Bikes around £150, do they exist?

[Profpointy]

Maybe £300 for a perfectly OK bike. Cheaper than that - not so good. This isn't merely snobbery, it just can't be done, and even worse, some of the very cheap bikes have things like suspension to seduce buyers but (at that level) is worse than useless and wastes money when the bike itself is already too cheap as it were. Spending more gets you a better bike and would at some leve be good value, and spend more again and you get a nicer bike, which is something else again, but I'd say £300 give or take was the boundary between crap and an actual proper bike

Extras - many "essential" extras are nothing of the sort. Bare minimum is maybe spare inner tube (fiver), AND puncture repair kit (fiver), and of course a pump and tyre levers. A multi tool is worth having - tenner maybe, but not essential if you've already got some allen keys and what not in the house. A track pump is almost essential and in my view the most worthwhile not-quite essential. Special shorts, and bike clothes in general are not essential at all. Worthwhile, yes, but I managed without for maybe 30 years, though do have 'em now. Lights if cycling in the dark - maybe £30 for some Chinese LED ones - which are amazing compared to what we had when I were a lad. Don't feel obliged to buy a helmet - I won't raise the argument here, but let's just say the merits are controversial to say the least.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

@Rooster1 yo what's wrong with Vikings, I do about 6-7,000 miles a year on mine, but no I wouldn't buy one of their lower end bikes, and they are a tad heavy

 

[vickster]

Hasn't yours been somewhat changed from the original spec?

 

[cyberknight]

Hasn't yours been somewhat changed from the original spec?

Just a bit .......

 

[vickster]

So it's not really fair to compare it to a £150 bike if you can afford it, it's better to buy a better spec bike upfront than upgrade over time which will cost more in the long run, even if you do all the work yourself

 

[mjr]

Don't buy cheap dazzling lights. They're not legal even if you're unlikely to be stopped for it. They're also antisocial and dazzling current motorists is risky: how many stop when they can't see and how many guess?

The best common lights are probably the German standards ones from Aldi and Lidl in their special offers every few months.

 

[sanddancer]

A lad in work bought a bike for 2grand + on the cycle to work scheme. Obviously he paid the extra cash but he used it once for work and he lives 1 mile away on the flat ffs.

there are loads of people in work who buy bikes on the scheme and dont even ride them.

Don't worry about it. They dont fit a tracker

 

[sanddancer]

Don't buy cheap dazzling lights. They're not legal even if you're unlikely to be stopped for it. They're also antisocial and dazzling current motorists is risky: how many stop when they can't see and how many guess?

The best common lights are probably the German standards ones from Aldi and Lidl in their special offers every few months.

I bought a £13 cree light off eblag but also a diffuser lens for about £8 shipped from the states. Job done.
My lbs does some canny rechargeable lights for a good discount though

 

[Nigelnaturist]

Hasn't yours been somewhat changed from the original spec?

Just a bit, however I rode on it pretty much standard for the first year (2012-13) though I did change the gearing a lot in that time, amazing what you can do, yes its had better wheels and now sports a 10sp triple, but I learnt much about where I wanted to go with gearing ect, I would advise avoiding the current bottom end range with the butterfly shifters, and they are always (unless a triple) over-geared for beginners, but that could be said of many a bike, I would rather have a a triple with say a 30x25/26 than a compact double with a 34x28 especially is only 7 or 8sp.

@kc100 don't worry about the figures I quoted to much they refer to the front and rear gears (chainring front the larger number and rear cog/sprocket smaller number), the smaller the fron and bigger the back the lower the gear is usually (it starts to get a bit complex) when you are ready, just ask on here people will explain it to you.

Read the next bit if you want but its just me generally blurbing on.
The white Viking you posted is likely to have either a 40 or 42th inner ring, and a 52 outer and the rear 28th making the lowest gear a 42x28 (this is the bit that gets complex'ish) a ratio of 1:1.5 (or for each rotation of the pedals, the back wheel will turn 1 1/2 times) the lower the ratio the lower the gear.
It is also a freewheel (screw on set of gears as opposed to a cassette that slides on spline) making it a little more difficult to change options.
This is part of the reason I advocate triple for beginners, as they have (usually) much lower gearing.

 

[sanddancer]

I bought a £13 cree light off eblag but also a diffuser lens for about £8 shipped from the states. Job done.
My lbs does some canny rechargeable lights for a good discount though

Edit that. Just found the reciept from 4th of march. $6.95 including shipping for the lens so around £4 from here if anyone is interested as they are hard to get hold of.


WWW.action-led-lights.com




http://WWW.action-led-lights.com/collections/accessories/products/wide-angle-lens


.

 

[montroseloon]

I had the same dilemma a wee while ago, fancied a road bike but didn't want to spend a fortune. Luckily one night out on the ale I heard about one for sale which was good spec and well kept. I had considered buying a carrera from Halfords but the groupsets on them seem to get worse everytime I go and look at them. If you have a pal who is keen on cycling get them to help you keep an eye out for a 2nd hand one and hopefully this will get you going and get you a bike with a good setup and without bursting the bank

 

[Mike S]

I'm a newcomer to cycling too so I was in a similar boat to you ,didn't want to spend loads in case I didn't like it ,the wife however is a cycling machine lol and she picked up an as new Claud Butler keswick hybrid which had never been ridden for the princely sum of £100,this spared me on to buy a secondhand bike and I picked up a Carrera gryphon hybrid hardly used for a couple ofbquid more than our lass's,now I know niether of these bikes are all singing all dancing but both are more than up to the 10-50 miles at a time that they do,bargains are out there don't be put off go and have a look and throw a few silly offers in you might just get lucky ☺

 

[xzenonuk]

Hi KC.
As a fellow newcomer to cycling, all I can say is that if you buy a new road bike for £150 you will almost certainly hate it!

For a new bike I'm afraid that you will need to add at least £100 (for some of the Decathlon offerings for example http://www.decathlon.co.uk/C-359113-road-bikes) to get something that you might actually enjoy riding.

If your budget is fixed, then second hand is the way to go... just make sure you seek advice on any potential purchase from a knowledgeable friend or forum).

Accessories, well.... padded under-shorts will be a necessity when you start, and maybe a bottle holder and bottle. Spare inner tubes, pumps, multi-tools, are also big favourites of people. For clothing, Decathlon do a nice line in reasonably priced cycling gear.

In any event, good luck!

yep check out decathlon good bang per buck but up your budget a bit even if it means saving for longer it will be better in the long run.

i spent 200 quid in argos for a mountain bike and it was a piece of crap compared to my old 30 year old ridge back one lol

got a refund and got a decathlon bike

i was tinkering with the idea of a road bike to go along side my mountain bike and the triban series from decathlon seem to be no brainers, triban 3 has a lot of positive feed back on here i think, only prob is their about 300 quid

 

[Nigelnaturist]

i was tinkering with the idea of a road bike to go along side my mountain bike and the triban series from decathlon seem to be no brainers, triban 3 has a lot of positive feed back on here i think, only prob is their about 300 quid

Also a triple last time I looked

 

[Arjimlad]

My son got a Carrera Crixus new for £225 - it's a "CX" bike and has fatter tyres than a road bike, canti brakes and the same Shimano Claris gears as on my £699 Giant Revolt. A moderately used one of those might be a good thing to look out for if you fancy drop handlebars.