Cycling newbie

[nickp]

Hi all.

I am looking for some advice on my first bike.

I am a keen nature photographer and am looking for something that i can use to first get to locations which will sometimes be rather a long way, and then be able to get around wilst there, terrian will be vary greatly from the coastal paths, woodland, moorland, road etc.

i will usually be carrying quite alot of camera equipment with me.

I don't want to spend to much on my first bike, and don't mind secondhand.

Thanks

Nick

 

[Sam Kennedy]

I'm no expert, I'm just a newbie like yourself

I would guess since you have varying terrain and will be carrying camera equipment, you would probably be best off with a mountain bike.

You *might* get away with a hybrid, but you might have to experiment a bit to find which tyres would work best for the terrain you would be using.

Someone more experienced may know which tyres you could use.

You could consider a 29er (Mountain bike with 29" wheels).

I'm also into photography, I've got a Nikon D40, I REALLY want to try lightning photography, but I was out cycling when there was a storm
It was really fun, but now I would prefer to get some decent lightning pictures.

What camera and lenses do you use? I've got a Sigma 70-300mm which I'm happy with, but I use a 18-55mm for lightning and other random stuff which requires a wide angled lens.

 

[Arch]

It depends really on just how rough the terrain is going to be - anything to suit really boggy or rocky tracks will probably slow you down on tarmac a bit.

That said, Big Apple tyres, by Schwalbe, are nice and big and cushiony, but relatively slick, so they roll well on tarmac.

How will you want to carry the camera equipment? Carrying it on your body, in a rucksack, or courier bag, will lessen the bumps and shocks. If you carry it on the bike, then some suspension might help, although all out full suspension will, once again, slow you down on the roads or the less bumpy bits. All that said, I don't go off road much, so I don't know how much you need knobbly tyres and the like.

I'd probably go for a hardtail MTB (that's front suspension only) or maybe no suspension, with tyres like Big Apples - they can run at relatively low pressures, which gives you some cushioning. If you want to carry the stuff on the bike, you need to be able to fit a rack for panniers. You can always lessen vibration by using riding technique - putting your weight on your pedals and letting the bike swivel under you.

My boss usually carries his camera in a courier bag, and he can swing the bag round to his chest and get the camera out one handed, on the move, if he needs to.

If you are happy with second hand, you might even find an old steel tourer is good - they were built for carrying stuff, and have a bit of flex in the frame, and can often take a bit of off road stuff, on the right tyres...

 

[nickp]

Thanks for reply's.

i will be carrying the camera in a backpack which is extremley well padded so bumps shouldn't be a problem.

A hard tail MTB was my first thought and i have been looking on the halfords website, i like the look of the saracen mantra vx 09, is this bike any good?

Sam, i use a nikon D70 (Just sold my D40), My lenses are the nikon 300mm f4, and the 70-200mm f2.8 (I have just sold all my zooms to make way for prime lenses)

I also have a few question on UK cycling law, shall i make a new thread?

Thanks

Nick

 

[bonj2]

How will you want to carry the camera equipment? Carrying it on your body, in a rucksack, or courier bag, will lessen the bumps and shocks. If you carry it on the bike, then some suspension might help

It would be doubtful that you could attach a pannier rack to a full susser, but if you could it probably wouldn't help much because if the rack was attached to the rear dropout, then it is the wrong side of where the suspension acts.

as said by ARch it would be better to go for a hardtail trekking/touring MTB either with low travel forks, or even rigid forks*. You can then attach a pannier rack, so make sure it has eyelets for one.
To protect camera equipment make sure it is packed tightly in a padded case, and with padding between the camera and lenses, etc.
Unless you are doing rock gardens and technical trails then you should be ok.
For what you're doing (i.e. something other than mtbing purely for the sake of the fun of mtbing) then rigid would probably be better, as it's one less thing to service, and low travel forks are often cheap and fairly low quality and tend to bottom out fairly easily, and if you're buying second hand the stanchions and or seals may already be in a none too great state of repair.

 

[bonj2]

Thanks for reply's.

i will be carrying the camera in a backpack which is extremley well padded so bumps shouldn't be a problem.

A hard tail MTB was my first thought and i have been looking on the halfords website, i like the look of the saracen mantra vx 09, is this bike any good?

it's not TOO bad for what you want. The forks aren't brilliant, but if you aren't absolutely thrashing it it'll be ok. for instance, if you ride straight at something kerb-height, fast, without lifting the front wheel they'll probably bottom out. But you aren't thrashing it through rock gardens so they'll probably do their job of just making what you do do a bit more comfortable.
The only other problem with the forks is they (probably) aren't lockout-able - so if you are standing onthe pedals to power up a hill (called honking) you will find that a lot of your energy is going towards compressing the forks up and down rather than through the back wheel getting you up the hill!
If you do get it from halfords, just give it a check over as their staff tend to be a bit hit and miss in terms of mechanical expertise and have been known to set up bikes wrongly .

 

[nickp]

Thanks boni, there's alot more to consider compared to when i was 10 and any bike would do

 

[simon_brooke]

Hi all.

I am looking for some advice on my first bike.

I am a keen nature photographer and am looking for something that i can use to first get to locations which will sometimes be rather a long way, and then be able to get around wilst there, terrian will be vary greatly from the coastal paths, woodland, moorland, road etc.

i will usually be carrying quite alot of camera equipment with me.

I don't want to spend to much on my first bike, and don't mind secondhand.

Seriously, consider a cross bike. A mountain bike is not great on roads, and unless you're spending four figures, is not going to give you long distance comfort either. A cross bike, however, will give you comfort and reasonable speed on road, while being able to cope with any track you could drive a landrover over. OK, so good mountain bikes really will go places you couldn't take a landrover - but do you need to?

How much does 'quite a lot' of camera equipment (in this context) weigh, by the way? Especially when packed to resist vibration and knocks? How bulky is it?

Panniers can be mounted on a full suspension mountain bike, but it's complicated and (again) not cheap. A one wheel trailer might be a good solution (Bob YAK or the Co-op's cheap imitation) but that's more weight to pull up every hill.

 

[simon_brooke]

Thanks for reply's.

i will be carrying the camera in a backpack which is extremley well padded so bumps shouldn't be a problem.

Don't do this. It's tiring to carry weight on your back rather than on the bike, and if you fall it risks injury (as well as damage to the camras).

A hard tail MTB was my first thought and i have been looking on the halfords website, i like the look of the saracen mantra vx 09, is this bike any good?
Nick

That's a bike designed as a jump bike - for playing about in jump parks. It isn't a cross country mountain bike. It will be heavy, and it won't ride well. The long travel suspension will bob horribly when pedalling.

Serious possibilities:

A basic cross bike
A cross-country hard tail
A second hand tourer

 

[nickp]

Thanks Simon, i'll have a look at croos bikes.

As for the camera, i can fit it all in my bag so it probally won't be a problem, at a guess i'd say it weighed around 4-5kgs without food, water etc.

 

[simon_brooke]

It would be doubtful that you could attach a pannier rack to a full susser, but if you could it probably wouldn't help much because if the rack was attached to the rear dropout, then it is the wrong side of where the suspension acts.

You can, but you're absolutely right there - adds unsprung weight. And it sounds as if a full susser which would be any good to him would be WAY out of his budget.

as said by ARch it would be better to go for a hardtail trekking/touring MTB either with low travel forks, or even rigid forks*. You can then attach a pannier rack, so make sure it has eyelets for one.

Strongly agree.

 

[nickp]

Thanks again Simon, the claud butler looks like a nice bike but it's a little out of my price range for the moment.

Do you know of any sites that specialise in used bikes?

 

[simon_brooke]

Thanks again Simon, the claud butler looks like a nice bike but it's a little out of my price range for the moment.

Do you know of any sites that specialise in used bikes?

EBay is good.

 

[bonj2]

You can, but you're absolutely right there - adds unsprung weight. And it sounds as if a full susser which would be any good to him would be WAY out of his budget.



Strongly agree.

yes that's the term i was looking for!

 

[Mike Rudkin]

I ride a Giant Terrago Disc fitted with pannier racks-clothing,food and unbreakable camera bits (tripod,hide clamp and sometimes my scope) go in the panniers and rack bag.Whilst my Canon 40d and Sigma150-500 are on my back in a Lowe Pro back pack.