Newbie here

dg lander

Hi everyone

I will be getting a new bike via the cycle scheme and I'm looking for advice / suggestions on what would be best. Max spend on the bike itself is 500 pounds. I have 2 routes to work: either 11 miles of country road/track or 8 miles of motorway with a cycle/foot path running along side it. I'd like a bike that will handle either route.

I've only really starting looking however I want to make a decision fairly soon as I understand this cycle scheme can take a while and I want to get going while I'm motivated. I'll be visiting a few local bike shops this weekend to try some out and I'd like to be armed with some basic knowledge.

Ones that have caught my eye after an afternoon of trawling the interweb:

Giant Rapid 4 (or maybe 3?)
Specialized Sirrus
Trek 7.3 FX
Boardman Comp

At the moment I'm liking the look of the Giant and there's a Giant specialist right near where I live.

Any advice or recommendations would be greatly appreciated

lost_in_thought

Welcome!

Good move to go to a shop and ride them.

Really be a pain while you're there, ride every bike they have in your size and figure out what's good and what isn't. It will almost certainly be based on geometry, so ask about the geometry of each bike, and you'll get an idea of what works for you.

A hybrid will be no better at handling paths than a roadie, especially a roadie that you can put larger tyres on.

Do look at cyclocross 'CX' bikes - the Giant TCX for example is a very rugged bike that will shift on-road as well.

But really, just ride as many bikes as you can.

Good luck, and enjoy! Come back and ask all your silly questions. I know I do!

rf6

Boardman's have a good rep in terms of value for money. That said, a good lbs is worth its weight in gold, so go round the shops, test ride your shortlist and plonk for the bike that feels the best for you.

Hopefully one of the bikes will just feel right, and that's the one to go for.

Good luck, and welcome!

andy83

Welcome

Your brave going near a motorway, dual carriageways are bad enough!

Have you had a look at cx bikes, they would be good for both road and country road / track

something like this

http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-GB/bik ... 879/39033/ little over budget but still

dg lander

Thanks for the replies!

OK now I'm really liking the look of the giant tcx, a bit out of price range but I'll have to give it a whirl if they have one in stock just for comparison sake. The drop handle bars might be a problem though as I'm quite tall and lanky and get back ache quite often, like right now as I hunch over my computer... not good. I'll take your advice and try as many out as I can.

I've read good things about the Boardman range but I've popped into 2 Halfords stores this week already and neither did them.

It's actually just a dual carriage way and it isn't a very appealing prospect I know but some days I might want to just bomb straight to work. Here's a pic of the sort of lanes I'd be dealing with on the other hand:

kurako

dg lander wrote:

Thanks for the replies!

OK now I'm really liking the look of the giant tcx, a bit out of price range but I'll have to give it a whirl if they have one in stock just for comparison sake. The drop handle bars might be a problem though as I'm quite tall and lanky and get back ache quite often, like right now as I hunch over my computer... not good. I'll take your advice and try as many out as I can.

I've read good things about the Boardman range but I've popped into 2 Halfords stores this week already and neither did them.

It's actually just a dual carriage way and it isn't a very appealing prospect I know but some days I might want to just bomb straight to work. Here's a pic of the sort of lanes I'd be dealing with on the other hand:

Looks like a nice part of the country and I must say that track looks a damn sight better than a lot of the roads in London. If my missus would ever stand for me having another bike I would certainly give serious consideration to something from Giant. May be a bit late now but see if you can find any 2009 models. You generally get a bit of a discount on the price and there's usually not that much difference other than the colour.

dg lander

Kurako wrote:

Looks like a nice part of the country and I must say that track looks a damn sight better than a lot of the roads in London. If my missus would ever stand for me having another bike I would certainly give serious consideration to something from Giant. May be a bit late now but see if you can find any 2009 models. You generally get a bit of a discount on the price and there's usually not that much difference other than the colour.

Where would be a good place to look for 2009 models? I think I have to buy it new to qualify for cyclescheme.

I live in oxfordshire, here's a map of the route I think I'll be taking to work. Got it all planned out see OK I should really get back to work now...


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Radioactiveman

Tbh if you are getting on C2W /cyclescheme there arent many places that let you have it on sale bikes. Quite often they ask for a fee between £50-£100. This is because the Bike shop do not get paid the full voucher amount by C2W i think they get 90% . This is what my LBS said anyway

If you ring around,or get on the web there are places willing to let you use it on a sale bike without charge. Even if they charge you a little extra it can still be worth it. Also a non sale 2009 bike may well have a better spec than the 2010 .