Buying advice - 2nd bike
zn533
Posts: 66
Hi everybody!
I have a lovely Lemond Reno which has recently been blinged up with some fancy new Shimano RS80 wheels. The trouble is, it now is a bit too nice to leave locked up, and the SPD pedals are a pain for hopping on and off the bike to nip to the shops. And the rain makes it grimy. And the nice, fast tyres are a little puncture prone etc etc.
So, this one bike serves as my commuter (just 5 miles each way), shopper and epic journey (say 70 miles once a week) bike, but I'm worried about the wear and tear and abuse it gets.
So, should I:
1: Get a chain whip, lock ring remover and those one-side-SPD-one-side-flat pedals, switch wheels over to the old ones (with tough tyres) every weekend, and keep a strict cleaning regime, and keep my FCN up
or
2: Buy Decathlon's £80 single speed MTB (called a 'Vitamin'), maybe throw some slicks on it (not sure what tyres it comes with) and use that as my commuter and hack bike? It might be a complete dog, but Decathlon's stuff always provides decent value for money.
Answers on a postcard please (actually just post below)...
Z
P.S Sorry for the long, meandering post
I have a lovely Lemond Reno which has recently been blinged up with some fancy new Shimano RS80 wheels. The trouble is, it now is a bit too nice to leave locked up, and the SPD pedals are a pain for hopping on and off the bike to nip to the shops. And the rain makes it grimy. And the nice, fast tyres are a little puncture prone etc etc.
So, this one bike serves as my commuter (just 5 miles each way), shopper and epic journey (say 70 miles once a week) bike, but I'm worried about the wear and tear and abuse it gets.
So, should I:
1: Get a chain whip, lock ring remover and those one-side-SPD-one-side-flat pedals, switch wheels over to the old ones (with tough tyres) every weekend, and keep a strict cleaning regime, and keep my FCN up
or
2: Buy Decathlon's £80 single speed MTB (called a 'Vitamin'), maybe throw some slicks on it (not sure what tyres it comes with) and use that as my commuter and hack bike? It might be a complete dog, but Decathlon's stuff always provides decent value for money.
Answers on a postcard please (actually just post below)...
Z
P.S Sorry for the long, meandering post
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Comments
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Sorry but that's not how upgrading works. You need to demote the Lemond Reno to hack/winter duties and invest in some 'bling' for the weekends/summer.
Or just be sensible and take your Vitamin...- 2023 Vielo V+1
- 2022 Canyon Aeroad CFR
- 2020 Canyon Ultimate CF SLX
- Strava
- On the Strand
- Crown Stables
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Il Principe wrote:Sorry but that's not how upgrading works. You need to demote the Lemond Reno to hack/winter duties and invest in some 'bling' for the weekends/summer.
Or just be sensible and take your Vitamin...
Ah, someone with an eye for the correct cycling etiquette!
Also bear in mind that there's a protocol one must follow to migrate from road to mountain bike:
You must first replace the Reno with a bike of a better spec (otherwise how can you justify giving the term 'hack' to the old one).
Next is either a flat-bar road bike or a fixie - the purists would say both of course (flat bar first - naturally).
You then have to go for a "half way house" bike - a Cannondale 'bad boy' should do the trick. Just so that the shock of transition isn't too great. nb, no hub gears please, they're for shopping bikes, step through frames and girls with long dresses.
Finally, and only after you've completed the above steps, may one consider a mountain bike. Even then you must bear in mind that fixed wheel moutain bikes are basically beefed up BMX bikes so it has to have at the absolute minimum 16, preferably 24 and ideally 27 gears.
Bob0 -
Not quite the responses I was looking for, but perhaps what I expected!!
If you are willing to put up the cash, I'll be happy to follow your suggestions...
Anybody more helpful out there?0 -
You obviously enjoy riding your Reno as it is so I probably wouldn't change it.
If you're looking at getting a single speed for commuting/shopping then maybe look at getting a second hand bike? on ebay perhaps? I'm not sure whats out there but you'll probably get a bit more for your money but as they're are relatively fewer parts on a SS a second hand one is likely to be in good condition.You'll not see nothing like the mighty Quin.0 -
Bikequin wrote:You obviously enjoy riding your Reno as it is so I probably wouldn't change it.
If you're looking at getting a single speed for commuting/shopping then maybe look at getting a second hand bike? on ebay perhaps? I'm not sure whats out there but you'll probably get a bit more for your money but as they're are relatively fewer parts on a SS a second hand one is likely to be in good condition.
+1 I think its OK to trade down for a second bike - £100 should get you an alright bit of 80s or 90s steel on ebay, gumtree etc. Get one now as the go up in the SpringCannondale Supersix / CAAD9 / Boardman 9.0 / Benotto 30000 -
Changing the bike around at weekends sounds like a tough job.
I'd look for a second hand single speed or maybe something like a Specialized Globe San Francisco..0 -
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I went into Sportsworld (or something like) yesterday - they had some Dunlop bikes for about 80 quid. I noticed a sticker at the bottom of the seat tube - 'Handbuilt'......... It would be funny if it wasn't so dishonest......Faster than a tent.......0
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Rolf F wrote:I went into Sportsworld (or something like) yesterday - they had some Dunlop bikes for about 80 quid. I noticed a sticker at the bottom of the seat tube - 'Handbuilt'......... It would be funny if it wasn't so dishonest......
I'm sure a hand was involved somewhere in its construction...
Anyhoo, +1 for second hand, got a nice spesh sirrus for £200 on E-bay with bits included, good time to purchase now while weather's still grotty. It's a total sweetie and the best money I've ever spent.
An £80 'new' bike will be horrible.
If it's cheap you want - try your local dump. Someone might be binning and old steelie - chuck out all rubbish bits (ie all the parts) add some s/h wheels and cheap DP brakes and off you go. That's basically what I'm doing with my old 531. Total cost so far £400+ excluding the frame and that needs a spray...Oh F'ck me, by the time I'm done I could have bought something half decent...
It's just a hill. Get over it.0 -
SecretSam wrote:... basically what I'm doing with my old 531. Total cost so far £400+ excluding the frame and that needs a spray...Oh F'ck me, by the time I'm done I could have bought something half decent...
Yes, but you'll get something that's genuinely decent, instead of only half.... Your old 531 will be a better bike than you could buy complete for the money.
To the OP- get yourself a hack- lightish frame and either FG/SS or a hub gear setup. Something you'll ride in all weathers, with mudguards and a 1/8" drivetrain (more durable).
You might be able to get something like this OTP, but you'd probably do better building it yourself of finding a friendly local bike machanic to put it together for you- preferably not some wet-behind-the-ears offroad "tech" who thinks that Shimano are the only game in town.
Cheers,
W.0 -
Wow, thanks for your replies! I should have specified my budget is super-low, due to buying those posh wheels!
I have had a look around ebay and gumtree and found that SS/fixed are around the £150-£200 mark, which i reckon is quite inflated, be it by demand or fashion. No decent el-cheapos anywhere.
Changing cassettes and all that would be a big faff all right. A friend of mine found a nice Italian frame in a skip - i have old wheels and saddle, so a SS drive train is all I need... maybe that could work out? I'll ask the in my LBS - the venerable Brixton Cycles. Beggars can't be choosers!0 -
Is that frame the right size for you? If it is, great, if not, don't invest time, energy & money in it.
SS/fixed are always overpriced on ebay. You're much better off buying an old 10-speed and converting it yourself.
A new bike - any new bike - is going to attract thieves. And no new bike under £100 is going to be anything but horrible.
Checkout that free frame for starters though - if it is the right size, you're in luck!"If I had all the money I've spent on drink, I'd spend it on drink."0 -
Eg
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RALEIGH-CARLTON-R ... 2a04f39904
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/OLD-RALEIGH-SHIMA ... 4cedcb9c98
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Peugeot-525-Comp- ... 3a57fd17bf"If I had all the money I've spent on drink, I'd spend it on drink."0 -
Nice bike. £50 thoughPaddy O Dawes wrote:
I'd avoid this- I had a frame very like that and I think it was made of recycled gas-pipe
That looks pretty good to me.
I posted some hints a while back on finding nice frames at recyclers etc. A couple of things to look out for are the quality of the lugs/welding and the dropouts- really cheap (or old, not necessarily bad) frames will have thin pressed steel dropouts.
If you can take the seat post out, put your finger into the seat tube and feel for a lengthwise seam-weld on the inside of the tubing. Avoid anything which has one.
Genuine labels from reputable tube makers (Reynolds, Columbus, Tange) are a good sign, but don't pay extra unless you know what they mean.
I'd be wary of old Aluminium frames- they've improved a lot over the years. There are some classic labels- Flying Scot, Holdsworth, Claude Butler etc that are likely (not certain) bets and some others- Carlton, Dawes, Raleigh that are worth a close look to see if you can tell where the fell in the range. There's a world of difference between an early '80s Raleigh "Equipe" (see above) and a "Record Ace" (yummy)...
Cheers,
W.0 -
Paddy O Dawes wrote:
I think that the prices these old steelies are going for shows the impact of the whole FG/SS retro culture thing - both the Carlton and Raleigh are tatty old gaspipe framed rubbish. 2-3 years ago they'd have been worth £30-40 max. You can get similar for free up the local tip. Or try asking around where you live - empty nesters (ie people whose kids have grown up) - they may have an old bike knocking around.
The Peugeot may be better but the photo is shocking.
E-Bay can be fraught for buying bikes - I've seen one of those cheap Ribble alu winter training frames (price new: £135ish depending on this week's offer) sell for over £100 - USED. Mad.
It's just a hill. Get over it.0 -
beverick wrote:
Bear in mind that there's a protocol one must follow to migrate from road to mountain bike:
Moving from a Roadie to an MTB is known as 'Regression' or in layman's terms 'a backwards step.'- 2023 Vielo V+1
- 2022 Canyon Aeroad CFR
- 2020 Canyon Ultimate CF SLX
- Strava
- On the Strand
- Crown Stables
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SecretSam wrote:Paddy O Dawes wrote:
I think that the prices these old steelies are going for shows the impact of the whole FG/SS retro culture thing - both the Carlton and Raleigh are tatty old gaspipe framed rubbish. 2-3 years ago they'd have been worth £30-40 max. You can get similar for free up the local tip. Or try asking around where you live - empty nesters (ie people whose kids have grown up) - they may have an old bike knocking around.
The Peugeot may be better but the photo is shocking.
E-Bay can be fraught for buying bikes - I've seen one of those cheap Ribble alu winter training frames (price new: £135ish depending on this week's offer) sell for over £100 - USED. Mad.
I'm sure you're right on the Raleigh, but less so the Carlton. I had a Carlton Criterium of that sort of era - also Worksop - and it's a cracking bike. A friend still rides it, and raves about how good it is.
More generally, I wasn't flagging up those specific bikes (which I found in about 3 mins) so much as saying that with a little homework and patience, you can get a damn fine bike that an afternoon will convert into a damn fine fixie for a helluva lot less than the £150-£200 quoted by the OP. Mine cost £53, and it's about as good as a steel frame gets - under 9Kg in its socks, and it's a v big frame."If I had all the money I've spent on drink, I'd spend it on drink."0 -
So it's a big NO for the B'Twin Vitamin (I found out what it's called)!
I shall endeavour to find the right bike at the right price. My seasoned courier friend who found the frame in a skip thinks it will set me back around 200 notes (a whole new drivetrain inc BB) to get it up and running, and as Paddy says I don't even know if the size is right, a big deal considering the seat post is immovable. Would it really cost this much?
Damn those trendies pushing up the prices of fixies and singlespeeds! If you had £100 to spend on a low maintenance, tough commuter/hack for the mean potholed streets of south London what would you get? The amount of grime that builds up on all the expensive shiny bits of my bike is heartbreaking. The groans, squeaks and grinding noises generated after 10 minutes of rainy city cycling make me want to cry.0 -
Size is crucial. There's quite a good guide - with links to lots of others - at http://www.veloweb.ca/bikefit.html.
I forgot that not everyone has a cellar full of bits. Sorry. I guess a frame solo could be costly to build up. It probably does make more sense to get a complete bike you can convert - saves you having to buy all the bits.
Once you know your size, do a search on ebay, using 'advanced search' - specify things like max price and max distance from you. Save the search. When they email you hits, check them out using google.
Don't be in too much of a hurry.
The best bargains will usually be bad listings - bad descriptions and (particularly) bad pics. Also look out for scrappy appearance (keeps price down, makes it less attractuve to scrotes). Minor flaws are good too! (For keeping prices down.)
To convert to a fixie, you will need some basic skills and some basic tools - and at least one new bit: a sprocket. Details and vids can be found by googling. It's actually easier - and quicker - than you'd think.
Under a ton is perfectly doable - even if you don't have a cellar full of bits.
Good luck!"If I had all the money I've spent on drink, I'd spend it on drink."0 -
zn533 wrote:... If you had £100 to spend on a low maintenance, tough commuter/hack for the mean potholed streets of south London what would you get? .....
That's plenty for parts, if you can get the vast majority used. The problem with not having a parts-bin to raid is likely to be that it'll be harder to fit things together as you'll be missing the odd bolts, spacers, different-sized bits and leftover components that you find out you need during the build. Examples might be- used cranks with no crank-bolts, extra hub spacers to sort chainline, a 27.2mm seatpost, instead of the 26.8 that came with the saddle, extra brake lever, hanger, barrel adjuster.... you get the picture, I'm sure!!
The problem with a £100 budget is that a few hours labour will blow it completely. Hence, if you are looking at getting your LBS to build up a frame for you, the cost of parts to complete and labour to assemble will mount up quickly- particularly as raiding a parts bin & fettling things to fit will burn labour costs more quickly than fitting new parts, so the apparant saving may be false.
If you are really struggling for cash and don't have the parts or experience to fit out a bare frame or rebuild a used bike then look for a local bike recycling workshop- some of them (eg The Bike Station in Edinburgh) have sessions where you can use their workshops and talk to volunteer mechanics.
Cheers,
W.0 -
Paddy O Dawes wrote:SecretSam wrote:Paddy O Dawes wrote:
I think that the prices these old steelies are going for shows the impact of the whole FG/SS retro culture thing - both the Carlton and Raleigh are tatty old gaspipe framed rubbish. 2-3 years ago they'd have been worth £30-40 max. You can get similar for free up the local tip. Or try asking around where you live - empty nesters (ie people whose kids have grown up) - they may have an old bike knocking around.
The Peugeot may be better but the photo is shocking.
E-Bay can be fraught for buying bikes - I've seen one of those cheap Ribble alu winter training frames (price new: £135ish depending on this week's offer) sell for over £100 - USED. Mad.
I'm sure you're right on the Raleigh, but less so the Carlton. I had a Carlton Criterium of that sort of era - also Worksop - and it's a cracking bike. A friend still rides it, and raves about how good it is.
More generally, I wasn't flagging up those specific bikes (which I found in about 3 mins) so much as saying that with a little homework and patience, you can get a damn fine bike that an afternoon will convert into a damn fine fixie for a helluva lot less than the £150-£200 quoted by the OP. Mine cost £53, and it's about as good as a steel frame gets - under 9Kg in its socks, and it's a v big frame.
Agreed - the Carlton looks quite tidy even. As a mass market supplier Raleigh made good bikes and not so good bikes - just like, say, Bianchi (the 'Raleigh' of Italy). Neither of thos bikes is 'gas pipe rubbish'. We are after all talking about a sub £100 hack bike. I got my 'hack' bike (12 speed Raleigh Pro Race) free when it was left outside by a neighbour on its way to the dump - it only needed new pedals and tyres, otherwise its perfect , fast light, civilised - I'd be happy to do a Sportive on it even.Cannondale Supersix / CAAD9 / Boardman 9.0 / Benotto 30000 -
oscarbudgie wrote:Agreed - the Carlton looks quite tidy even. As a mass market supplier Raleigh made good bikes and not so good bikes - just like, say, Bianchi (the 'Raleigh' of Italy). Neither of thos bikes is 'gas pipe rubbish'. We are after all talking about a sub £100 hack bike. I got my 'hack' bike (12 speed Raleigh Pro Race) free when it was left outside by a neighbour on its way to the dump - it only needed new pedals and tyres, otherwise its perfect , fast light, civilised - I'd be happy to do a Sportive on it even.
Your Pro-Race has a much better frame than my Equipe did, and I think the one on eBay is more similar to the Equipe (the paintjob and fit-out look almost identical).
If so, it really is a very poor frame. I used mine as a winter hack for a couple of seasons and it felt heavy and "dead". Now, I'm not complaining... I only paid £12 plus reasonable shipping for it and it was fit-for-purpose. When it broke I bought a better replacement and transferred the parts...but it certainly wouldn't have been worth investing any money in it, and it wasn't much fun to ride. Built with near identical components to my 531c framed "summer fixie" it was almost 2Kg heavier... almost all that weight in the frame!!!
Raleigh did sell some very poor quality bikes- this was an '80s equivalent of a BSO, though more usable in that it didn't have fat-tubes and cheap springs.
Cheers,
W.0 -
oscarbudgie wrote:I'm sure you're right on the Raleigh, but less so the Carlton. I had a Carlton Criterium of that sort of era - also Worksop - and it's a cracking bike. A friend still rides it, and raves about how good it is.
Unless I'm mistaken, weren't Raleigh and Carlton the same company after a certain point? Am sure that many Carltons were merely pimped up Raleighs thereafter.
Basically, if it has a Reynolds sticker anywhere, it's probably OK. Otherwise, be careful.
It's just a hill. Get over it.0 -
Raleigh took over Carlton, and some of the later high end Raleighs were made in Worksop at what had been the Carlton works.
I think if it's Reynolds it basically is ok; otherwise, as you say, take care...and google. But a lack of Reynolds sticker needn't be the end - that Criterium I mentioned wasn't Reynolds, but it's a nice, light, tight machine all the same."If I had all the money I've spent on drink, I'd spend it on drink."0 -
Paddy O Dawes wrote:Raleigh took over Carlton, and some of the later high end Raleighs were made in Worksop at what had been the Carlton works.
I think if it's Reynolds it basically is ok; otherwise, as you say, take care...and google. But a lack of Reynolds sticker needn't be the end - that Criterium I mentioned wasn't Reynolds, but it's a nice, light, tight machine all the same.
Yup. It's likely that a Carlton frame is decent, even if it isn't Reynolds. The old Carlton Corsair I had wasn't Reynolds but was a nice enough bike (bit like the Dawes Linear frame on the current Winter Hack).
Latterly Carlton was a sort of "premium" brand for Raleigh, a bit like Audi is for VW- Audi's arn't BMWs or Mercedes, let alone Porsches, but they are a bit classier (and a bit more pretentious...) than a VW.
Cheers,
W.0 -
Weren't BSA's rebranded Raleighs too? They really were sh!t I seem to remember.Cannondale Supersix / CAAD9 / Boardman 9.0 / Benotto 30000
