Bike wrecked!!!!!! which bike to go for, small budget

jessshep3333

Hi, I'm new to bikeradar and this is my first post.

The day before yesterday a car knocked me off my bike and altho i only have a few knocks and bruises, i think that my bike is a write off. The car driver has explained that he will pay for any repair costs and/or costs for a new bike seems as it was his fault.

So...I would love a road bike/hybrid but the cost of my wrecked bike would have only been £300 new, so is there any decent bikes out there for about that much? I might be able to put in another £100 or so.

Also, i'm a bit worried about cycling on the roads again, has anyone else had an accident, how did you cope with the trauma of it all?

Thanks

mudcow007

hi! welcome to bikeradar

sorry to here about your "off" i have always found the best way to get over an accident is to get back on as soon as possible, maybe try riding around the park or soemwhere away from traffic for a bit to build your confidence?

im sure someone will recommend a bike to you, i personally use a mountain bike with skinny tyres for my commuting

kelsen

Just do a search on the many posts kicking around on bike recommendations. £300 - £400 should get you a decent fast hybrid, especially if you hunt around a bit for 2010 sale bikes. Just be wary that the driver sticks to his words, because he can easily turn round and deny everything. Have you got all his details? Any witnesses?

As for being worried about getting back on again, the worst thing you can do is build it up in your head to be some traumatic event you have to get over. The longer you leave it, the worse it'll get. Accidents happen sometimes, and unfortunately it happened to you this time. Think about whether there was anything you could've done to avoid it - spotted the potential danger in the road layout, positioned yourself better, anticipated the drivers actions - because if you can learn from it, you'll become a safer rider. Otherwise there's little merit in continuing to worry about the incident.

Welcome to the forum by the way!

jessshep3333

Just be wary that the driver sticks to his words, because he can easily turn round and deny everything. Have you got all his details? Any witnesses?

Yeah, i've got all his details, and a witness (who is a vicar, so she's always gonna tell the truth!!) And the police have details of the accident and the hospital have got records of my visiting them.

I'm just not that good with all the techie stuff about bikes!![/quote]

walkingbootweather

Sorry to hear about your accident and glad you are OK.

You will be able to find an OK new bike for £300-£400, but if you know what you are doing there are some great nearly new and second hand bikes to be had for this money.

Get back on asap and perhaps find a nice traffic free stretch to get your confidence back. The excitement of a new bike is often all the encouragement you need.

Good Luck.

kelsen

jessshep3333 wrote:

I'm just not that good with all the techie stuff about bikes!!

It depends on what you will be using the bike for. Will you be commuting on it? Long weekend rides? Distances? On-road, or off-road?

Bit hard to say without knowing the specifics, but anything by one of the major brands should get you a decent bike (Trek, Specialized, Ridgeback, Giant, etc).

jessshep3333

I want it for the daily commute (all main roads) and also a bit of weekend leisure cycling. I would like it to be lightweight, fast and sturdy.

Distances are only small, about 30 miles a week.

I'll checkthe major names thanks

What about this one...? (My old bike was a merida so i just got looking there to see about how much it was worth and then stumbled across this one)

http://www.merida-bikes.com/en_gb/bike/ ... SPEEDER+S1

The Rookie

2 options spring out at that price
Carrera Gryphon from Halfords (V or disc brake)
Raleight Airlite SF 3.0 - our local Costco do them for £324 if you can get a card (£26) and you have a local Costco, value for money wise that is in a league of one (Quad hydraulic discs, Tiagra groupset, rigida wheels, carbon fork, external BB crankset etc)

Simon

kelsen

jessshep3333 wrote:

I want it for the daily commute (all main roads) and also a bit of weekend leisure cycling. I would like it to be lightweight, fast and sturdy.

Distances are only small, about 30 miles a week.

I'll checkthe major names thanks

What about this one...? (My old bike was a merida so i just got looking there to see about how much it was worth and then stumbled across this one)

http://www.merida-bikes.com/en_gb/bike/ ... SPEEDER+S1

I have limited knowledge of hybrids but if that's the style you're after, a quick search on Evans for prices between £300 and £400 brings back quite a few (and in my opinion better) alternatives...

http://www.evanscycles.com/categories/c ... &x=30&y=17

Some are limited in stock with regard to sizes, especially the sale bikes, but there are quite a few Treks, Specialized, Scotts, and even a Felt. If you can get yourself to an Evans, they can arrange a test ride for you.

fastbatard

This looks good value at £270, down from £350. A colleague has one and it's great for commuting.

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/fitness-2-54-57-69567264/

kando22001

I have the globe 1 which I love, I commute 25miles round trip which I have just started doing twice a week.


http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/produc ... ?&id=11657

Valy

The Raleight looks like great value and the Btwin Fitness 2 also look pretty good.

The potential problem with the Raleight is that it looks quite "blingy" so more attractive to thieves perhaps.

EKE_38BPM

Welcome to Bike Radar.

Sorry to hear about your off, hope you are OK.
The best advice I can give is to get back on a bike as soon as you feel comfortable (away from traffic if necessary). Cycling is supposed to be fun, so don't rush back if you don't feel ready, but also, don't build it up in your mind.

If you are thinking about going for longer rides (and longer is a very personal definition, for some 50 miles is a warm up, for others 50 miles is a pipe dream), you may want to consider getting a road bike as is they are more aimed at road riding .

Thinner wheels (lower rolling resistance), drop handle bars (more hand positions make it more comfortable and you'll love drops when going into a head wind), more 'racier' saddle (they may look less comfortable than hugely padded saddles, but if they were, TdF riders wouldn't use them), lighter, built for longer distances and higher overall mileages.

How about these?:
BTwin Sport 1 £270
Trek 1.1 Compact 2010 £400 £100 over budget, but also £100 off RRP and possibly cheaper elsewhere
Specialized Secteur Triple £400 Again, £100 over budget, but £150 off

It is hard to find a new road bike at £300 so you may want to look for a 2nd hand one (ebay, gumtree, local paper) or have a look for police auctions?

Whatever you do, don't buy a £80 double bouncer from Asda/ToysRUs/Tesco etc for your commute. Those bikes are no fun.

Enjoy your search.

Edit:

As a left field option, how about a single speed (SS) or fixed gear (FG) bike? Low maintainence, so good for a high milage commuting bike.
No gears on either and no free wheel on the FG (if you are rolling you have to pedal). Nearer your budget and FG bikes are supposed to give you a 'oneness' with the bike that you lose with a freewheel.
I can't say if that is true as I've never ridden a fixie (other than a test ride around the block) but I'm building one and am only a bottom bracket away from completing it.

Specialized Needs

jessshep3333 wrote:

Hi, I'm new to bikeradar and this is my first post.

Welcome. Do come across the way to "Chat" as well, for a little relaxation (although some seem to be getting a little hot under the collar recently).

jessshep3333 wrote:

Also, i'm a bit worried about cycling on the roads again, has anyone else had an accident, how did you cope with the trauma of it all?

I can't add anything more worthwhile about bike choice than has already been said above. So let me comment on this last part. I've not had anything too major, fortunately. But I know others who have and getting back on and about as soon as possible seems important.

Also, if you still feel unsure, see if you can go out with someone else for a bit, and initially at quiet times. Where do you live? Does the council offer bike training (not a slur on you, we can all improve, but mainly to get out with someone else who will look after you for a bit and help restore your confidence)? Maybe a local group like CTC or another campaign group may run 'social' rides that you could join a few times?

unixnerd

Superb bike at a stunning price:
http://www.pedalon.co.uk/acatalog/canno ... _2010.html

This is an excellent frame you could keep for donkeys years and upgrade the parts as they evenetually wear out. Cannondale make some of the best frames in the business. For 450 it's head and shoulders above anything near your budget.

Valy

unixnerd wrote:

Superb bike at a stunning price:
http://www.pedalon.co.uk/acatalog/canno ... _2010.html

This is an excellent frame you could keep for donkeys years and upgrade the parts as they evenetually wear out. Cannondale make some of the best frames in the business. For 450 it's head and shoulders above anything near your budget.

Blimey! That does looks pretty damn good.

EKE_38BPM

unixnerd wrote:

Superb bike at a stunning price... For 450 it's head and shoulders above anything near your budget.

+1, but its a hell of a lot of budget creep.

A bike like that (entry level quality road bike, triple Sora chainset) lasted me just under 10 years and about 50,000 miles. Over the years as I improved as a cyclist and got fitter, it got a new saddle, wheels, pedals. I had just decided that it was silly spending money on any more upgrades (like putting a turbo on a Vauxhall Nova) when I found a crack in my chain stay. I almost cried.

And join us in Chat. Join ussssss.......

Specialized Needs

EKE_38BPM wrote:

unixnerd wrote:

Superb bike at a stunning price... For 450 it's head and shoulders above anything near your budget.

+1, but its a hell of a lot of budget creep.

Hope that you have got long legs though (the 51 and 54 cm frames are sold out), otherwise the spec would get a +1 from me at that price, too.

Interestedcp

jessshep3333 wrote:

Also, i'm a bit worried about cycling on the roads again, has anyone else had an accident, how did you cope with the trauma of it all?

For various reasons I stopped riding for several years. That is something I regret, and after I started cycling again I realized how much I had missed it. So be careful about not cycling for too long.

I have been knocked of twice by cars when I was younger, in both cases it would would be physically impossible for the driver not to see me, but still they drove like they didn't. Been thinking about it for years until I learned that seeing something with the eyes is not the same as the brain/consciousness register it.

Such accidents lurks in your body/brain for for a long time, and the spot where it happened makes you really uncomfortable. It is easy for people to say "get over it" or "get back in the saddle", but the problem is that it can be quite hard to do and no fun at all.

The 30 second cartoon edition of how traumas work, is; when in an accident your body spews out a whole battery of adrenalin, hormones and what not, that turns your body into overdrive, e.g.. you often don't feel the damages before after a while.

At the same time the situation gets "burned" as a pattern into the brain, which is why you often can recall the accident in some detail long after. When you later experience similar patterns your brain recalls the "burned in" pattern which makes you really uncomfortable. Eg. if you got hit by a car coming from a side road, you will be scared of similar situations.

Recovering from the trauma is to soften this "burned in" brain pattern, so that similar patterns doesn't evoke so much fear. You basically have to reprogram parts of your brain.

It certainly helps many people to talk about it instead of letting it nag them as something embarrassing. So vent your feelings if you want to.

Get rid of the guilt. Many people, not matter how innocent victims they are, gets nagging guilt, if nothing else they think "if only i hadn't..."
Tell yourself that you didn't do wrong, perhaps even out loud. So every time you feel guilty feelings, tell those feelings to shove off. Be firm, get angry if you need to, but tell yourselves that the guilt is wrong not you.

Also, tell yourself that you are good enough and strong enough and that you, not your fears rules what you do. At first it won't lessen the fear when nearing that road cross where the accident happened, but it gives you a tool to handle those negative feelings when they come; tell those feelings that you are strong, that you will ride this very bike on this very road, and that's it!. Be firm, get angry if you have to, but tell yourself and your negative feelings that you are in charge, not the negative feelings.

Anyway, the above is roughly how I reprogram my brain to handle traumatic situations.
It is not perfect, and in one situation I substituted fear and that stomach churning feeling with anger. But anger is easier to vent with cursing and swearing and therefore easier for me to handle.

Good luck!

--
Regards

EKE_38BPM

My accident history:
Rode as a kid then passed my driving test and cars were where it was at for me for years, then rediscovered cycling and bought a road bike.
No mishaps for seven years then one day I was filtering through traffic as I was commuting to work. A passenger in a car opened the door without looking, I hit it, flew buttocks over breast and, other than cuts and bruises I was OK. My bike had some minor damage but I exchanged details with the driver and carried on to work knowing that I'd have to get the bike looked at by my LBS.
On the same day I was on my way home and a car left hooked me, knocked me off and drove off. No damage to me or the bike.
I booked the bike in for some LBS love and looked forward to getting my bike back.
A few days later (a saturday) I picked my bike up. It felt like a new bike again after the LBS love. I looked forward to riding to work on Monday. On Monday I was a little more wary but the sun was shining, my bike felt great and I had a smile on my face.
On Tuesday I was riding to work in the morning. I crested a humped back bridge and saw a car waiting to emerge from a side road to my right (about 30 metres from the crest of the bridge). I looked the driver in the eye, she looked at me, I rode past and pretty much forgot about that car.
About 40 metres after that side road there is a side road to the left and, BAM! I was left hooked by the same car I went past. I hit the car just behind the front wheel, flew over the bonnet and landed on my back in the road in front of the car that I hit.

I had to wiggle my toes to make sure I could still feel my legs.

Whilst waiting for an ambulance I heard the car driver say "I thought I would make it"
Because of that accident I had nine months of physiotherapy (twice weekly sessions), I was unable to ride for about a year. I still have neck pain virtually daily and have to do exercises to keep my neck mobile (and will have to do so for life).

But, I was itching to get back on the bike despite knowing the dangers more than most and having felt the pain of being hit by a car, I now ride more than I ever did before.
The day after my first 150 mile bike ride (an overnight ride called the Dunwich Dynamo) I called on my phyiotherapist to thank her for doing such a good job on my neck.

My mindset was alway geared to getting back onto the bike and I learnt that riding in the gutter (trying to hide from traffic) is a bad thing.
You are traffic so act like traffic. Take primary, assert yourself, defend your position. I used to RLJ but part of the change of the way I rode was also acknowledging that I was wrong to say "traffic lights are a suggestion" (formerly, a favourite saying of mine) and if you want motor vehicles to respect you, you also have to respect the rules of the road (I'm not suggesting that the OP did anything wrong, I'm just talking about myself).

The mindset to get back on the road (even with the big gap) made it easier for me to play in traffic again.
I'm now a fitter, faster and safer rider than I was before.
I wish I didn't have the accidents, but they all taught me something.


What I am trying to say is think positive, be assertive (not aggressive), defend your space and have fun.