I found out it had Presta valves and my hand pump didn't work. But I discovered that I can turn the nozzle round on the pump to fit the Prestas.....and hey presta it worked!

    First commute in this morning. It's very smooth compared to the old hack and it feels much faster. I need to adjust the mud guards (or remove them) because they have deformed slightly due to being packed in a box for so long. I think if I warm them up a bit they should straighten up nicely, and it's only a very slightly rub I'm getting on the tyre.

    The instruction booklet is crap though. It has a page for "how to fit...." every component, but it consists of a photo and a couple of hints. No actual instructions.

    And, I had to use the crap multi spanner to tighten the pedals as my toolkit doesn't include a 13. I shall get one soon.

    Just wanted to report on initial impressions.

    I still hope that my employer starts up the C2W scheme. They are making an decision within a couple of weeks. I'll probably get something more MTB style for winter commutes and leisure.

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