Commuting bike for a soon-to-be-student-again. Advice?

Damski

Hi everyone,

I thought I'd chuck up a post asking for a bit of advice on purchasing a new bike for commuting. Basically, I'm a soon-to-be-student-again here in London who would rather save the £70-odd quid a month that a Travel Card costs and get some exercise at the same time, yadda-yadda-yadda.

So, basically, my current bike is a Specialized Hardrock Sport - it's done me well, but it's definitely a bit bulky for commuting, and I was hoping to be able to move up to either a tourer or a racer of some sort - basically something a bit more nimble.

Here's where I need some advice - My budget probably maxes out at around the £200-ish mark (I can't really justify spending more than that as a nearly-student-again), but does this put most quality new bikes out of my price range? If not, any suggestions, and if so, any idea what I should look for in a second-hander?

I'm intrigued by this whole fixed-speed-zen-like-riding thing, but not massively fussed - I may decide to have a go at converting something to a fixie in the future (if I can persuade my flatmate to give me a hand), so it's not a deal breaker for the time being.

Looking forward to your replies, and cheers in advance for the advice!

Ta

dcurzon

£270 gets you a new Sport1 from Decathlon, gotta be worth looking at and comes with warranty. Probably not the greatest of rides, but a bit of peace of mind with it being new so nothing needing to be fixed on it.

Damski

Awesome, ta for the heads up!

Any idea what they're like to ride though? I didn't want to fall into the trap of getting less for my money with a new bike than a second hand one, if you know what I mean? Although, I quite understand that I have to be realistic with what I can get for my budget.

Cheers

ride_whenever

Norco Scene ss.

Tough as nails, not hugely stealable, very nice little bike only slightly over budget but a cracking ride and stands up to abuse brilliantly.

dcurzon

Damski wrote:

Awesome, ta for the heads up!

Any idea what they're like to ride though? I didn't want to fall into the trap of getting less for my money with a new bike than a second hand one, if you know what I mean? Although, I quite understand that I have to be realistic with what I can get for my budget.
Cheers

i picked one up last sunday, done about 50 miles so far. I couldnt compare it to another though, as its my first bike for 20 odd years. Seems to be ok, got my average up to 15mph today for my 6mile commute into hilly epping. Like i say, worth a look. Seems to be lots of good reviews for them in the forums here (which is what prompted me to go try one, couldnt afford a more expensive bike) and no waiting around - they have them in store ready to wheel out.

Mr Tom

I got a great second-hand bike from Amsterdammers http://www.amsterdammers.co.uk/ in Brighton for £170. They do lots of new and second-hand Dutch bikes. Mine is a girl's style frame with the step-through instead of the cross-bar. If you're after a guy's one maybe phone before heading down as they didn't have any in when I went. Could be a place to get a nice commuting bike which shouldn't be too likely to get stolen. I'm certainly converted to Dutch bikes for commuting and fun local rides

Damski

Cheers for all the advice guys. Just to follow up, I visited a police auction over in East London in the hope that I'd pick up something that would be a good project, but there wasn't really anything worth having that wouldn't take quite a bit of cash to fix, so I eventually decided to go for the Sport1 as dcurzon suggested (ta for that). It's nice to know that you've got a couple of years on parts in case anything goes wrong.

Pretty impressed with it so far (although it is half the weight of my old bike, so I'm bound to find it a nicer ride), and the guys over at the decathlon store in Surrey Quays were very helpful. Riding the bike around the store was certainly interesting, haha.

So, cheers for your help!

Now, does anyone know of any cycling clubs around Clapham Junction?

Ta.

dcurzon

welcome to the club! I'm already contemplating upgrades... diff wheels/tyres and maybe carbon forks... but i'll have to wait until i break the existing ones first!

The Rookie

Decathlon do a brand new SS for £70, very unattractive to thieves (no gears) fairly light (no gears LOL) reasonable steel frame and you could add a few choice upgrades for a few pennies!

Otherwise I'd suggest a 'just about good enough' used bike, student bike racks are not a place where care is taken, and you want it to be as unattractive to thieves (or even those who just want to borrow it to get home from the union at 11pm) as possible.

Simon