Chit Chat
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Looking to buy an entry level bike to take up cycling a few times per week. Any suggestions on a decent bike resonably priced ? any info appreciated
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Replies: 144
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I have my own trick cyclist
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Any of the Focus road bikes from wiggle (or the Cboardman ones from Halfords) - About a grand gets you a very nice full carbon number, weight is (almost) *everything*.
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My no-brains involved approach to selecting a cycle is to go to the nearest Auto Parts shop which also sells bikes and get the most expensive one in there that doesn't have suspension ( or order it if your size not available ).
Halfords is for children, Evans is expensive and many of the rest are aiming at athlete level cyclists. Which would be nice, bu it isn't what I need. G/L Over 2.5 - may the wind always be behind you. |
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Here's a link to mine that I got in 2006.
http://www.falconcycles.co.uk/CORP/cb05/levante.html It's a road bike with 18mm rims and looks pretty special. It has flat bars which are much more comfortable for me and the frame is alloy. I know some carbon fibre snobs will come back, bleating about that, but the thing is that I hadn't had a bike for maybe forty years, so this was a great re-introduction to the hobby for me. If I ever get a new one I will go the CF route for sure, as the typical weight is would be half of what mine is, but then the cost will be three times as much. |
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I might be a carbon fibre snob but I am NOT a saffron snob.
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I might be a carbon fibre snob but I am NOT a saffron snob.
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good way to get fitter/lose poundage
fook that running cr@p |
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Handy if you work and you can get your employer to sign up
. http://www.cyclescheme.co.uk/ |
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As Masters says, weight is everything.
Hence get a road bike/racing bike. Never, unless you plan to cycle down the Matterhorn, buy a mountain bike. Or, even worse, a mountain bike-style bike, which just gives you the ridiculous extra weight without the strength. It saddens me that a whole generation has been turned off cycling by the fashion for pointlessly heavy mountain bike-style frames. Fwiw, this is what I ride, and I can thoroughly recommend it: http://www.evanscycles.com/products/trek/15-compact-2011-road-bike-ec023944 Always enquire whether a dealer has a previous year's model still for sale, as these can save you a lot of money with no obvious loss of quality. Whatever you buy, keep the bike clean and wash the chain, gears and other moving parts regularly using very hot water, rags and old nail and tooth brushes. If you allow muck to cake up, not only will cycling be harder work, but the expensive parts of your machine will wear down and need replacement. It may seem like a chore, but even a dude as cool as Ken Masters has been there and found it worthwhile. One personal preference is not to lubricate it yourself, as lubricants attract dirt, even those which claim to repel it. Your chain is lubricated internally when supplied, and just ask your dealer to lubricate it as necessary when you take the bike in for an annual servicing. |
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are clips still de riggeure
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Cheers guys appreciate the response, def going for a racing bike. mountain bike too heavy anyway, screaming from ? how much did that one cost ? another silly question it seems to be offering sizes 47 or 55 what the fook does that mean. im a newbie lads so cut me slack
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I have a mountain bike, it's really good.
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You could get a second hand car for the price of these suggestions. Use that car to drive to a gym and use their cycling machines in safety imo.
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Size can be tricky - especially if you're an odd shape. Also with most frames having non-horizontal top tubes now, that doesn't help
Most accurate solution is to go to your local specialist and get properly fitted. Typically costs 50 quid or free if you buy a bike off them Alternatively using this will give you a pretty good guide. I did this and bought blind online (cheaper / more choice) . http://www.competitivecyclist.com/za/CCY?PAGE=FIT_CALCULATOR_INTRO |
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Hi, Over2.5. My Trek 1.5 Alpha cost about &700 a year ago for a 2010 model. You don't really need to spend that much - items like the carbon fibre fork are nice, but add to the cost, but you do get slightly better quality drive sets too (chain, gears etc.)
Perhaps the best advice is to stick to a good manufacturer with a name to protect - they might cut the specifications on budget models, but they won't go fitting poor quality components like gears and brakes from budget manufacturers. In my limited experience, then, Trek bikes (Lance Armstrong's team) are always good quality, while Peugeot, for example, just cobble together machines on the cheap, as the company has no reputation worth protecting. (That's just my personal experience of Peugeot, and I'm sure there are plenty out there who would contradict me.) Regarding frame sizes, I haven't a clue what they mean. i I just noticed the bike I linked to is a Compact version, while mine is, in fact, full-size. I simply got on the bike at the dealers and we found one which I found comfortable. As a rule, I prefer a frame which feels a bit too big rather than one too small, as they simply go faster in my experience, though I've been told this is not the case. I just think it is. |
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*£700
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a grand for a bike? you fekcin southerners have FAR too much loose knocking about for my liking.I seriously thought you could get a bike for about £50
 and do you really send them in for servicing?? Just an exzcuse for middle aged men to wear lycra this side of a fetish club imo. |
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Firstly, I am not a southerner but I think that bikes are incredibly cheap, when you look at
what you can get for your money! 'Screaming's' bike is kind of mid range (if you leave out the inevitable elitist stuff available)! Mine is fantastic and was a fair bit less than that. If you are serious about your sport/hobby who the heck cares how much it costs? Better to pay £1,000 and be thrilled than £300 and be disappointed I think! |
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Mine was just over a grand but it's been my commuter for the last 5 years, the one before that was a £250 hybrid, so in the last 10 years I've spent about £1300 getting to/from work, plus a few inner tubes; in all about £2.50 a week, and I still get to use it at the weekends.
I do not wear lycra but if it makes this post more interesting then I do like to wear a prophylactic and a butt-plug whenever I'm out and about, let's say. |
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I was going to add that mine will be six years old this year.
It is still like new, and I go out every day, when it is warm and dry. People pay a small fortune for fishing tackle and golf clubs and season tickets and so on. I shoot and I have guns costing ( I won't say) but I have several telescopic sights, with one Deben Mil/Pro that was close to £1k. The thing is that you get enormous satisfaction out of good quality equipment and it doesn't depreciate that much, even after a few years, if it is looked after. I could probably get close to what I paid for my 'Deben', five years ago, as they are nigh on impossible to get hold of. |
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You have to send bikes in for servicing at some point, simply to have the spokes adjusted to the correct tension to keep the wheels circular and, ultimately, from collapsing.
Anyone who reckons they have both the equipment and the know-how to do that job competently at home is taking their hobby pretty damn seriously imo. |
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lads i was told this one is decent value... looks a bit cheap to me but i wouldnt complain as im only new to the game and couls upgrade after a year or so anyway.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0050UVFJ0/ref=s9_simh_gw_p200_d0_g200_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-7&pf_rd_r=1BQTS97EH73CRF95Y9R0&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=467128273&pf_rd_i=468294 any views on that one ??? thanks |
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It'll certainly do as a throwaway until you decide whether you want to keep it up, but there's nothing on it to get excited about tbh. There's not even any saffron.
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There is some pink though, so you could make a statement, and why bother with 24 gears, when you can make do with 14, and some nice heavy steel bars?
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Mine was just over a grand but it's been my commuter for the last 5 years, the one before that was a £250 hybrid, so in the last 10 years I've spent about £1300 getting to/from work, plus a few inner tubes; in all about £2.50 a week, and I still get to use it at the weekends.
Ken, the reality is you haven't even spent that much, as you still have residual value in your bike/bikes. |
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That is true, they're still selling the latest one for the same price so I could probably get 80% of that after a clean-up. I've still got the hybrid too so let's say it's actually £200 for 10 yrs commuting, 38p a week. With the change from my £2.50 I could go up north for a pie, pint and a new house.
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lads gimme a break i dont even know what saffron is, would it do for a year or so to get me started ??
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Over 2.5, you know there are some pratts on here, but there are also a few who will take the mickey, but in good spirit.
Try stating your maximum budget and then the guys know where to be.  |
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For the same sort of money I'd go used, just about anything here
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/Bikes-/33503/i.html?Type=Racing%2520Bike&Gender%252F%2520Age=Men%2527s&LH_ItemCondition=3000&_pppn=v3&_catref=1&_dmpt=UK_Bikes_GL&_fln=1&_ssov=1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m1539&_mPrRngCbx=1&_udlo=200&_udhi=300 Will knock that Raleigh into a cocked hat. (Used men's racers, £200-£300). |
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Of course half of them will be nicked but then this is chit-chat.
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max budget about 800 because i dont know if i will stick to it or not,
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Ken, you are ahead of me as that was where I was going!
Do you want a crap new cheap product or a good value used quality product? No contest for me really! |
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If you spend £250 and get a piece of cr@p you will be much more likely to jack it in than if you shell out and get something a bit nice imo. Spend the full £800, you can always sell it on if you don't like it.
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Hold on, Ken, that pic on e bay link Thank You
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Cycle Security - Safer York
www.saferyork.org.uk/cycle-security-advice.htmlDid you know that on average 5 cycles are stolen every day in York? That's over 1800 bikes a year!! Approximately one third of stolen bikes were left unattended ... |
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Gees lads didnt think it would be so hard deciding on a bike to buy
 heads going around in cirlces. |
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I think my link knackered the page. Mea culpa...
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right lads me inbtweween somewhere, find a decent bike for around the 650 mark
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39th post obscurity
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