Cycle to work

monkeyhumanoid

First post here so please be kind if I am posting in the wrong place or asking a question which has come up many times before.

The last time I joined our cycle to work scheme I bought a Dahon folder which has been great. I would cycle 8 miles round trip and catch the train. This has been ok but it is actually cheaper to run a car (???) and also it adds 2.5 hours to my daily commute.

Work is approx 20 miles away with the route being fairly flat, a few gentle hills and a slightly bumpy riverbank path. I would like to buy a bike this time which I could ride at least one way... I feel that a hybrid or cyclocross would suit the job but there is just so much choice. Does anyone have good recommendations? I would like to keep below £600 but would go higher if I could get a British bike.

Thanks

martylaa

theres a hybrid boardman bike in halfords for your budget

Underscore

For that distance, I reckon a cross bike would beat a hybrid. I've no personal experience of them but I've heard good things of Genesis (since you mention that you would like a British bike) but their (geared) CX bikes start at £850. I'm sure others will have recommendations based on experience...

_

davis

I'd can quite believe it's cheaper to run a car than use the train. It certainly is round here.

Your question and title imply that you're planning to use your employers C2W scheme, but you don't explicitly say that you will. It might make a difference to who you can buy from.

In any case, the question of "which bike" usually boils down to a combination of the makes available from your Local Bike Shop, your budget, and which one you just plain like. Go to a good LBS, and see what you can try. At 600 GBP you'd probably struggle to get a bad bike. British bikes are usually more expensive and rarer; most of the big makes Specialized, Trek, Giant.... are usually made in the Far East

I'll say it, because someone else will: you really should consider a road bike too, especially if you're already comfortable with the idea drop handlebars. They're made for use on the road, and many people who buy a hybrid will end up buying a road bike anyway. I know I did. It's personal preference, however.

So, if you're not ready for 20 miles in one go, how about driving half of the way there with the bike in the boot, then riding in the rest of the way?

I'd recommend you go to a couple of good LBS's and look at bikes within your budget (although C2W makes it much easier to stretch your budget because the repayments are spread out), make up a list of around 10-ish, and come back with that list


Edit: Good point. I completely forgot Genesis. I really do like their range, and they're British. My next bike will hopefully be a Genesis Croix de Fer.

Edit2: English no good speak

biondino

Most road bikes can very easily deal with light bumpiness in terms of towpaths etc., though you may get one or two more punctures. To get a hybrid for a few miles a week seems like madness - can you reroute to avoid the river path at all if it's too lumpy?

AndyManc

monkeyhumanoid wrote:

The last time I joined our cycle to work scheme I bought a Dahon folder which has been great. I would cycle 8 miles round trip and catch the train. This has been ok but it is actually cheaper to run a car (???) and also it adds 2.5 hours to my daily commute.

I work on the 1hr rule, if I couldn't cycle to (or from) work within one hour I would get a car (or use public transport), there are not enough hours in the day as it is.

.

monkeyhumanoid

Thanks for the replies I think I need to supply more info / comments:

Cost of trains - I am sure if you do the maths using the train is more economical but I do live in the sticks and public transport isn't always available. I'm sure that this could form another discussion thread.

Cycle to work -Yes I will be doing this on the government scheme and I am willing to spend up to the max of £1000. Scheme at work is only through Halfords at the moment and they are stuck with a contract on that for a bit. I have been into my LBS but I do feel bad about not buying from them

The river bank route cuts about 3.5 miles off the road route plus at the weekends I would like to ride on the riverbank further. The surface is not too bad (imagine riding over cobbles in parts). Don't really want to knacker a road bike but it might be OK.

I would agree with the one hour rule being a good idea, how quickly could you ride 20 miles? On my old, heavy gents cycle I averaged 14 miles and an hour and was hoping to get that up a bit on this bike.

Driving half way is a good idea which I might try when I'm getting my fitness up. I don't need to cycle every day but doing so a couple of times a week would be nice.

I think that at £600 most bikes should be OK but I need to narrow down the choice and I'm really bad at choosing. I would like to buy as British as possible (do my thing for the economy) but most British bikes still seem to be made in Taiwan. I found one called Cotic Roadrat that is made here, what do you think? I don't know if Halfords would get it for me.

Other ones I have looked at are Ridgeback Flight 01, Genisi Vapou, Charge Mixer, Giant Rapid......