Time to upgrade? A couple of hundred to spend...

notnot

My current bike (a Giant Boulder with slick tyres) needs work, and the parts that are still working are looking worn, so thinking it could be more economical to upgrade. The bike's used mainly for v short - 1 mile or so - trips from home to work to town to supermarket... Have a 6m round trip once or twice a week, and go for a 5-10m spin about weekly. I've got a road bike for longer rides, but occasionally take the Giant for a longer ride too. I don't need a top-end bike by any means, but would like something reliable that can deal with potholes etc. 95% riding on roads, with the occasional detour onto a concrete footpath or gravel path - the slick City Jets on the Giant cope fine with all of this.

I've been managing fine with my front gears jammed in the big front ring on the Giant - so don't need many gears - but I do need some for hills and carrying shopping (so a single-speed won't do). My current bike is 15kg and I can get bike+luggage up the hills I need to, so weight isn't a great issue, though I wouldn't complain about having to carry a couple of kilos less uphill

I was thinking about a Triban bike like this http://www.decathlon.co.uk/fit-3-road-b ... 39797.html or this http://www.decathlon.co.uk/btwin-fit-5- ... 39798.html Or this Kona looks like it might be a good deal, although I don't much like the look of the handlebars http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/kona ... -prod95435 What do people think - anything else I should be looking at? I'm fine with drop bars, but not seeing much appealing in the price range. For the distances I ride, I know I could manage on pretty much anything better than the £50 jobs sold in Tescos...but as the bike saves me a few hundred in bus/taxi costs each year I figure I can spend a couple of hundred or a few hundred on getting something nice to ride

Smiler1968

Can't comment on the Dr Good itself but I can generally recommend Kona. I have a Dr Dew as a commuter and love it. It takes a beating and has held up well. I have just changed the stock wheels due to rim cracks but that may have been something to do with my immense weight when I started commuting.

The Rookie

My bike for that sort of work is an old Gary Fisher MTB (1997), it's running slicks and I've fitted an SS 36T chainwheel on the front and it runs a 7 speed cassette on the rear (11-28T), it has some rust patches and is deliberately tatty.....

notnot

Thanks. The rear derailler has unseized itself, so guess I can leave my bike as is for now

Rookie - my Giant probably looks similarly tatty Getting to the point where a new chainset (and some other bits) would be a good idea, though - starting to wonder whether repairing or replacing is more sensible.

The Rookie

Repair using 'pre-loved' parts, nothing too shiney!

When I lube a chain the 4 main rear mech pivots all get a tiny drop, crucial when it coems to wet salty winters!

notnot

The Rookie wrote:

Repair using 'pre-loved' parts, nothing too shiney!

Would you do this even with parts that wear - e.g. chainset? At any rate, bike's going fine for now - managed a 20 mile ride at the weekend with no issues - so will probably leave it until there are problems.

There's not that much bike theft round here compared to some parts of the country (e.g. I don't lock up my QR wheels/saddle, and no-one has nicked them yet!) but there are advantages in a bike that doesn't look too appealing to potential thieves.