Beginners Hybrid for Copenhagen

[icebergx]

Hi all,
I'll be moving to copenhagen in December and, as it's a very cycle friendly city, I want to get a bike to get around town.

I'll be honest, I'm not a cycle-nut and I won't be commuting 15 miles to and from work. I'll be using it to get around town (which isn't very big) a few times a day and want the bike to be comfortable and light.

I've read that a second hand Specialized Sirrus Elite/Sport would be a good choice, but would I be going OTT with something as good as this? Would I be better off getting a cheaper, more basic second hand bike?

The older style 'town' bikes are very popular over there. Are they any good?

I don't really want to spend more than £300 either. Is this reasonable?

Thanks for your help.

 

[icebergx]

Can anyone help?

Thanks.

 

[HJ]

I think over there anything goes, £300 is a minimum budget here (I don't know how much it would buy in Denmark). My best advice would be to find a good LBS and try as many bikes at your price point and buy the one that feels the best. If you can up your budget to £400, you will get a much better choice of bikes.

Hope that is of some help.

 

[icebergx]

Would £300 be a minimum budget even for a second hand bike?
I'd guess a budget of £300 could get me a year old second-hand bike that would have cost £400-500.

Another thing I didn't consider, in the winter, it can get pretty snowy over there. I'll only be riding around the city centre but I presume normal tyres won't cut it in these conditions. Would I need new wheels?

Also, how easy/difficult would it be to send a bike to Denmark/abroad? I presume International Mail/UPS/Fed Ex would all be able to do this. Is it cheap?

 

[philipbh]

http://www.pedersen-bike.dk/

Found this link from another forum

You could rent a bike to start with and see which one suits you best - this way you could save the ar2e ache of sending the bike over (spend the money on the bike / accessories instead)

 

[Ivan Ardon]

Copenhagen is flat, and the bikes you see locked up around the station don't tend to be anything special. I'd be looking for something less complicated/desirable than a Sirrus, something that can put up with the daily squash in the racks.

Perhaps an old three speed with full guards and a rack for under a hundred quid. Or perhaps a new bike of the same spec for around £300, something like a Dawes Haarlem.

 

[snorri]

You don't say why you want to buy a bike here and take it with you rather than buying a bike in Denmark? Rugged low tech commuter bicycles are more readily available in mainland Europe than in the UK.

 

[HJ]

Would £300 be a minimum budget even for a second hand bike?
I'd guess a budget of £300 could get me a year old second-hand bike that would have cost £400-500.

Another thing I didn't consider, in the winter, it can get pretty snowy over there. I'll only be riding around the city centre but I presume normal tyres won't cut it in these conditions. Would I need new wheels?

Also, how easy/difficult would it be to send a bike to Denmark/abroad? I presume International Mail/UPS/Fed Ex would all be able to do this. Is it cheap?

£300 would be the minimum budget I would recommend for a new bike, if you are buying second hand, you would be better off buying when you get there, you will have much greater choice.

In winter, they clear the snow off the roads so normal tyres will be all you need...

 

[icebergx]

Copenhagen is flat, and the bikes you see locked up around the station don't tend to be anything special.

True. The bikes in Copenhagen do tend to appear a lot more 'Low Tech'.

Perhaps an old three speed with full guards and a rack for under a hundred quid. Or perhaps a new bike of the same spec for around £300, something like a Dawes Haarlem.

Mmmm... Like the sound of this type of bike but not really a big fan of the styling of the Haarlem. Maybe it will grow on me but my initial thoughts are to get something that looks a bit more sporty, but that's as comfortable as this looks. Maybe I'm asking too much!

You don't say why you want to buy a bike here and take it with you rather than buying a bike in Denmark? Rugged low tech commuter bicycles are more readily available in mainland Europe than in the UK.

I'm not against buying something in Denmark but at least here I've got time to look around and try things out. I'm not sure if that'll be the case in Copenhagen. Also, I've found Copenhagen very expensive, so I thought it might be cheaper to get something nice here and get it shipped over. It'll also give me time to get use to cycling from A-to-B on a regular basis. At the moment I just use the Car.

£300 would be the minimum budget I would recommend for a new bike, if you are buying second hand, you would be better off buying when you get there, you will have much greater choice.

Thanks for the advice, sounds really useful. I'll check out what's available when I visit in October.

In winter, they clear the snow off the roads so normal tyres will be all you need...

That's a relief!!! At least I won't look completely ridiculous sliding around in the snow!

Thanks for all your help, it's really making me realise what's important to me in a bike. This is what I have so far:

1) Comfort - Speed isn't my main priority. In fact, most of the time I'll just be casually cycling around town, so I want a comfortable ride.

2) Sporty/modern appearance - I'm not a big fan of older style bikes... for me. I do think they look good, but I'd prefer a more sporty look.

3) Good protection in wet weather - From what I gather, it rains there, more than it does here!!! This is probably more a clothing issue but anything which looks good, and has functional mud guards would be great.

4) Light - If I do need to carry it around, it would be nice if it didn't way a ton.

Any further suggestion would be much appreciated.