Cheap bikes?

[jnb]

Is there anything actually wrong with buying a cheap bike or is it just that by not spending £2000 rather than £200 the bike will weigh an ounce more than it might.

Or putting it another way if one can't find something secondhand (or doesn't know enough to know what to look for secondhand) and can't justify £400 / £500 for a new pushbike where would you suggest they look for usable cheap options?

 

[Sittingduck]

Depends on what kind of cycling you're planning to do. Do you want a full road bike, an MTB, a hybrid?

 

[Downward]

If your doing 3 miles a day then no point spending £££ on a bike.
As SD says give us some more data.

 

[jnb]

Plan on doing 4 miles round trip to allotment, 8 miles round trip to shops, 10 miles round trip to squash club and then (maybe, possibly) 28 mile round trip to the office. That last one would not be an every day trip though as I only work four days and teelcommute at least one of those, add in a morning of torrential rain, too much to carry or just plain held prisoner by the duvet for too long and I might only do that once or twice a week.

So I'd need something that can carry a wee bit of luggage and I prefer tourer styles, but that's a purely subjective opinion.

 

[Paulus]

Withe proposed mileage you are thinking of doing a cheapo bike would be ok, but, cheap bikes have cheap components, i.e gearing and wheels, also they are pretty heavy, which is why they are cheap. These bits will wear out quite quickly. From your post it looks like you are a keen ish rider so in reality it is best to pay out that little bit more and get the best bike you can afford, just in case you really get the bug. It will save you from having to buy a new bike after a short while.

 

[wafflycat]

With £200 you should be able to get a reasonable but basic hybrid with a bit of shopping around. If you could afford to push up more towards the £300 you'll increase your range of choices and chances of getting a decent bike an awful lot. You don't have to spend a couple of grand to get a decent bike, but if you go too cheap, you get cheap and nasty rather than good value.

See http://www.cyclechat.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=39369

 

[PatrickPending]

I always say to myself i've got to do 1km per year per £ spent on the bike. Mind you that fails at times (below £200 above £2000 - i'm not spending £12000 on my next bike!) - apparently most bikes do 73km before they end up in landfill so a lot of the low end bikes are designed to do just this and not much more.....

 

[chris667]

Every bike is cheap after a year when you do the mileages you're contemplating on it.

You should look at a secondhand touring bike with better components than you'll get on a new £200 bike. It will cost much less over the course of a year.

 

[Sittingduck]

I would get this for £220

 

[The Jogger]

SD beat me to it and I hate suggesting anything from this lot, so glad he did.

 

[Sittingduck]

^
Yup - good for the £ but you would need to take it down to a proper bike shop and pay them 20 quid to give a once over check and make sure everything is setup properly. Of course you could do this yourself, if you have the tools and know how... maybe a good opportunity to learn

 

[jnb]

I would get this for £220

Plus however much for mudguards, some kind of pannier rack, lights, reflectors. How can they sell that as a 'commuter' bike when it's missing half the bits to make it usable? It would be a bit like buying a car for £10 000 and then being handed an extra bill for £5000 because they have decided that lights, windscreens, doors, passenger seats, etc are optional extras.

So £220 for the bike, £110 to make it usable, £20 at a real cycle shop to get it set up properly. Just stormed through the budget and then some!

 

[Sittingduck]

Take a look at other bikes and you will find most don't come with all the kit you have mentioned (if any). I would say that it is useable without £100+ worth of none essential items personally but hey ho, each to their own. Mudguards are perhaps the only real essential for now - lock yes, if you've nowhere secure to park it. So maybe £50. That's 270... Go try and find a bike with mudguards and a lock thrown in for that kind of money and I think you will come back empty handed!

 

[bigjim]

Nice s/h 531 tourer would more than fit the bill.

 

[HLaB]

As SD says give us some more data.

I read that as ASDA at first