New to cycling - £400 hybrid bike advice!

AndrewRM
AndrewRM Posts: 3
edited January 2014 in Road beginners
Hi guys!

I've been cycling to work for about 18 months now. I had a Carrera Crossfire 3 bike from Halfords which was unfortunately stolen so I'm looking for a new bike. The insurance company will only pay out what the bike was worth, which was £400, I'm not looking at getting the same bike because it seems to be pretty bad value for money and I wasn't that impressed with it.

My commute is mainly road but with a lot of going up and down curbs and I do also cycle off road (nothing extreme, just mud paths) occasionally so I think a hybrid bike would suit me best.

So what do you guys advise? Having disk brakes would be nice as my old bike had them but it seems not many bikes around that price range have them. Front suspension would also be nice as it helps keep the ride a bit smoother when going up and down curbs but it's not essential. I've had my eye on the Trek 7.1 FX which seems to get good reviews but it lacks both of those things.

Thanks! :)

Oh, I also need advice on a new lock as my old one didn't really stand up to the punishment of a bolt cutter. I had a £50 Abus cable lock and they just sliced right through it!


Sorry, change of plan. The insurance company have given me a £470 voucher to spend at Halfords only. I'm willing to put in an extra bit if needed. I take it the only option is really a Boardman? Such as this?
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165534

Cheers.

Comments

  • I had a Trek 7.1 FX and liked it, unless it was hit by a car ;). However the brakes were good and stopped me really well, even in the wet (better than my road bike too). You don't need or want front suspension, hybrids are heavy enough you don't want that weighing you down on the road.

    I would look at the FX 7.2, you should be able to get one for £400 with appropriate haggling - £50 more if you want disc brakes.

    Trek 8.3 DS if you want the suspension and disc brake combo.
  • Hmmm, thanks for your advice. So you're saying front suspension is pretty much useless unless doing off roading? I've never used a bike with no suspension before so I'm not clued up on it, how is going up high curbs without it?

    If you see my edit above I can only buy from Halfords now, there's a few Boardman bikes in my price range. I'm really not sure which one would suit me. Here is a link to the options.
    http://goo.gl/ObLUzr
  • Moonbiker
    Moonbiker Posts: 1,706
  • AndrewRM wrote:
    Hmmm, thanks for your advice. So you're saying front suspension is pretty much useless unless doing off roading? I've never used a bike with no suspension before so I'm not clued up on it, how is going up high curbs without it?

    It even depends on the type of off roading, if you're talking canal paths, railway paths etc you don't need suspension there either, as if you've fitted good tyres at the right pressures, they'll do the work, when you need suspension is when you have very sudden changes in the surface, such as tree roots etc.
    If you see my edit above I can only buy from Halfords now, there's a few Boardman bikes in my price range. I'm really not sure which one would suit me. Here is a link to the options.
    http://goo.gl/ObLUzr

    I would concur with the CX option below, I was considering buying one myself at one point.
  • Monty Dog
    Monty Dog Posts: 20,614
    Don't bother with suspension, it adds cost and weight for little performance benefit at lower price points, you should be 'unweighting' your bike to cope with kerbs - relying on suspension just leads to punctures and risk of damaging your wheels. Consider what your longer term cycling needs are - drop bars are more suitable if you plan on riding for longer due to the multiple hand positions
    Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    Drop bars are also narrower which makes them better for even short commutes.
    Cross bike are far more versatile and worth adding the extra for IMO.

    Cross bikes never have suspension so that shows you how much it is needed on a hybrid lol.

    There is only one sillier bike than a budget hybrid with suspension, and that's a step thru hybrid with suspension :shock:
    What on earth is the rider of a step thru going to need a suspension fork for :lol: