Any people on here who cycle aka cyclists ?

Me too but it looks like Wiggle have stopped selling the Focuses - And once one has been wedded to Carbon, one never downgrades to a lesser material. Looks like the next one will be even more expensive :(

ken what is so good about carbon ?

Very light weight, very little flex and very strong. Even though it does sound incredibly exotic and of course it's used in all the expensive race cars, it is basically plastic, so you have to get your head around spending so much on something that's like titanium tupperware.

I'd go 2nd hand personally. For example that Dave Quinn frame on the ebay page is a really good buy (even if his missus isn't thrown in). There's a nice Colnago there too. You can always sell it for hardly any loss or keep it as a winter bike / commuter

You'll need to budget for some cycling gear (clothing, pump, helmet, tools). If you buy new you'll also need pedals and shoes - probably £100+ right there.

this cycling lark aint cheap is it.... hope its worth it. pedals ?? shoes ?? wtf

It's hard to keep up with all the advances in technology these days!

If you are not in a rush, it might be worth hanging on for one of the new to be released,
state of the art, papier mâché bikes.

These are as light as paper and environmentally friendly too.

The only clothing you'll need is something high-visibility, which you may already have.

A foot pump is needed (dearer than an old-fashioned hand pump, but gets the tyres harder, which saves you from punctures).

Only gaylords use helmets.

Tools you'll almost certainly already own (spanner, spoons to remove tyres when you get a puncture).

Pedals come with the bike. Toe clips are brilliant and make cycling so much easier, but they're not essential.

Shoes you already own. If you use toeclips, something with a non-smooth sole is easier for getting your feet in the clips.

I thought a helmet was essential but was going to go out at night incase anybody seen me with it on

I always wear a helmet as my hair looks good in it!

Oh, and definitely wear shades as you will regret it otherwise, when you get hit in
the eye by anything bigger than a midge!

Bolles

It is threads like these that put people off biking IMO.  I bought a bike from halfordsbfor 120 quid.  They called it a hybrid, they did a free check up after six weeks to get the gears going properly.  In five months it has prob saved me three hundred odd quid in bus faires, and of course it is healthy... Ten miles a day round trip.  It isn't particularly light or quick but it is still quicker than the bus, in fact I have to leave the house 20 mins earlier if I go by bus.  Fk that.  I haven't oiled it or washed it or anything, and it still goes fine.  If I spent a grand how much quicker will it be?  A minute a mile?  On the way home, not in a rush, I sometimes go along the seafront with earphones in and no helmet and it is all very pleasant and slightly longer than the route into work, I've no great inclination to shave a few minutes off the journey by buying a racer.

  I'd no sooner spend a grand on a bike than walk down the street in a string vest.

Also If it does get nicked, the cheaper it is the less annoying it'll be.  One thing I may invest in is a good saddle, does give you a sore a.rse

http://www.hargrovescycles.co.uk/images/product_images/medium/10SecteurEliteCh.jpg

Specialized Secteur Elite.  Cost me £800 (Last years model.. new one was £1000). Spec will fit you for your bike at a cost of £40. IMO it's well worth doing.. you get the dosh back if you buy. I would have bought too small without the fitting.

This bike truly is my pride and joy!!    But make sure you can handle a racing bike before you buy. They're not evryone's cup of tea. VERY light.. can feel a bit insubstantial or 'unsafe' if you're not used to them. But if you like cruising along at 15mph all day.. or zooming downhill at 40mph+ then take a deep breath and spend the money.

All the best!!

Rob!! Two consecutive posts with totally opposite bits of advice. The poor bbastid wont know which way to turn. 

I'd no sooner spend a grand on a bike than walk down the street in a string vest.

Very true rob_dylan.
Let's hear it for the sub £250 BSO ( bicycle shaped object ). It's rather more comfortable riding over grids and holes on a cheap hybrid than on 18mm rims. You usually get a pannier rack or can add one - had 24 cans, and 10 pies on mine tonight coming back from the shops. And no fears chaining it up at the football ground or station about losing more than you'd spend on Christmas.

Not that contradictory, just would rather spend twenty? Quid on a gel saddle and not have a sore bum than spend a grand and have a three minute quicker journey to work. 

Two guys at work have got board mans bikes.  If they arrive at the bike shed at the same time one says to the other " that's a nice bike" .  They're well funny like that.

Sorry Rob.. I meant your and my posts.. me saying spend the money.. you saying get it cheap. I suppose I'm still suffering from 'newbie' syndrome. I never cycled before I bought the bike 20 months ago. 

The Boardman road bike is a thing of beauty - I would like to have one eventually

I have used a Trek or Specialised road style bike ( with flat handlebars, not drop downs) for the last 15 years.

Doctor told me that for every day that you cycle, you get an additional half day of healthy life added onto your life expectancy

Oh right, no worries paddy.  When I was buying my cheap bike I did have a bit of a perv at the one grand (and five grand) bikes and it would be lovely to have one for sure, but then you really have to look after it and I'd be worried of it getting nicked.  And I am not made of money, I'd rather spend a grand on a posh two week holiday that's all, probably with the barmyarmy army.

I did get a picture the other week going into work, bought a puncture repair kit for ninety nine pence and sorted it at lunch time using spoons to get the tyre off and borrowing someone elses pump.  Think I've got a pump somewhere at home will have to dig it out.

Im back where i started now

as for advice only gaylords wear helmets .
The most important part of the kit.
Ive ended up hospitalised twice in biking accidents being knocked out & sufferring concussion on both occassions. Fortunately wearing crash helmets both times & probably prevented a fractured skull or worse.
If you are going to take up cycling on a frequent basis its only a matter of time b4 you will hit the deck.
With regards to purchase wouldnt bother p!ssing a grand up against the wall for 1 thats a tad quicker.
Purchased a Bianchi for £799 around 10 yrs ago ended up in the scrapper after 7 yrs replace with  a £199 from Decathlon & in my 7th year with that still going strong.

I cycled to work (8 miles e.w) for 6 or 7 years.

Pros - It's a great workout, environmentally friendly, lovely way to travel in summer, save a fortune, thighs like tree trunks.

Cons - Dangerous especially at junctions, crap when it's raining or windy, pain in the arse mending puctures when you can't feel your fingers.


Also, i'm the most easy going bloke you could meet, but i chased many cars who cut me up and kicked the wing mirror clean off of one **** i caught up at the traffic lights who nearly knocked me off.

Overall i'd say get an exercise bike. Safer innit.

If you are buying a bicycle in order to improve your fitness why do you need an expensive light frame? Surely, the cheaper, heavy-framed model will require more effort and therefore be more suited to the job in hand. Also, if it is damaged or stolen you can easily buy another. If, when you finally get fit enough to actually do justice to a more sporty frame, you have become a keen cyclist...then by all means buy yourself an upmarket model.

I really should wear a helmet, but it makes me hot and uncomfortable and it makes me look like a total bell end.  Gonna start wearing it again, Geoff is right IMO.

many miles would you guys be doing ?? and how often etc ??

Ten miles a day. If it is raining, too cold or I just can't be fked,  then I spend three fifty on an all day bus pass.  It's great.

I've pedalled past schools in Netherlands and China while wearing a helmet, and wondered why the kids ran to the fence to laugh and making gurning faces and noises. Felt quite strange until I asked aroundas to why the mocking.
Apparently only spastics wear helmets over there, people who can't balance in other words who are likely to come off of their own volition.

UK figures show that it takes at least 8000 years of average cycling to produce one clinically severe head injury and 22,000 years for one death.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_helmet#cite_note-60

Wearing an uncomfortable and inconvenient helmet is just a disproportionate and inappropriate response. You'd be far better off spending the money getting your brakes etc. serviced regularly and avoiding accidents in the first place.

Statistically there is absolutely no difference in the likelihood of a head injury from walking and from cycling. On that basis pedestrians should wear helmets too. In any case, cycling helmets are arguably dangerous in a collision, as they lack the facial covering of motorbike helmets. The rotational forces which cause most severe head injuries increase with the added distance between the top of a cycling helmet and the top of the skull, yet they lack the benefit of facial protection.

It's purely anecdotal, but I'm 50 years old, never learnt to drive or ride a motorbike, and as a consequence been a lifelong cyclist. I've had one injury, when I lost control on ice and suffered a frozen shoulder.

On the other hand I've twice been hit by a car as a pedestrian. As a teenager I suffered concussion and a headache for a few days. Then a couple of weeks ago an elderly motorist ignored the red light at a pedestrian crossing and knocked me unconscious. I have a spectacular scab to the side of my head, but strangely not even a headache this time.

Anyway, my conclusion is that if I should ever wear a helmet, it's when I'm walking to the betting shop. Cycling is when I'm safe.

An excellent study demonstrating that cycling, walking and driving all carry equal risk (i.e. virtually none):

http://www.cyclehelmets.org/papers/c2014.pdf

WHY IS CYCLING CONSIDERED
DANGEROUS?
The belief that British cyclists face high actual risks is not sustained by the evidence; the actual risks are very low in everyday terms. So why did the  ‘danger myth’ arise? Perceived
danger is not revealed by casualty data. The greater performance of modern cars has increased perceived danger. Cycle
campaigners have often presented their case without precision, instead using reactionary language that implied motor
traffic imposed far greater danger on cyclists than on itself.
Official studies have focused on comparing risk on a per-kilometre basis, without reference to the higher fatality rates
borne by pedestrians. Until very recently, pedestrian fatality rates were not included in the official reference Road Accidents in Great Britain; the Casualty Report.

screaming why do i get the feeling you dont wear a helmet ?

I actually fell off my bike in an embarrassing moment last year.

Embarrassing as I had no forward motion. I tried to step off, but my right foot was held firmly
in the toe clip, and I finished up on the pavement with the bike on top of me.

I couldn't understand how I lost it, till I found that the chain was off when I was setting off, and the whole thing went into a wobble.

I mention this, because I fell against a low wall, and my helmet definitely saved me from injury.

Aside from feeling stupid my only injury was two bleeding fingers.

I always wear good leather mitts as, aside from better control, I wouldn't fancy having gravel rash to my entire hands (particularly nasty)!

Yes. Gloves are good. I wear them more often than not, as they just give me a sense of control.

When Michael Crawford did all those incredible stunts in Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, he always wore gloves, without fail.

I also wear a fluorescent yellow jacket most of the time, unless it's very warm, when I at least make sure I'm wearing something like a red T-shirt.

But a helmet as well? That's treating cycling to work as somehow more dangerous than crossing the road to get there on foot, which it definitely is not. And even in these days of health 'n' safety, nobody yet dons a helmet to cross the road.

Over2.5:

Get yourself down a decent independent cycle shop. Explain you're a beginner, you'd like road bike and ask to have your options explained from budget prices up to your limit. The profit margin isn't significantly greater for a dealer on a £700 bike against one costing half that. What he prefers is a happy cyclist who'll come back for servicing, spares and accessories.

I don't know where you're based, but here's a good dealer down here in Zummerset:

http://www.bicyclechain.co.uk/ourshops.asp?gclid=COKQ5rK1xa4CFVEjfAodKWF2Wg

Don't buy a second-hand machine. You'll get mis-aligned brakes, wobbly wheels, rusting pedal shafts, balding tyres and all sorts of niggling problems that will put you off cycling.

good thread, but could do with some illustrations.

[   This image is no longer available.   ]
guess which CCer ?

Good photos, HH.

The first thing that catches the eye is obviously the fact that neither lady is wearing a helmet.

I would be happy to install one in either.

*Note to self, look at photos before commenting in future...

Freudian post

LOOK! IRANIAN SHIRTLESS MEN!

*I don't think anyone noticed*

Bloody hell, it is a fella.

and tbf the man has just dismounted and has his helmet over his shoulder.

£1000 Carbon fibre racing bike
Pros
Go Faster, win races? 
Cons
It will not get you fitter than another type of bike,
It is more likely to get nicked,
Wheels bound to get buckled,
More frequent puctures,
Anything other than a newly tarmacced road will leave you fuming.
Regular maintenance required.
If you have more that 5% body fat and the wrong clothes, you look a complete ****.

£250 Mountain/Hybrid Bike
Pros =
Money saved
Improved fitness,
Less likely to get nicked,
You wont stress about scratches/slight damage.
Much fewer punctures.
Option to go off the beaten track.
Buy a New one every year
Cons =
It takes a slightly longer to get where you going,(balanced out by the lack of cleaning/maintenance and general lovemaking required of a top end bike)
You will get overtaken by people equally as unift as you on carbon fibre bikes, (however, if you understand that their apparent better fitness is down to the bike then you can keep you pride intact safe in the knowledge later in the day whilst you are relaxing and enjoying a pint, they will be frantically polishing their rims in preperation for their next 'race' with themselves)

It's like you're inside my head.

Mountain/hybrid bike:

Cons: it takes a lot, lot longer to get where you're going. And it's real hard work getting there, to the extent you might as well walk. A ridiculously inefficient machine that defeats the whole purpose of a bike.

You won't be stressed about damage or punctures simply because the bike will be gathering cobwebs in the garage after the first week.

You can keep a steady 18  miles an hour on a mountain bike fairly easily. The average speed in the tour de france is something like 25mph.

10 miles on mountain bike = 33Min
10 Miles on Racing bike (tour de france) = 24 Min

My guess is most people are not up to Tour de France Standards, and if they are, I bet they can go faster that 18 MPH on a mountin bike.

the only difference between a mountain bike and racer is how quick you get there, as for it being harder work, isnt getting fit supposed to be hard work? and if it is 'harder work', you could do it for a shorter length of time on a mountain bike to get the same results, an added bonus IMO...

Depends why you want it.

If you want it for going to work, or taking much stuff with you, get a mountain bike and put on touring tyres, and paniers if necessary.

If solely for exercise, you might as well get a racer. Remember that the Tour de France average includes some pretty brutal slopes - I assume that you ain't going to be climbing Mont Ventoux or Alpe d'Huez too often in your travels.

My bro in law got flattened by a pensioner when she cut across him in the city. He wasn't seriously injured but had a few cuts and brazes.

She offered him £50 to pay for the bike to be fixed but he is a serious cycler and his bike costs over £1k. All he wanted was his bike fixed but she was having none of it.... he got £10k a year later and she took a dent in her no claims bonus.

To those that say don't wear a helmet, his helmet saved him from further injury, who cares if you look like a prat. People are saying about falling off your bike but it's not yourself you have to worry about, it's oher road users that aren't paying attention.

yeah. helmets are rubbish . never owned one.  Have cycled in london for 20 yrs. cant see how its dangerous if you're constantly looking out for everything and assuming they cant see you.

Look at Ribble cycles 2.5.

With Trek and alike you must be paying £100 quid because of the brand name.

Worth a shout. I bought there winter audex bike at about £630

*their

*they're

Right folks an update... was talking to my neighbour asking him about bikes etc and said i was going to buy one tomorrow and he said he has a san remo racing bike spare and that i could take it. Is san remo any good, took a look at it there and it seems fine. will need brakes re adjusted and a clean. what we think ?

http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/claud-butler-san-remo-2011-blue-cheap/95243070


very similar to this

I bought a Kona Dew FS hibrid about 5 wks ago, i could'nt be more pleased with it.

Sounds fine, Over2.5. Worth paying to have it properly asjusted, particularly the brakes, which are really difficult to reset properly yourself.

Regards mountain bikes (or, rather, "mountain bike-style bikes) vs racing bikes/road bikes ... Why on earth would anyone exhaust and frustrate themselves on a heavy machine as opposed to gliding to work on a lightweight on?

I just don't understand where all this "getting fit" idea suddenly comes from. I ride a bike because it's an ultra -economical and ultra-efficient way of getting from A to B. I do plenty of work that knackers me (or gets me fit, as we now call it), and I don't see the point of unnecessarily adding to it.

Unless you spend a grand-plus, you don't even get the strength or suspension of a genuine mountain bike. All you get is a cheap, heavy frame in the shape of a mountain bike. And you still have to clean and maintain it the same as any bike. Dried mud still wears down components whether they're attached to something called a mountain bike or a racing bike.

Actually the make is claud butler. ill def have to get the brakes fixed and also the seat is uncomfortable so im assuming i can buy a softer seat, this thing is like a brick

(Claud Butler is a good brand, Over2.5; I persuaded an ex to get a bike and she chose a CButler, though I can't remember the type; the point is that it was lightweight and she was absolutely astonished at what a pleasure cycling suddenly became, as opposed to the cheap, heavy mountain-bike style affairs which she'd ridden as a teenager.)

Just buy a gel saddle cover for £5 to £10. Make sure you try it over the existing saddle before parting with the readies - one size does not fit all, regardless of what they say on the wrapper.

History Maker     01 Mar 12 17:41 
Depends why you want it.

If you want it for going to work, or taking much stuff with you, get a mountain bike and put on touring tyres, and paniers if necessary.

If solely for exercise, you might as well get a racer. Remember that the Tour de France average includes some pretty brutal slopes - I assume that you ain't going to be climbing Mont Ventoux or Alpe d'Huez too often in your travels.

This is what gets me about people who buy "mountain bikes". They somehow seem to think they're for climbing hills. In fact they're the exact opposite. The idea is they're heavy and robust for fast, off-road descents and ONLY descents.

To go uphill, you load a mountain bike into the back of a pick-up.

To cycle uphill, you select the lightest machine you can, i.e. the exact opposite of a mountain bike.

i have a kona dr dew hybrid

really sturdy bike and is quick enough to overtake the fatties on £2k road bkes

cost about £500 on cycle scheme through work

Sorry, may have given the wrong impression there. For fun, recreational stuff, go racer, for climbing or otherwise. For everyday stuff go mountain bike with touring tyres. Did Mont Ventoux on my mountain bike back when I was in good shape - I wouldn't recommend it!

Ampleforth - I'd like to nick your contribution and put it on a poster.

I'd guess that almost all the classic NCN routes, especially the Coast to Coast, are best enjoyed on a no-suspension £250 Mountain/Hybrid Bike with a 1 inch plus rim.

Bike is scrubbing up well

Just to clarify, I,d,ve loved to have bought a thin wheeled ( or whatever you call them) bike, but they seemed to start at five hundred quid.  And that was at halfords.

Please go back to one of the first posts by me at 29 Feb 12 09:28.

This is re my Claud Butler 'Levante'.........

i believe the chris boardman bikes are not too bad and they are quite cheap.

you can also look to buy one second hand and take it to your local bike shop to get fitted and up to date.

the only thing worth any money on a bike is the frame.  the rest can all be updated pretty cheaply.

if you can find a good second hand bike with a decent frame then your laughing.

The drive set (chain and sprockets and idlers) can be shockingly expensive to replace.

That's why I make such a big fuss about keeping them clean and free of dirt.

stop lying screaming

any excuse to clean your bike

If every game was as manic and profitable as that Aus vs Sri Lanka match that just finished, I wouldn't bat an eyelid over shelling out over a hundred quid for a new drivetrain.

The trouble is that if you don't keep the parts clean, and the chain wears down, then it wears down the teeth on the sprockets as well, so you have to replace the whole mechanism

Ampleforth agree with your post wholeheartedly re cost/purchasing.
However for a newcomer attaining an average of 18 mph fairly easily(MTB) is surely way off beam?
I would imagine alot of club cyclists would find that sort of average speed difficult to maintain on a heavy knobbly tyred machine

geoff, I typed a long response to this earlier and hit refresh instead of post!

Your comment was just part of it, and that it isn't just heavy rolling resistance, and weight
that is the problem, but also totally inappropriate gearing

Mountain bikes were designed for one specific purpose only.

you are perhaps right about the 18mph, I plucked that figure from when  I used to cycle to work on my mountain bike 3-4 time a week (6.4 miles each way) and on a good weather day with no wind I would average about 18mph, and there were a few decent hills on route. However I admit I did swap knobbly tyres for a thinner hybrid type tyre. I kept the knobbly tyres for should I ever go off roading, but never actually got round to swapping them back and never really found the need to either, the hybrid tryes took me everywhere i needed to go quite easily including some fairly rough off road stuff....

However the time comparison is probably not far off, most people couldnt average 25mph no matter how light a racer they bought. Most of the weight being transported is the person sitting on it. People would be better off going for a good sh!t before they set off rather than spending £200 on a carbon fibre saddle that take a couple of ounces of the bikes weight.

Rather than delay things, before they set off, could they not do a Sally (Gunnel) and
do it in the saddle?

Might also increase the comfort a little too!

is that classed as spreading the load?

Left the bike into the local shop today to have it fully checked over so should be up and running tomorrow only problem is this fooking seat its like sitting on a brick and its slightly too high

If the seat is too high it will have to be destroyed!

its down as far as it can go

Problem with buying a cast off!

Either you are very short, or the original owner was very tall, because it is obviously
a very large frame, so it will look pretty stupid!

Anyway if it is still too high it's a lost cause, I would say!

or wear some platform shoes...

Get some smaller wheels

How does a thread like this reach over three hundred posts, and go from good and
sensible advice, for a bike to a maximum declared budget of £800.00, and finishing up
with a second hand model that is too big?

Now followed by suggestions of platform shoes and smaller wheels etc.

im 6ft but its just slightly too high, im sure theres a way around it somehow

Must be a massive frame!

You said it's a Claud Butler but which model is it?

I'm picturing the seat being right down level with the frame but surely that cannot be!

The seat tubes are pretty long and it may be that it is hitting the studs where you
attach accessories!

If it is the the answer is very simple....just shorten it.

if it isnt, wear platform shoes..... I do take offence to you belittling my advice, your only advice at the time was that it was 'a lost cause', we would never have won 2 world wars with people like you around..

Over2.5, I think you must have the wrong idea about how near the ground you need to be. You don't need to be able to rest the soles of both feet on the ground, just one toe on either side is sufficient.

Unless this is a Claud Butler penny farthing, the bike has not been built  on which the saddle is too high for a 6-foot rider.

Yup....agreed.

With your foot on the peddle, at the lowest position, your leg should be just slightly bent
(hopefully at the knee otherwise you are in trouble).

even better with your foot on the "pedal"

Comedy gold. Platform shoes. I only read pages 1 and 4 but how the feck did we go from £800 to that? Now I've got to read pages 2 and 3.

Some useful comments and some genuinely funny ones. 18mph on a mountain bike. Presumably whilst sipping bubbly from a champagne flute.

Cycling should be fun if you want it to be fun. You don't need a £1000 bike for that. If you want to spend that kind of money then somewhere like PlanetX is ideal. Outside of that the cheap end Boardman is a perfectly good bike to buy in that £500 range.

If the saddle is too high and like sitting on a brick then remove the saddle and wedge the seatpost up your rse - both problems solved

Kind of like that South Park episode where Mr Garrison invents a new mode of transport using the above idea which, while uncomfortable, "still beats using the airlines"

^ made me really lol that episode

If yer @rse is used to sitting on the settee it will feel like a brick on a bike seat for a few weeks.

Buy a Ribble. They look good and may even be able to buy their cheapest carbon framed version for £800.

Google ribble evo pro carbon have a peak.

SPYKES....you clearly haven't read through this thread!

We've been through all the sensible responses, and are now looking for something, anything,
even an old "butcher's bike" from the canal will do!

I realised after that I think I posted the suggestion 2 weeks ago on the same thread. I have a terrible memory.

Slightly more relevant then, I do remember leaving my postmans bicycle round the back of my mates dads 9 years ago and apparently its still there. Maybe that would suffice?? Im sure the tyres would need a touch of air and good as new.

There is an old bike that works behind the bar at my local boozer, maybe she would suffice?