New Bike Help Needed (after research)

[fuzzybike]

Hi All,

I'm new to biking and very much interested to pursue this as serious hobby. I have been through numerous forums and reviews including ones posted here.

My needs are commuting to office and occassional off road needs. I have zeroed in on HYBRID to begin with. I have been through all the advices and have made 3 kinds of choice which I am listing below.
1. Evans Cycles (Mongoose Crossway 350 - 250 pounds or Pinnacle Lithium 1 - 250 pounds or Trek 7X - 270 pounds)
2. Local Bike Store (Saracen Urban Escape - 270 pounds)
3. Halfords (Carerra Subway Limited Edition - 230 pounds)

I along with 2 of my colleagues are planning to buy the same bike together so that we have some buying power to negotiate the price. I want to begin with some basic accessories like mud guards (fully covered), lock (kryptonite Series 4) & helmet. The prices given above are before negotiation.

The LBS is very much keen in negotiation as it involves 3 bikes at one go but he sells only Saracen. Evans were not really keen for negotiation and were not bothere if I am buying one bike or more than 1. Halfords I dont have any prior experience.

Please guide me from the choices above the best one to choose from. I do understand that all of them have more or less the same spec. But what would be your order of preference incase you were in my position. This will help me a great deal in deciding.

Also, let me know if negotiations are possible if yes what can I ask for? Please guide me

 

[musa]

If negotiation are what your after your LBS are your best bet, the others as you have witnessed don't budge much unless you can do a price match on accessories or have a relationship with a store manager.

 

[vickster]

Evans have 10% off 2012 bikes at the moment with SSV12 if that helps and they have a pricematch policy against plenty of other (online) retailers

http://www.evanscycles.com/help/price-match

Is there not another LBS nearby with other brands?

Pinnacle are Evans own and Carrera Halfords, but lots of places sell Trek

I'd steer clear of the Mongoose as it has suspension, at that price point heavy and not great - assuming you want a flat bar bike for the road

Also, on Evans site, the Mongoose 350 is £260 (for the 2011), already £100 off so not really surprised Evans won't deal)

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/mongoose/crossway-350-2011-hybrid-bike-ec026605

 

[fuzzybike]

Thanks Musa.

Hi Vickster, Thanks for your response.

I live in Basingstoke. We have only 1 LBS and in my price range they only have Saracen. What do you think about the Mongoose brand. Can I go for Mongoose 300 which is without suspension.

Otherwise, looks like the choices are either Saracen or Trek. Trek will push me beyond my comfort budget taking accessories together

 

[the snail]

I agree with Vickster, front sus just adds weight and bounces up and down in an unpleasant way if you pedal hard. I would look at the bikes in the flesh and go for the one you like best. Other stuff you will probably want are water bottle/cage, pump (ideally track pump + mini pump to carry on the bike), spare tube, puncture repair kit, mini-tool, cable lock (best to lock both wheels to the frame, and a cable lock is good for country rides where you don't need to lug a heavy d-lock around) and a bag of some sort. If you can't get a discount on the bike, you can always see if they'll throw some accessories in - no harm in asking anyway.

ps that mongoose looks fine to me - comes with good puncture resistant tyres, which is good at that price.

 

[vickster]

I wouldn't bother with a cable lock - I had a £25 one, cut through, bike gone from busy road in London within 15 minutes Lesson learnt...

None of the bikes will be super light, get a D Lock (at least silver, pref gold sold secure) and attach it to the frame with the supplied bracket