New bike any suggestions?

[Luiji07]

I am currently using second hand Raleigh firefly which I picked up for £50 second hand. It was just for short bike rides but now I have started commuting and think I may need something a little bit better as find this bike quite heavy.
I commute along a tow path for majority of the way so can get fairly muddy so need to stick with thick tyres and mountain bike.
I am female but do prefer men's bikes
I do not want anything too expensive was thinking up to £500 and don't mind second hand
Any suggestions to help will be welcome
Thanks

 

[Fletch456]

I don't know the range of bike you're looking at well but Boardman bikes are definitely worth putting on your list as they always seem to get good reviews. Halfords have a 2010 Boardman MTB Comp for £559 instead of £699. It has Avid Juicy 3 bikes which I can testify as being very good as I have them on my Giant XTC2 and that was £1000 so I think it has some really good kit on it. Including a Recon fork which I think is pretty good too - and a good fork is worth spending money on. It's a mens and they have small and medium available... link here.

Whatever you look at, as you're on tow paths a lot, make sure you have the ability to turn off the suspension. You may well have on all that you look at though turning it off of course means when the ground is flat eg pavement, a stretch of road, that all your pedalling is converted into forward motion and not unnecessary up and down motion.

I'll add another note which is, having just spent over my budget on a Trek Madone 4.7 road bike which has massively massively increased the pleasure I am getting from road ride, I'd say it is worth spending as much as you can afford - whatever £amount that may be.

 

[Fletch456]

Re that Boardman bike, felt I ought to pop back after having read a couple of reviews it may be far from perfect - they are distinctly mixed and from those who have owned for a while. Worth checking out all you can and am sure you will get lots of useful advice here. In other makes and at other shops there are still some 2010 clearance bargains around. Depending what you know about shops in your area it may be worth posting a note for shops people can recommend. Happy hunting and shopping.

 

[BlackPanther]

I'd recommend a Dawes. My Tanami has done 5,000 trouble free miles. It's quite high spec for the price ( I got mine for £300.00 ) http://www.bikes2udi....html?mv_pc=gp1, it's very comfy (the 'crow man' style bars are ace) and has front suspension lock out. For my commute though, 24 gears was waaay too many and I never used the lower chain ring. It's pretty light for the style of bike, but I haven't ridden it since I purchased my Specialized Allez. It'll be back in use next Winter though.

 

[cloggsy]

As has already been said, you can't go far wrong with a Boardman Hybrid for commuting...

Have a look at this, if you can find one in your size locally. Alternatively you can ring your local Halfords and they'll normally have one shipped from another store for you.