Just ordered a "Ghost" bike, it was half price, any good?

[sidekickdmr]

I’ve been looking for a cheap hybrid bike for a few weeks now but you don’t seem to get much bang for your buck.

I had a budget of 200-300, so very little really, but I have my mountainbike, this is just to get out the house with the dog and do some exercise.

Anyway, I was looking at crappy halfords specials (appollo) but today I stumbled across a brand called Ghost, don’t seem huge in the UK but some of their bikes go up to quite silly money and look good.

This is the one I got:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ghost-square-cr...

They only had a 22.5" left which is a tad small for me, the next size up would have been ideal, but couldn’t turn down a bargain.

Thoughts?

[anonymous-user]

ghost is a German bike company like a lot the frames made in the east, solid bikes, more racey set up. a bit different to rest can't go wrong really.

i choose a cube over ghost basically for the paint work.

[Kawasicki]

nice looking bike!

[sidekickdmr]

Ok, thanks both so no horror stories or thinks to watch out for, that’s good!

Arrives Monday, I'll report back with my opinion.

[sidekickdmr]

I have a question,

Im used to using standard pin pedals and trainers



But with this bike, being used more on road/paths, im wondering if its worth upping the ante and getting some clip on cycling shoes like these:



http://www.sportsdirect.com/muddyfox-tour-100-low-...

2 questions:

1. Is it worth it, do they make a difference?

2. what type of pedal do i need to work with those shoes?

Thanks

[C0ffin D0dger]

I looked at some of the Ghost bikes when I was looking for my hybrid, seemed pretty good for the money but I ended up with a Cube due to feature / budget creep.

As for pedals I swapped mine for a pair of Shimano SPDs from their Click'R range as they're more suited to casual riding. Already had a pair of shoes with SPD cleats from mountain biking. They are well worth having as they can give a big mechanical advantage as you can adjust you cycling style to pull up on the pedal as well as pushing down i.e. circular pedalling. What does take a little getting used to is clipping in and out of them + remembering that you are clipped in when stopping. You'll only fall off once or twice before you get into the habit though.

Pedals I've got are these: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shimano-mt50-cl...

You can still ride the bike in normal shoes with these fitted.

[Barchettaman]

Shimano A530 pedals are very nice indeed and come with the cleats for MTB shoes.

[sidekickdmr]

So both of the pedals you have both listed are compatable with the muddyfox shoes I posted?

Thanks

[C0ffin D0dger]

sidekickdmr said:

So both of the pedals you have both listed are compatable with the muddyfox shoes I posted?

Thanks

Yep. You'll need to fit the cleats to the shoes when you get them but it's an easy job.