Going round and round in circles

purpledobra

Hi all, first post here after spend weeks reading others about buying bikes and I'm now no further forward to getting one!!!!

I have a cacky battered old bike I got off ebay for £30 last year to see if I'd stick to cycling to work and have done, so want to get something that feels sturdy and safe, and actually allows me to brake less than 100 yards from a stop sign but I'm having trouble. Having read most of the posts the concensus seems to be a hybrid for the commute which is cyclepath and road all the way, 14 mile round trip on quite quiet areas of gateshead and newcastle with some slight short inclines. The thing is I really like getting off the road for cycles around old railway paths and 'loose' cycleways with some decent downhill bits on a weekend and the rigid fork on my old thing is a knightmare which is getting me to think of front sus.

I've been looking at a few bikes such as Scott Aspect 50/60, Felt Q520, Trek 3700/3900 , Kona Bolt, plus the carerra's and GT's in halfords. I want disc brakes ideally (yeah I know about the weight issues etc but I've tried V's and discs and really like the discs). AFter reading other posts I then looked at bikes such as the Scott sportser and the like but I'm worried about how it would perform off road. II'm not gonna enter comps or go mad off roading

Whats people thoughts then on Hybrids such as the sportser for off road riding, or the MTB's for commuting to work?

what would the difference in feel be on a carbon rigid fork be compared to my current one which I think in steel?

Help please cos my head is done in!!!!!!!!!!!!

londonlivvy

Get a cyclocross bike - they're pretty sturdy for off road and work on road.

The Rookie

Carrera Subway, flat barred hybrid, can be had with discs, wider tyres for offroad, my daughter even took her Ex BF's round a 4x track and they did a days touring on MTB style tracks - sorted!

Simon

EKE_38BPM

I know nothing about hybrids, but if you do get a bike with front suspension, try to get one with a lock-out on the fork. This will allow the fork to be rigid on-road, where you don't need the suspension and bouncy off-road, where you do.

Personally, I think lots of people 'believe the hype' about suspension. If you are doing some proper down hill type runs (like this, suspension is essential but for what you are describing a set of fat knobbly tyres will give you all the bounce you need.

Lots of people on here rave about cyclocross bikes (like LondonLivvy has suggested). To me they seem a bit like Saab cars. If you've never tried one you don't see what all the fuss is about, but once you do, you go 'Ahh, I get it" and are a convert. I've never tried one so can't offer an opinion.

Generally MTBs for commuting are not a great idea as they are so bloody heavy and slow, Lots of people do use them, but I never would.

Barteos

I think that a rigid 29er may tick all the boxes and depending on your choice of tyres and handlebars, can become any bike you want - road, dirt, MTB, cyclocross, road...

The Rookie

Isn't a rigid 29er just a CX bike with flat bars (sort of.....)

I agree, bigger tyres will usually give you the ride comfort off road, suspension is only really there for the bigger hits.

Simon

nation

A Rigid 29er will generally have slacker angles than a cyclo-cross bike, so it can cope with a bit of loss of traction without instantly dumping the rider. Unless it's something mental like an On-One Scandal. Interestingly that new Whyte cyclocross bike apparently has more MTB-like geometry.

It depends what kind of off-road riding the OP is talking about. If we're talking trail centre style singletrack then a cyclo-cross bike probably isn't going to be up to it (maybe it would in theory, but it wouldn't be much fun). If we're talking canal towpaths and well maintained bridleways then it's an option.

It's a trade-off between the off-road handling and the on-road speed. Improvements in one will compromise the other. You can ride to work on an MTB, I did it for ages, over a similar distance, but it is harder work than a road bike.

purpledobra

Cheers for all the responses so far.

For a bit more info the off road I do is asphalt and clay type gravel which has many pot holes and doing downhill speeds of about 18-22 mph's if the computers right - they give the arms and joints a bit of a shake!!!!!

Our lass says that as I can do it currently with a rigid and I do 90-95% of cycling 5 days a week for 14 mile round journey along half decent maintained cycle paths in a city centre I should get what suits my needs rather that what looks better, the name, or the occasional 3 hours off road on occasional weekends - hate to say it but she's got a point I suppose and she does it in a rigid - shhhh don't tell her I said that

What I would like to know now is if I got a carerra subway or similar for instance would that hold up on the type of offroad I've described?

Thinking about wheels would you go 26 or 700c's? I can do the 7 mile to work in 25-30 mins depending on wind so additional speed isn't going to be massive is it?

Is the subway any good? Don't really want to have to upgrade. Any other £300 ish recommendations?

Again thanks in advance for the help

SmellTheGlove

Would agree with most comments about suitability or otherwise of front shock MTBs for mostly tarmac commute; only time I have used mine was during last winter's snow, which was admittedly a hoot (snow tyres bought and ready for more action next December...).

The comments about the Subway seem spot on too - the frame is the same as their Kraken MTB. If the Subway can't handle a spot of off-road it would be very very surprising. I rode the Subway 1 a short distance; a bit on the heavy side but I reckon it would make a bombproof commuter.

Off-the-wall idea - if you want to get technical at wekends, invest in a front shock and maybe a longer front cable and swap it for the standard cro-mo on a Friday night. With practice you'll be able to do it in minutes...

purpledobra

Now thats an idea - with the money I save on 'fancy dan' bikes as the missus says I could get a decent second hand front shock and do some swapping - like it.

Now I think I've narrowed it down to the subway 1 or 2 - currently its an extra tenner for the discs over the v's. what do people know of the quality of each? Also in terms of maintanence and possible future upgrades what are easiest to do?

ta all.

The Rookie

I would go with disc, it won't stop much better now, but you could upgrade to Hydros later to go with your MTB forks....cost a lot more than a tenner later for 2 dics wheels and the forks (so you can keep the levers on the bars and swap just the calliper)...in fact it will make the fork swap quicker as it will just be the 2 calliper mounts.

Simon

shouldbeinbed

Discs, you'll not notice till it rains then you'll have an ah moment. More so with hydro ones.

Can you get yourself to Byker? Have a quick look at Edinburgh Bikes at the top end of Shields Rd, they do some corking own brand tough courier / commuters with a range if gear & braking options offer & good follow up service.

If you can stretch to £450ish I'd recommend a Revolution Cross bike. I've got a cross 10 that I'm riding more and more in preference to my other costlier bikes. I do v similar riding to you & it handles it all very well - potholes like moon craters too.

You've also got Hopkirks within sight & if you want a renovated 2nd bike for more specific type of riding bob down to recyk-a-bike under the railway arches at the other end on Saturday morning to see what they've got fixed up. Check the website first to see what they have - maybe pick up a renovated road bike for the week and presuade GF that you should grab a new MTB for funtime

purpledobra

Aye, gonna pop over to edinburgh cycles and evans at the metrocente at weekend to have a look.

Went to our friendly Halfords on saturday and had a look at the subways and the frame looks were sturdy and would easily handle what I currently do on a weekend, just have to take the hits on the wrists and elbows!

Actually to her credit, our lass suggest that I get both a subway and the Vulcan to throw around on a weekend as they are both only £200 at the minute - bless her!!! Brand new Vulcan next to me on the bike rack at work today - is it a sign????????

Think I'm gonna plump for the subway ltd ed - unless the 2 shops above have got decent deals on. Looking forward to having brakes that work, thought I was going to have to do a foot on rear tyre braking today!!! Would anyone recommend upgrading to bb5's or bb7's for commute braking or am I just wasting money?

Toying with putting a front sus on my current peice of steel crap and upgrading the brakes, or switching the from forks on the subway as and when.

Cheers for all the help by the way