New to cycling. MTB + Commute to work wanted. Budget £4-500

sinetwo

Hi all!

I've googled myself to countless pages about recommendations.

Buying a bike is similar to buying a new custom PC, although in this instance, I have no idea how components really differ. You can't quantify bikes the same way you'd quantify a PC!

So in light of my poor analogy, here are my requirements:

Need an efficient bike for commuting to work (only within london, flat surfaces) Want an MTB, front suspension only Price range: £300-500 Erm, is this doable?

What I've looked at so far:

Cannondale badboy (2010 and 2011) Kona Fire Mountain Other "budget" city/MTBs

My conundrum

Should I buy two separate bikes? 1. Cheap city bike 2. New MTB bike Or can I actually just buy an MTB that you can lock the front shocks on which would be say 80% as efficient as a city bike? Perhaps I could change the wheels etc?

Sorry to say, but the options are limitless and I got even more confused when I looked at bikes today!

I'd be extremely grateful if someone could point me in the right direction on what to read up on (help me help you [e.g. save time in answering my questions])

Slow Downcp

If the bikes only to commute to work, London with no hills, why do you want a MTB? :?:

solboy

I have a Bad Boy Deore Disc and its great and can easily be used off road. I dont miss the suspesion forks as the frame is not harsh like some alu mtbs. Cannondale realluy do make great frames.

sinetwo

Slow Downcp wrote:

If the bikes only to commute to work, London with no hills, why do you want a MTB? :?:

Thanks for replying - sorry I didn't make this clear, I do want to use it for MTB'ing as well. I just thought buying an MTB would translate to me actually being able to cycle to work, as opposed to buying a city bike, which would be of no use on any non-flat track.

Solboy, I'll definitely have a look into this, thanks!

Slow Downcp

sinetwo wrote:

Slow Downcp wrote:

If the bikes only to commute to work, London with no hills, why do you want a MTB? :?:

Thanks for replying - sorry I didn't make this clear, I do want to use it for MTB'ing as well. I just thought buying an MTB would translate to me actually being able to cycle to work, as opposed to buying a city bike, which would be of no use on any non-flat track.

Solboy, I'll definitely have a look into this, thanks!

In that case, this : http://www.decathlon.co.uk/81-2011-id_8168695.html

skinnypunter

If you decide to go for an MTB, then make sure you buy a set of slick tyres to ride on... There's NO point trying to commute on knobblies, unless you like arriving at work sweating like a <insert euphemisim of your choice here>.

FWIW, a mate at work rides a Badboy as hs commuter, and rates it highly. He runs Schwalbe slicks on it.

sinetwo

It really looks like I need two separate bikes then.

I'm looking at a cannondale quick as it's a cheaper option, looking at the fact that I now probably need to buy two bikes!

andy46

How far is your commute? If its no more than 10 miles or so then that would be easily doable on a mountain bike with either slicks or something like the Kenda Small Block 8 tyres or even Specialized Fast Trak LK's. I have used the latter in the past, just put a few more psi in for road riding and they're not too bad.

sinetwo

andy46 wrote:

How far is your commute? If its no more than 10 miles or so then that would be easily doable on a mountain bike with either slicks or something like the Kenda Small Block 8 tyres or even Specialized Fast Trak LK's. I have used the latter in the past, just put a few more psi in for road riding and they're not too bad.

For commuting I'm looking at zone 1-2 max.

So I'm guessing about 25-30 mins max at any one given trip. Do slicks make that much of a difference?

And if so, should I be looking at a mountain bike with bigger wheels? I'm under the impression that smaller wheels wouldn't travel as easily?

Would you happen to have any recommendations? A Kona bike I saw at Evans today for about £400 had a lock on the shocks (dart 2?) which seemed like a really nice middleground.

I'm guessing the components to look at here would be front fork, brakes, frame and gears? (that seems to be pretty much the whole bike!)

skinnypunter

sinetwo wrote:

So I'm guessing about 25-30 mins max at any one given trip. Do slicks make that much of a difference?

Yes - cutting down rolling resistance is step #1 to bike nirvana.

You'll find relatively endless conversations on here about thread count, tyre pressure and thread count - all people looking to maximise speed / reduce effort.

What sort of MTBing do you do / do you want to do? If you are really only talking about trail-riding, towpaths etc., then you should be able to find a bike to suit you : definitely look for one with lock-out on the front suss.

sinetwo

skinnypunter wrote:

What sort of MTBing do you do / do you want to do?

Firstly, thank you all for swift responses.

To start off with general trail riding, but I had a go with a full suspension kona bike when i went to Les Deux Alpes, and it was heaven.

So going for proper downhill paths would be ace as well

I think you've made it clear to me, I'm probably looking at the following bikes:

Specialised Hardrock Sport Disc Kona Fire Mountain Kona Lanai Deluxe

Any others you could recommend me try out before I decide and buy? I've heard about decathlon's bikes but I'm a bit dubious about them. I snowboard and I've bought stuff there before, it's more use/abuse items if you ask me!

In terms of slicks, from what I understand, it's the width of the rims that decide what tyres you can get? So I should also be looking at the rims when buying a bike to see what good slicks would fit the MTB?[/list]

gilesjuk

Get two sets of wheels. Stick slicks on one, knobblies on the other.

sinetwo

gilesjuk wrote:

Get two sets of wheels. Stick slicks on one, knobblies on the other.

Might sound noobish, but do you have a link that I can read up on in terms of what wheels would fit what types of frames, what to look for etc? I've seen tutortials on how to remove the tyre. But I haven't been able to locate anything around what type of wheels to look for and how to replace wheel itself + cassette + brakes etc.