New member here - looking for some road bike advice

[machin05]

Hey all,
New member here from Wolverhampton and I'm after some advice/opinions.

In a bid to up my exercise efforts last year, I bought a cheap (ie £99) mountain bike from Decathlon to use for short trips in and around Wolves - primarily to my band practice room and into town for the football. I have used it to ride to work once (I work in Birmingham, about 12 miles away) and would like to do it more often once my fitness levels are up a bit.

However 18 months of use and the cheap old mountain bike is pretty knackered. Already on my second chain and now the back brakes are sticking, and the gear selectors are out of line, because of what looks like a bent back wheel.

You know what they say, you buy cheap, you buy twice.

I'm thinking that a lighter framed, road bike with thinner tyres and a lower gear ratio might be more suited for what I want to use my bike for. I never go off road and I don't use the lowest 7 gears of my current bike at all.

I'm looking to spend about £500 for something that will be a bit quicker on the flats and fairly easy to manage the undulations of the Birmingham New Road.

Does anyone have any recommendations or advice? I've had a look at one LBS - Fred Williams Cycles, as they sorted me out with a new chain for my current bike, but there stuff is a little too pricey for me.

I like the look of the disc style brakes, are they worth specifically seeking out?

There's this place in town, which seems to have a good range of stock in my budget - http://www.leisure-lakes-c2w.com/frame.php

Any opinions or anything to avoid on these bikes that have taken my fancy:
http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/product/cubeltdclshybridbike2012.aspx?&id=17436
http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/product/specializedcrosstraildiscroadbike2012.aspx?&id=17077
http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/product/scottsportster55urbanbike2012.aspx?&id=17432
http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/product/marinsanrafaelds3commuterroadbike2012-sale.aspx?&id=18524
http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/product/marinlarkspurcs4commuterroadbike2012-sale.aspx?&id=18519
http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/product/trek7500roadbike2011-sale.aspx?&id=14465
http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/product/trek73fxdischybridroadbike2012.aspx?&id=17400

I will obviously be popping in to test out the ones I like the look at, but are there any components on the bikes I've listed that should be avoided? And am I being foolish in narrowing my search to disc brakes only?

Cheers,
Will

 

[Peteaud]

I have the trek 7500 2011 bike as your list and its bloody fantastic.

Yes it has front sus (do you need it) but it really is a goalmost anywhere bike, and its comfy.

BUT - Go and see if you can ride some, its personal imho.

 

[Pauluk]

And am I being foolish in narrowing my search to disc brakes only?

I don't think its foolish but I wouldn't be too hung up on disc brakes. I bought my second hybrid with mechanical disc brakes but was a bit disappointed with their performance. I think v-brakes are fine for the vast majority if not all riding. Lets face it, we were riding on v-brakes long before discs and they were fine.

My disc brakes are noisy so I was thinking of changing them for avid bb7, but then I read that many other people had squeal problems with the BB7 so I didn't bother. My rear disc does not perform any better than my rear v-brake on my other hybrid, my front probably does. IMO disc brakes need more maintenance, cleaning etc if you want to keep them quiet and free from contaminants.

Last Monday my wife and I were out on an off road trail and after a couple of hours you couldn't see her v-brake arms for the sheer amount of mud and grit caked around them, but they still worked perfectly well.

I must admit, mine have now settled down a bit and are a wee bit quieter now.

If I had my time again I would concentrate on the other equipment first including the frame quality and overall weight, particularly if you want to be quick on roads.

This is just my opinion, others may disagree.

 

[sidevalve]

No offence intended here but bikes require maintenance [cheap or expensive]. Chains do wear out, wheels do buckle and brake pivots do need a bit of lube sometimes. A road bike may a little more delicate still. As above I wouldn't worry too much about the discs, an over hard pull on a good pair of V brakes and the wheels will stop going round [and you will fall off]. Again as above I would think more about weight and component quality.

 

[machin05]

Hi,
Thanks for the replies folks.
The reason I was looking to steer away from V brakes was that I have had a nightmare trying to adjust them and I can never get the hang of it. Sounds daft, I know. Maybe it was more to do with the fact that it was a cheap bike with cheap components that was causing the issues. Perhaps I should broaden my search a bit. Are there a particular model of v-brake in my price range that I should avoid/look out for?

Sidevalve, I appreciate your comments, and no offence was taken at all. I am aware of the fact that bikes need service and maintenance, and this is something I'll enlist the help of my LBS for, but I don't really want to spend the money on doing so on such a cheap bike. I would rather spend the money now on something fairly decent and maintain that properly.

My commute (which is the ultimate aim) is mainly flat tarmac but there are some bumpy bike paths. The bumps are due to tree root protruding through the surface. I don't reckon front suspension is vital, I haven't got it at the moment. Perhaps carbon forks would be a good option?

I would like more speed on the flats, but don't want to be left wanting on the uphill sections as some of the hills are pretty steep. I'm thinking flat bar as it will be more comfortable, but still want the fairly thin tyres. Anything else to consider?

 

[Pauluk]

The reason I was looking to steer away from V brakes was that I have had a nightmare trying to adjust them and I can never get the hang of it.

Disc brakes can be just as bad in a way. Mine only have an adjuster on one side of the caliper, to adjust the other side I have to use the cable adjustment, its a pain. BB7s do have an adjuster on both sides so are a little easier. That being said, mine have not needed much adjustment in recent weeks.
I think both types have their drawbacks when it comes to setting them up/adjusting. If you're having it maintained at your LBS then it may not matter, but I still think v-brakes are more easy to maintain and keep quiet, again just my opinion. If you are doing it yourself then I think its just a matter of practice, specially with better components.

Suspension may not be vital as you say, you can always add it at a later date. Look at the weight they will add though.

 

[machin05]

Cheers Paul, I'll definitely not rule out V-brakes then.

 

[Pauluk]

Oh, just one further point. If you need to remove your wheel for any reason then its easier to do with disc brakes as you don't have to mess about unclipping your v-brake mechanism. I've seen people unclip these so easily but I sometimes have difficulty and often have to resort to releasing some cable tension. I don't have to worry with disc brakes.

Sorry if this complicates things but I thought it was worth mentioning.

 

[machin05]

It's caused me problems in the past, Paul so definitely worth mentioning. Cheers.

 

[jackthelad]

I bought the wife a £900 hybrid and the brakes were terrible constantly having to adjust them.I then decided to change them for deore xt brakes and have had no problem at all the cost to change £22 per brake.It sounds like you do not like the maintenance side of bikes and it might be more suited to keeping it simple by going single speed,you will get a good bike for around £500 as it takes the groupset cost out of the equation.

 

[biggs682]

you mention fred williams shop dont they get any 2nd hand machines in !

single speed also a good option for low maintanence

 

[machin05]

Not sure about 2nd hand, I'll pop in and have a look.

Single speed isn't really an option for me. I live at the top of a decent hill and my trip to work has a few worthy uphill sections.

 

[machin05]

Has anyone got any opinions on Merida bikes?

I've found a Wolverhampton bike shop that seem to stock exclusively that brand.

http://www.aceultracycles.co.uk/Hybrid-Bikes/MERIDA-Crossway-20-MD-Gents.html
http://www.aceultracycles.co.uk/Hybrid-Bikes/Merida-Crossway-40-D.html

 

[Scilly Suffolk]

Reading this, I think you should consider a cyclo-cross bike, something like the Genesis Croix De Fer, Vapour or Day 01.

I think you might find yourself outgrowing a hybrid pretty quickly: a cyclo-cross bike has far more road ability than a hybrid and is more than up to dealing with light off-road work.

Where as a cross bike is designed for the job, a hybrid is a compromise. I'm not saying that hybrids are bad bikes, just that from what you have written I think you want something more sporty.

A couple of specific points: road disc brakes have come on a long way, but cantilevered brakes do provide masses of stopping power, so don't feel that you are compromising if a bike you like in other respects doesn't have discs.

Cheap suspension is an absolute waste of money and good suspension will be of no use at all for the sort of riding you have described.

Straight handlebars aren't more comfortable, quite the opposite over any reasonable distance: drops offer you five different basic hand positions compared to one with straight bars.

 

[machin05]

Cheers Scilly, I'd never heard of a cyclo-cross before so will do a bit of googling. However the ones you have linked to are way out of my budget of ~£500.

Am I right in thinking that the more sporty, the less comfortable? That's why I'm leaning towards the hybrids as I presumed they would offer a certain degree of comfort?