What bike should I buy?

[griggthepig]

I'm going on a cycling trip with my sixth form and I need advice on what bike to get. I've looked at the Barracuda toro and the apollo ridge. It is in northern spain so the terrain will be rough and steep, but also needs to be good on road-Im looking to spend no more than about £200

[MrTom]

Rent one, nothing £200 will be suitable.

[Rob_F]

Two things:

1) Be realistic about the type of terrain you will mainly encounter. I would suspect from the way you write that a rigid bike will do all you need offroad and be a damn sight lighter/better on road.

2) Either stretch your budget a bit to get in at the bottom of the range for GT/Giants/Specialized etc big brand bikes or buy second hand. Avoid Apollos and the like.

I'm thinking about buying one of these to ride to work on - might be suitable: http://www.evanscycles.com/products/gt/traffic-40-...

Cheers,
Rob

[griggthepig]

I am sure from the bikes friends are using I need if not full-SUS at least front fork suspension, thanks for the suggestion though Rob.

[Liquid Knight]

eBay

[okgo]

If you buy an Apollo or barracuda it will break on probably the first or second day and you'll have no bike. Spend more, rent, or buy second hand (but still spend more)

[Flippin' Kipper]

You need to be circa £1000 to even start thinking about full suspension bikes. Appolo bikes and the like will be very heavy with poor components.

For £200 this will be about the best you will get new http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/rockrider-5-2-black-...

This is considered a very decent bike for the money, and will be far superior to any full suspension bikes for similar prices.

Or look for hard tail Specalized / Trek / GT / Giant bikes second hand.

[Roman]

Flippin' Kipper said:

You need to be circa £1000 to even start thinking about full suspension bikes. Appolo bikes and the like will be very heavy with poor components.

For £200 this will be about the best you will get new http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/rockrider-5-2-black-...

This is considered a very decent bike for the money, and will be far superior to any full suspension bikes for similar prices.

Or look for hard tail Specalized / Trek / GT / Giant bikes second hand.

Agree, either that Rockrider or a used Hardrock, Trek 4500, Giant XTC, Carrera Fury etc

This is an excellent bike and looks like a really good buy:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MOUNTAIN-BIKE-DECATHLON-ROCK...

[griggthepig]

Thanx for the advice, this is a good busy forum.

[Flippin' Kipper]

Roman said:

Flippin' Kipper said:

You need to be circa £1000 to even start thinking about full suspension bikes. Appolo bikes and the like will be very heavy with poor components.

For £200 this will be about the best you will get new http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/rockrider-5-2-black-...

This is considered a very decent bike for the money, and will be far superior to any full suspension bikes for similar prices.

Or look for hard tail Specalized / Trek / GT / Giant bikes second hand.

Agree, either that Rockrider or a used Hardrock, Trek 4500, Giant XTC, Carrera Fury etc

This is an excellent bike and looks like a really good buy:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MOUNTAIN-BIKE-DECATHLON-ROCK...

That does look a very good buy - Rebas, XT bits, Mavic rims and a Fizik saddle. Someone has spent a bit upgrading that by the looks of things.

[Roman]

Did you buy it Sam?

[griggthepig]

No, I need to save up first