New Bike Suggestions?
Discussion
Hi all,
I am looking to replace my tiring bike I have had for the last ten years and I am un sure what I should be buying so looking for a little help, I will mainly be using it for a circa 5 mile route each way to work everyday the route is mainly along main road with cycle path and then along some quiet residential streets so nothing challenging really, will also use it of a weekend some times mainly riding on along side some canals and stuff.
Not sure wether i should be going for a full on road bike or should be aiming for a hybrid or city bike, or maybe something like a hardtail? There seems to be alot of stuff on the market compared to when i bought my last bike probably 10 years ago now!
Budget is around £500 for the bike obviously less is better.
I am looking to replace my tiring bike I have had for the last ten years and I am un sure what I should be buying so looking for a little help, I will mainly be using it for a circa 5 mile route each way to work everyday the route is mainly along main road with cycle path and then along some quiet residential streets so nothing challenging really, will also use it of a weekend some times mainly riding on along side some canals and stuff.
Not sure wether i should be going for a full on road bike or should be aiming for a hybrid or city bike, or maybe something like a hardtail? There seems to be alot of stuff on the market compared to when i bought my last bike probably 10 years ago now!
Budget is around £500 for the bike obviously less is better.
Work does not do the Cycle scheme unfortunatly have already looked into this as it would of been great, any brands I should be looking at my budget as I think after a look in halfords some of the boardman stuff is out of reach, I have been looking at Scott, Felt and Ridgeback, are these any good? ?
Am i best avoiding halfords altogether and going to a proper bike shop or just ordering offline ?
What abbout this
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/felt/q220-2009...
Do i need to spend all of my £500 budget or would something like this do me?
I can then spend a bit more on getting some decent clothing + helmet
Am i best avoiding halfords altogether and going to a proper bike shop or just ordering offline ?
What abbout this
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/felt/q220-2009...
Do i need to spend all of my £500 budget or would something like this do me?
I can then spend a bit more on getting some decent clothing + helmet
Edited by rich0411 on Saturday 16th January 16:30
Edited by rich0411 on Saturday 16th January 16:32
To be honest, if you're going to do a lot of riding, your starting point should be £400-500, as the components in the Felt will not last long at all and will require regular tweaking.
Have a look for some good 2009 model deals, such as on Wiggle, Chainreactioncycles, etc, and try to get a minimum of Shimano Deore or SRAM X5 groupsets.
Somew awesome savings here:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/c/Sale/26/Hard_Tail_MTBs/
Have a look for some good 2009 model deals, such as on Wiggle, Chainreactioncycles, etc, and try to get a minimum of Shimano Deore or SRAM X5 groupsets.
Somew awesome savings here:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/c/Sale/26/Hard_Tail_MTBs/
given your riding, a hardtail will be slow and laborious on the road/paths. they are not good commuters and are hard work. unless you decide to start riding off road regularly i would stick to something without suspension and connserve your energy.
i bought a boardman from halfords, i bought it unbuilt and built it myself. it was good fun and i could spend my time over it making sure it was ok. if you decide that a boardman is for you, buy it online, get it delivered to the store unbuilt and do it yourself. i love mine and it will take a bike 3 times the money to get me off it... their range of hybrids is pretty good and the comp (£500) is well specced. it will also take some very light unmade paths etc without too much stress on the components
Giant used to have a pretty good range of commuter/hybrids, well worth a look to see if any 2009 bikes are around, they had similar geometry to a road bike and straight handlebars.
i bought a boardman from halfords, i bought it unbuilt and built it myself. it was good fun and i could spend my time over it making sure it was ok. if you decide that a boardman is for you, buy it online, get it delivered to the store unbuilt and do it yourself. i love mine and it will take a bike 3 times the money to get me off it... their range of hybrids is pretty good and the comp (£500) is well specced. it will also take some very light unmade paths etc without too much stress on the components
Giant used to have a pretty good range of commuter/hybrids, well worth a look to see if any 2009 bikes are around, they had similar geometry to a road bike and straight handlebars.
its reasonably fair to say that if it has suspension forks at that price, they will be heavy coil spring forks and they will be paired with heavy wheels designed for off road stuff. it all adds up and its not just about the weight of the forks. you really have to decide just how likely you are to take it off road and consider the compromise between a bit more effort on the commute against taking it off road. personally, i know loads of people who bought a hardtail mtb for commuting with a view to going off road at the weekend but have never done so...
Dont think i will be going off road as in through the woods and such, the only "off road" will be along some canal paths which is compacted gravel its not really a loose surface, so with that in mind should i be looking at getting something without suspension? or will something with just front suspension be a little bit more comphtable on the commute?
Edited by rich0411 on Sunday 17th January 17:56
rich0411 said:
I have just bought a Felt Q220 for £255 from Berkshire Cycles in Corwthorn and am over the moon with it so far. I bought mine for rough tracking with my 10 year old son around the local forests and bridleways and its ideal (and after doing 10 miles off road this morning also proved itself to be very capable of getting through the slushy stuff). I am not sure I would want to ride it as a commuter bike though, although the ride and riding position are great the forks and tyres would make long distance road trips hard work.FYI I test rode a Specialized Rockhopper, a GIANT Boulder, a Kona (can't remember the model). If I had not gone for the Felt I would have rode off on the Kona, it was a great bike but I preferred the Felt. I had high expectations of the Specialized and GIANT but was really disappointed by both of them, the Specialized was hard work to get moving and not particularly comfy and the GIANT felt bland.
Good luck with your hunt, my advice would be to go to a decent bike shop and try out a few bikes and ask lots of questions.
rich0411 said:
Dont think i will be going off road as in through the woods and such, the only "off road" will be along some canal paths which is compacted gravel its not really a loose surface, so with that in mind should i be looking at getting something without suspension? or will something with just front suspension be a little bit more comphtable on the commute?
ok with that in mind, you really will be better going for a fast commuter thing like the boardman or this, a giant rapid 3 http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-us/bikes/model/ra... these things are pretty quick and cover ground almost as quickly as a full on road bike, the straight bars are ideal for commuting as you sit a bit more upright. specwise its nothing amazing but its all good functional stuff.Edited by rich0411 on Sunday 17th January 17:56
Specialized Sirrus Sport........recently posted this on a similar thread...
http://www.tredzblog.co.uk/2009/08/2010-specialize...
Ok there is a tremendous amount to chose from, but do your research and this will always be up there near the top...Great value for money for such a quality bike.!
http://www.tredzblog.co.uk/2009/08/2010-specialize...
Ok there is a tremendous amount to chose from, but do your research and this will always be up there near the top...Great value for money for such a quality bike.!
I would go for this
http://www.boardmanbikes.com/hybrid/hybrid_comp.ht...
Great spec for £500 and ideal for your type of riding.
If you go for a cheaper bike you will only be upgrading worn out components in 6-12 months.
http://www.boardmanbikes.com/hybrid/hybrid_comp.ht...
Great spec for £500 and ideal for your type of riding.
If you go for a cheaper bike you will only be upgrading worn out components in 6-12 months.
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