A good girl's bike

[compass]

Hi, I'm looking to purchase a girl's bike for a 13 yr old. She knows how to bike, so maybe a hybrid. Good quality (of course), one for her to have for a good while, but reasonably priced. Definitely no pink bikes! :-) Any recommendations of brand or model? We're in the UK, so Halford's has Apollo bikes and I see Amazon & Argos have MuddyFox, but I see they don't have great reviews.

Many thanks!

 

[Citius]

If you are after genuinely good quality, that generally precludes buying from Halfords, Amazon or Argos. Some idea of budget would be helpful...

 

[midlife]

I bought a Ridgeback from a local shop, not glamorous but seems pretty solid and we'll screwed together. We have 2 Ridgeback bikes and both do what they say on the tin....

Shaun

 

[compass]

Budget-wise, I think we're willing to spend between £100 and £200.

 

[Andy_R]

look in Decathlon or eBay

 

[shouldbeinbed]

Decathlon Elops 5. Dutch step through type, It's a bit heavy but easy riding, hub gear and dynamo lights, nice understated colour scheme, and very very good value solid reliable bike.

Daughter has one, I wish it fitted me better.

Edit, its been rebranded as an Elops 500, same bike spec, £250 & magnificent VFM at that price.

 

[adamhearn]

Hi, I'm looking to purchase a girl's bike for a 13 yr old. She knows how to bike, so maybe a hybrid. Good quality (of course), one for her to have for a good while, but reasonably priced. Definitely no pink bikes! :-) Any recommendations of brand or model? We're in the UK, so Halford's has Apollo bikes and I see Amazon & Argos have MuddyFox, but I see they don't have great reviews.

Many thanks!

Your daughter will still have some more growing to do so there's not much point in buying one to last a while.

All Apollo bikes I've had experience with have been usable but not very good. Don't have any feedback on Muddyfox. For the budget I'd look for second-hand so check local paper/notice boards/sales web sites (trade-it is one that's local here for example) and ebay filtered to within a distance you're willing to travel.

If you're set on buying a new one then look for an end of season (i.e. 2015) model though the budget will still be a challenge.

 

[Saluki]

+1 for Decathlon.
Apollo are horrendous bikes, if you are heading for Halfords have a look at the Carerra range, they are much much better.
I had an Apollo once, when I didn't really know any better. I was forever having the brakes tweaked and whatnot, they are the budget end of the Halfords market. I'm pretty sure that you want the bike to stop in good time, when your daughter applies the brakes.
Decathlon are good bikes at low prices, good enough to sell on when your daughter grows.

 

[annedonnelly]

@Saluki is right - Apollo are rubbish.

If there's a bike recycling scheme near you it'd be worth taking a look. The ones in this area are very good - they won't sell you something that isn't suitable and you know the bike has been checked over by a mechanic.

 

[Citius]

Budget-wise, I think we're willing to spend between £100 and £200.

You are not going to be able to buy a 'good quality', 'long term' bike for £100-200 unfortunately. Unless you buy s/h or re-think your budget.

 

[compass]

You are not going to be able to buy a 'good quality', 'long term' bike for £100-200 unfortunately. Unless you buy s/h or re-think your budget.

Sounds like Decathlon is the place to go, and there's one near us. And they have quite a few for under £200 according to their website. We'll go check them out. Thanks very much, guys!