New bike from halfords only (cycle2work scheme) about £200

[ChrisKH]

wow thanks a lot for that. I just ordered the Diamondback. I preferred the sus and disc brake on the Diamond compared to the subway

just been into Halfords and after much deciding, on what I want it for went for Diamondback

I wanted front sus, I wanted at least 1 disc brake, preferred the overall "package" of the diamondback to the subway (although I know everyone saying overall is a better bike)

surely the Diamondback is better than the apollo's?

Well, you pays your money.............if you're happy with the bike then that's all that matters.

I think the overwhelming consensus is that both the Diamondback and the Apollo's are not worth the effort. The Subway may not look as flash as either of the above but will probably outperform both in the long run. Suspension and disc brakes on cheaper bikes are a gimmick to sell them but do not offer any advantages over that of a similarly priced hard-tailed bike with conventional brakes IMO.

If you want to take the kids out and go for the occasional ride, I suspect it won't make any difference what you have tbh. If you pose the question on this site, which has a core of enthusiasts and keen regular cyclists then the answer was always going to be 'spend as much as you afford' if cycling was likely to be a regular thing. For the type of cycling you will be doing it won't matter. And if you do decide to cycle regularly, you will be looking for a second bike within the next 12 months anyway. Enjoy.

 

[MrMister111]

I was going to post some scathing comment, but I just can't be bothered.

please dont, I realise this is an enthusiasts and keen regular cyclists forum, and that's why I was sort of scared topost, as I knew it would be start at £300 and go from there!

it is going to be for kids, out on grass at beach, getting to from work (6miles), general use.

Ok before I totally commit to scheme chose me a bike from halfords with this..

Disk brake (at least one)
grip shifts
front sus

for a 6'1" 34" leg, 14.5stone man

cheers

 

[John the Monkey]

wow thanks a lot for that. I just ordered the Diamondback. I preferred the sus and disc brake on the Diamond compared to the subway

just been into Halfords and after much deciding, on what I want it for went for Diamondback

I wanted front sus, I wanted at least 1 disc brake, preferred the overall "package" of the diamondback to the subway (although I know everyone saying overall is a better bike)

Fair enough - it's certainly capable of what you want it for.

As others have pointed out, the discs & suspension aren't going to be terrific for this money, but it will do what you want it to, so have fun riding it!

I would suggest that you learn a little about how to look after & adjust it (little things like indexing the gears &c) as this will help to keep it running nicely.

If you can still change your mind, do give some consideration to the Subway - it's a really good bike for the money. I'd go for V brakes over disks for the money you're spending, personally - suspension is dead weight until you get a fair way above £200 too.

 

[4F]

looks like a lot of people warning me off the Apollos.

My father in law works for bikehut in Halfords and he confirms that the Apollo's are crap

 

[John the Monkey]

We only have one Apollo, Mrs. Monkey's first bike - heavy frame, heavy wheels, plastic brake levers, and cantis that need constant adjustment (they're forever adjusting themselves so as to head for the tyre or spokes).

Terrible bike.

 

[Theseus]

I certainly don't have a problem with you posting questions, but you seem to have ignored all the advice given. But as has already been mentioned it is your money and your choice.

As for your requirements, from a functional point of view
1. Why disk brakes? At the price bracket you are talking about rim brakes are just as good, if not better.
2. Why grip shifters, in fact why any gears at all for what you are going to do? Have you considered a singlespeed?
3. Why suspension at all? At your price bracket, any suspension will not be worth it. A previous poster put a lower level of spend for suspension at £500 for the bike. Personally I would at least double that before getting components that are worth it.

From an aesthetic point of view, each to thier own.

In my opinion, for your budget, you should be looking at getting the best quality bike you can over gimmicks like cheap springs and cheap disk brakes.

Like you, my company insists on using Halfords for the C2W scheme. However you can source the bike from anyone who makes/imports bikes in(to) the UK. Ring the number of the Halfords C2W scheme, not your local branch. and talk to them. I sourced my machine from Pearson. Mind you I had more to spend than you.

 

[John the Monkey]

As for your requirements, from a functional point of view
1. Why disk brakes? At the price bracket you are talking about rim brakes are just as good, if not better.
2. Why grip shifters, in fact why any gears at all for what you are going to do? Have you considered a singlespeed?
3. Why suspension at all? At your price bracket, any suspension will not be worth it. A previous poster put a lower level of spend for suspension at £500 for the bike. Personally I would at least double that before getting components that are worth it.

I'd agree with 1 & 3 - as for grip shifters - the spec on the bike is SRAM, as I recall. These are ok, I think (they're on no.1 son's Decathlon bike) - I've worked on some REALLY cheap grip shifters, and they can be bloody dreadful, the SRAM ones have always seemed ok to me.

 

[MrW]

I used to work on bikehut at halfords.

Definitely stay away from the apollo range, and I also found that raleighs arent as good as they used to be, we would often have to fix problems with them during assembly.

The carerra subways are good, if you want front suspension the carerra vulcan is ok but the kraken is good.

You can also 'special order' but you have to know what you want, but they can normally get you just about anything

 

[gekko]

As I said before, Pearson will take the vouchers directly (regardless of what your company has said). Just give them a call and chat to them about it. If you order through them, they will set the bike up well and you will get excellent advice. I was there last week. They don't sell anything that's rubbish.

I do think that the folks on the forum just want you to buy something you will enjoy riding, that will be comfortable and won't fall apart. It's not just that they are keen riders who like spending lots of money on bikes. You want to use the bike to commute to work so you do need something reasonable. If you plan to cycle on the road, you want something that is appropriate for riding in traffic. Think about what you'd look for when buying a car (comfort, safety, quality of materials) and then apply the same principles. It doesn't mean you have to buy a Rolls Royce, but you probably don't want a Trabant either!

Btw, I know nothing about suspension and disc brakes or even makes of bikes. I just came here a few weeks ago and have been listening and learning ever since. My needs are also fairly basic at the moment but when I took up the guitar 18 months ago, I bought a cheap one and then ended up having to replace it 12 months down the line. I don't want to make the same mistake here.

 

[Jim_Noir]

I ride an Apollo MTB, it's sh!t... but bought it for £50 off gumtree, probibly only woth half that! However I did get it to see if I liked cycling. Why only £200? With C2W is it not the more you spend the more you save? If only my place would sign up for it.

 

[The Jogger]

Where did he go?

 

[Jim_Noir]

Where did he go?

Me? Wen to the park with the dogs to look at the "wildlife"

 

[MrMister111]

mmm gotta decide today, I need to sign up. To be honest when looking at price, I may stretch to £300, but this has got to include helmet, lock, pump.

I also want a bike that I "like" ie looks good, feels good. Although the bikes suggested are prob much better than the Diamnondback, I do want these things on, Disc brake, Front sus, grip shifts

so please have one last look on Halfords website for me, and choose me a bike with these things if possible

thanks for all your help so far though, do appreciate it all

 

[John the Monkey]

so please have one last look on Halfords website for me, and choose me a bike with these things if possible

Seriously, you aren't going to get a good bike with suspension and discs at this price.

(I'm using the word good here to mean stuff that actually does what it's meant to without lots of hours of tweaking - believe me, I've been the guy tweaking). At this price, simpler is better, and the Subways are excellent "simple" bikes.

Go for the sus. and the discs if you really want to, but don't expect them to be more than ornamental at best (and decoration that you're expending effort to move around - an extra 2kgs!) or a bit of a pain in the backside at worst!

 

[Chonker]

What you want is a carerra kraken, now look at how much what you want costs and rethink your needs

Dunno what sort of discout the c2w scheme offers but have you considered getting a good bike second hand?

http://www.cyclechat.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=35092