City Riding on a Budget

genericuser

Hello everyone, i've been struggling to make a decision over what kind of bike to purchase for many weeks now. I'm slightly overwhelmed by the plethora of ride-factors and pushy salespeople. I just need some honest opinion and and advice and i hope i have come to the right place! I don't want to buy a junk bike.

My needs are not for strict commuting, but mainly for fun. Riding with friends, nipping to the shops, short journeys and just riding around observing the world. I'm not very sure what i should be looking for to be honest, it came down to a decision between a "hybrid" and a single-speed. I live in Birmingham UK and my street is at the bottom of a hill, but after that it's mostly gentle slopes. I rode my friend's Raleigh Flier today and it was very fun being able to just enjoy the pleasure of cycling and i also saw the Python Duke (?) in store today and it is very similar (better looking!) but i'm not sure whether this is a wise idea in the long run. Also, they're a bit too trendy aren't they :oops: The hybrid's i have no idea about! I like the idea of having a simple bike that i can just take out and have some fun with. I'm also quite unhealthy at the moment if that can affect the choice i make.

The most important factor i guess i my low budget at 200-300 gbp. I know that's extremely low but i'm not going to be pushing this bicycle to the limits and i'm being realistic with what i can expect. I'm willing to look second hand.

So does anybody have a cheap-n-cheerful bike they take out when they're bored? Anybody have specific recommendations? What sort of bikes and brand should i avoid?

Thank you very much!

arthur_scrimshaw

Single Speed
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=67794
Gears
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=67941
Road
http://www.decathlon.co.uk/triban-3-id_8167038.html

there you go!

genericuser

Hi thanks for the response, can you vouch for those bikes? I'm interested in the single speed, but the only availible size from that store you linked is 16" - i'm 6'1" and my legs are 3'2"! Would that size be suitable?

arthur_scrimshaw

genericuser wrote:

Hi thanks for the response, can you vouch for those bikes? I'm interested in the single speed, but the only availible size from that store you linked is 16" - i'm 6'1" and my legs are 3'2"! Would that size be suitable?

no far too small

BR review

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... e-11-44908

Could be worth emailing CRC (it's their own brand so you won't find elsewhere I suspect) to see if there's a new model due out.

arthur_scrimshaw

I actually like this a lot

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/felt-curbside-2012/

genericuser

Oooh that's nice! They seem to be popular in the states with the "hipsters" but they do look nice and i've read good things about them... i really appreciate the suggestions mate!

supersonic

Do you really want a single speed? I can't imagine anything worse for the riding you describe, different paced activities will benefit a lot form a spread of gears.

Take a look at this:

http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/product ... brid-bikes

Decent weight for the cash, good gear system with cassette hub which is more durable, Aheadset - overall a dependable bike at a good price.

genericuser

Hi Supersonic, thanks for the reply - i've been reading and i've realised i'm probably not healthy enough for a single speed. That's a nice bike but it's out of my budget and i've decided to be quite strict about it this time!

Can anybody comment on the Trek 7100? I have read quite a bit about them and have found many second hand ones in good condition and far under my budget price.

supersonic

Depends on the year as I think they have changed, but looking at the 2012:

http://www.thebikefactory.co.uk/product ... ctid=64451

It will do the job, but the fork is heavy and clunky, the gearing rather low rent too (screw on narrow range freewheel), and some poor steel parts.

This is far better equipped:

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... 65534#tab2

alan_sherman

Hybrid will do the job. Giant Escape range should start at your budget, and it is end of season sale time. My wife has one and I've ridden it a few times. Good value, will be good for commute, tow path/gravel tracks, pootle with kids, up and down hills and even charity rides if you wanted. A single speed is trendy but gears are very useful for hills and riding slowly with family.

passout

They make a 29 inch wheeled version of the Vitus S/S you like & I think it's available in a larger size - see CRC. Might be 27inch wheeled version too.

Gears do offer flexibility though. A Boardman hybrid maybe?

marcruse

I've been riding a Scott Sportster P4 for a few years since I came back to cycling for commuting and fun, and definitely rate it. Don't know your gender but there's a female version here http://www.cycle-ops.co.uk/m7b4s384p217 ... RS_GB/3938 for sub £300. I'd have thought if you shopped around a bit you could get a cheap male version. Don't go single speed yet - get fit first. Don't forget to build into your budget all the other bits. The lights on my bike cost nearly as much as the bike, plus the clothing etc etc.

daddy0

I recently got back into cycling and got a Scott P4 Sportster too!! Great minds ey?! :-)

Not sure what year mine is, the back end is pretty light, but the cheap suspension forks make the front a bit weighty and bad for hill climbs.

Mine cost me £150 second hand, found it on Gumtree. Not too bad for an aluminium frame and half decent parts. I put slick gatorskin tyres on it, new tubes, fitted a speedo and some lights. If you include my £35 helmet then all in all I've spent just shy of £300. I already had pumps, puncture repair kits and locks BTW.

The new tyres transformed the bike! Its so much easier to get places and much more fun for it. Also, going fast downhill is a great rush - getting 45mph is easy with 120psi in your tyres. Not had to ride in the wet yet, but if I ride in the wet I will take it very, very easy...!

However, I do have an issue with the chain coming off under high pedal pressure, which I put down to worn BB/chainring/chain. This is especially dangerous as it can happen when pulling away leaving me in the middle of a road with no way of getting out of the way of oncoming traffic, or possibly worse - when I'm doing 45mph downhill almost throwing me off and giving me nasty speed wobbles!!! You don't know you're alive until you've had speed wobbles whilst half hanging off your bike down a steep hill. Great fun, but it made me decide to get a helmet before I tried that again!

But I digress...

So if you do go second hand then expect to get your hands dirty or to have to buy new parts. I was going to start replacing parts, but decided that I love riding so much that I can allow myself to get a new bike on the cycle to work scheme. Will probably go for a similar bike to the P4, but with rigid forks - suspension on a road bike is a useless gimmick. If you are PAYE at work then get your company to do the cycle to work scheme and get the VAT off, and you don't pay income tax on the remainder. You can also pay it off monthly over several years, which would allow you to spend more on a nicer bike...

So to sum up:
Probably get second hand, consider getting it serviced at a shop if you're not too handy
Look into cycle to work scheme
Avoid suspension
If needed get some decent road tyres, especially if you want to go fast / don't want to waste energy
As marcruse said - remember to budget for all the other things you may want (pump, puncture kit, lock(s), water bottle, helmet, lights, speedo etc...)
Use it as much as possible and have fun!

marcruse

That's interesting Daddy0, 45mph -wow. Best I've ever got is 36. Do you really think its down to the tyres? I've got schwalbe marathons on mine (cos I'm paranoid about getting a P*****re), but I wonder if they're slowing me down?

Absolutely agree about the forks - complete waste of time on the road. In fact I'm convinced they caused an accident when I ended up in a ditch with a bust collar bone. If you turn them to the hardest setting they're not too bad, but best solution would be to switch to fixed.

Only prob I've ever had with the chain slipping was due to a worn chain. Got to be worth getting a LBS to check it out, change it, and check for misalignment etc.

daddy0

The tyres certainly help a lot. Going from the knackered old tyres to slicks and putting the full 120psi in them transformed the bike. Of course I only got 45mph going down a 10% gradient with ideal conditions and a lot of bravery, but I can get 40mph with not much effort - just pedal down the first bit of hill then tuck and let gravity do the rest. Make sure you are wearing glasses or you'll cry yourself blind!

I'm sure the marathons are great tyres though, they look pretty flat. Just make sure you're, sorry, they're pumped up hard, to lower the road resistance. The LBS convinced me to go for slicks, went for Gatorskins as they weren't too expensive. Not had a puncture yet - probably done a couple of hundred miles. I've ridden over a lot of broken glass and even on some gravel paths over which they wheelspin a bit, but thats quite fun!

Yeah, the issue with my bike is probably 3 fold. Freewheel seems to give out sometimes, chain is a bit knackered and I think the BB could do with a bit of attention. I'm going to have a look at it on the weekend, but I'm also going to get a new bike through cycle to work scheme, so probably wont spend any money on it.

geebus

I've just ordered one of these: http://www.wiggle.co.uk/charge-scourer-2012/
Unfortunately I didn't have the right code at the right time, but you can get 10% further off with some pizza express take away pizzas (I did have a voucher from a £2 pizza at Sainsburys).
You also get a £15 wiggle voucher at the end of the month.
If you can't do the wiggle voucher, I think you still get a £5 voucher for signing up to their mailing list.

marcruse

Nice bike. Good price. With or without the pizza discount! Are you planning to add mudgards? It'll spoil the look, but probably essential if this weather keeps up. I'm just drying off after a bit of a wet one!

geebus

I'm in two minds about how to work it - this is probably going to be it's own thread at some point...
Currently got a Specialized Globe Vienna 1 which I've been enjoying (first hybrid, previously had a CX in the past and always had MTBs) getting about on, but really wanted a bit higher gearing (48-14 maximum).

Thought the difference in price between buying a load of new gear stuff and a new bike then selling the Globe probably wasn't that different for a generally better specced bike.

Recently got mud guards and panniers for the globe and they'd be moved over - definitely appreciating both.

However, I'm tempted to keep the globe for around-town commuting (mostly a couple of miles a time maximum, generally a mile each way or so) as I'd be happier to leave that locked up in town that one with a £630 rrp. Would probably still end up with some kind of mudguards and luggage carrying regardless as the PLAN is to use it for occasional 15-20 mile trips to local indoor climbing walls as well as general 'riding'.

Could just use an old MTB or similar for around town, but getting some ok road tyres etc is going to be a good bit of the money I'd get for the Globe spent anyway.

The Rookie

This is a good buy for the money, although idealy wait for a 'sale' http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... 65534#tab2