New to the forum - What bike?!

[porcupineprince]

Morning all.

With the lighter mornings and evenings fast approaching, and nothing to do with the fact i'm starting to become rather unfit, i've decided to start cycling to work.

I have a 10 mile trip on a national cycle route, the surface being mostly concrete, gravel type stuff (very technical i know), with a bit of canal path thrown in too.

Anyway, i've been looking at the cycle to work scheme offers and have decided on a bike for ~£500 will more than be enough for me. I have been looking at the following three bikes, having heard both Trek and Specialized are good makes.

Trek 4500

Trek 6000

Specialized Hardrock

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Also, i'm open to recommendations.

Cheers,

[Roman]

All three are fine.

A hybrid with front suspension (if you have decided you want front suspension) would be worth a look, such as the 07/08 GT Zum:
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/gt/zum-10-2007...

or 2009 GT Transeo or Scott Speedster.

Otherwise as a general hardtail mtb I quite like the Commencal Normal & Combi - both relatively light and you could fit a pair of faster rolling tyres such as:
http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/product/specializ...

Edited by Roman on Monday 2nd March 13:46

[Mr Flambes]

Hi, doesn't sound like the route you are going to do warrants a mountain bike, unless you're going to use it for offroad in your spare time.

If not, I'd go for a Specialized Tricross:

http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Specialized-Tricross-Sport...

Should work out below £500 when the discount is applied.
Much faster than a MB, a bit slower, but more robust than a dedicated road bike.

[mat205125]

I'd go with the Tri-cross mentioned above if you are never going to do anything but commute on the bike, however if you are planning on maybe having a bit of fun, go for the Hardrock with 60psi in the tyres.

Why buy new? Do you have any knowledgable friends that would know good from bad before bidding on ebay .... £500 goes a long long way on ebay!

[Chris_w666]

I've just got back into it and have gone for a cheaper bike than I wanted initially but have got 60psi trail tyres fitted to it, goes really well on the road and I only intend to ride smooth trails or roads anyway.

Its not the best spec bike but I got it at trade price so can't complain, if you want something shiny and new I seriously consider the specialized crosstrail which has a good spec and is suitable for occasional off road use and should come in around your budget.

[anonymous-user]

ignore heavy front suspension ally framed bikes like the hardrock. i have one and whilst its great for hacking around the trails, on the flat its really hard work, heavy and uncomfortable. the forks arent that great and they lack quality components, especially the seals...

from the sounds of your route, i would go for something like this. http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/Charge_Duster_Ri... your route doesnt sound like it warrants front suspension and on cheap bikes the forks are pretty st to be honest. the charge is a lovely steel frame with a good mix of components. its not the best but you get such a nice frame its irrelevant really! it will be ok for light trails and if you did use it off road, would encourage you to be a better rider rahter than just charge at the lumps and let the suspension take the hits.

also there is a giant rigid bike which looks quite nice.
http://www.awcycles.co.uk/category/Bikes/Rigid_Mou...
you can always fit boingy forks at a later date if you do more off road stuff.

[Mr Flambes]

Here's another good one, Planet-X Kaffenback:

http://www.planet-x-warehouse.co.uk/acatalog/Kaffe...

Take 40% off for the scheme and it's just over 500 notes.