Newbie, confused, seeks 'what bike' advice

[mightyquin]

Hi,

Firstly, I've just joined the forum and I'm not a 'cyclist' as such so please bear with me.....I use other forums for photography and know how I feel when newcomers ask really stupid questions (although I do try to help)! I also know you get what you pay for etc etc., and that there's no universal solution for any given problem.

As I've said, I'm not really a cyclist. I have a Raleigh Max in the garage which I did use frequently for general running about when I didn't want to take the car, and the odd trip out/cycle trails etc. I stopped using it when the gears started playing up and kind of forgot about it.

I'm working closer to home now and basically miss using the bike, so I'm in the market for a new bike (I did consider getting the Max fixed up but I'm guessing the cost of doing so will be not that different to buying something else instead). I want an 'all rounder' or as much as an all rounder as I can get, for mostly road/path riding and the odd trail/off road trip, so I'm guessing a Hybrid or perhaps a Mountain Bike with road tyres is the way to go?

Budget.........I don't have a budget, that is to say I need to spend as little as possible! That said I don't want to buy something that's going to fall apart after a few months use. I have a Cycle King down the road, next to Chicken King, and they pointed me to this http://www.cycleking.co.uk/AMMACO-XXR10-ALLOY-24-SPEED--5-9-product-246.html - it's got lever gear shifters (which I prefer to the grip type), V section wheels, good quality front forks (apparently) and a few other features they pointed out. Basically, is it any good or really just a 'toy' bike?

I'd rather buy a new bike as I wouldn't really know what to look for if buying s/h, and I just want to get up and running. What else would anyone suggest I look at?

Any advice on type of bike, tyres, frame type etc., would be very much appreciated. I think I'll probably end up having to spend more that the £89 special I was hoping to pick up in the sales but I guess I don't want to spend much more than about £200ish, which I know is really asking a lot.

Cheers!

 

[MacB]

It's always going to be a tricky one, especially at the lower price points. The best bargains to be had are buying wisely secondhand but, as the 'wisely' suggests, you need to know what you're doing, even then it could be a bit of a crap shoot. Some things I'd suggest:-

go as simple as possible, what you've linked to is more along the lines of a BSO(bike shaped object), it looks the part but is unlikely to stand up well. Suspension is excellent, beyond a certain price point and if you have a need. That need is serious mountain biking and the price point is far in excess of the bike you linked to. All that will do is add weight and convert some of your energy into bobbing up and down.

For cheaper, and more reliable, options Decathlon gets some very good reviews, as do Edinburgh Bicycle Cooperative:-


http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/ebw...&f_SupersetQRY=&f_SortOrderID=1&f_bct=c003155

One of the Revolution Couriers could be a good buy, there's a Classic Disc on at £215.99, single chainring at front, 8 speed cassette at the back, Tektro mechanical disc brakes. Very good bike for that price as long as you can fit the sale model left.

 

[mightyquin]

Thanks for the advice. I guessed that might be the opinion of the Cycle King bike!

The Revoultion looks interesting, but I see that it's 'only' 8 gears - do I really need 18+ gears if I'm going off road occasionally? I also see that they do a 24 speed version and they mention that it also means you can fit mountain bike tyres when needed (why can't you fit them with the 8 speed version though?). Seems a good range of bikes though.....

I read somewhere else that buying a simple but decent spec MTB and fitting semi slick/road tyres is a good option (and keeping the MTB tyres for off road use).

So many opinions and alternatives, it gets very confusing.

I'd also rather buy locally (so I can see/try the bike first) but don't have too many proper bike shops nearby. I'm going to look at Evans on Saturday - I see on their website that Mongoose bikes look interesting, the Crossway hybrid or their mountain bike - although it has front suspension which seems a bad idea then on a budget bike?

Cheers again!

 

[MacB]

the Courier version is 700c the other 26" MTB size wheels, yep confusing, there is a better measurment standard called ERTO where a wheel is defined by diameter and width of rim. 700c is a 622 and 26" is a 559, the rim width, as in 622-19, indicates the internal width and therefore the size of tyres that rim can accomodate.

Regarding gearing, and I made this mistake, you never get 18/27/24 seperate gears. There are duplications and there are also gears it's best not to use, the ones that run the chain at the most extreme angle, not so much a problem with only 2 rings at the front. I was quite dismayed when I got my first 27 gear bike and then realised that I had no more than 15 seperate gears. How you ride impacts your gear choices as well, if you like to keep the same cadence then you need lots of gears to flick between. If you are happy varying your pedalling then less gears are better. This is something you'd tend to find out for yourself, but more gears can be a hassle. The popularity of single speed/fixed and hub gears, for general riding duties, are testament to this.

By going with a 1x8 setup you'll tend to get better quality than a 3x8 or 3x9 at the same pricepoint, hope that's not too obvious. By the way one of my sons has a Courier Race 1x8 I bought secondhand on here and it has been excellent. Compared to the cheap full sus MTBs we've had in the past(around the £250 pricepoint) it's of far better build quality and the parts are better. It's more than capable of doing light off road and trail duties, just put the tyres on to cope. It's also a lot easier to maintain as the bits go together properly.

Personally I'd take the 700c over the 26" MTB route unless you plan on some serious off roading. Even with slicks a MTB will just be harder work on road and trail. If you do plan off roading properly then you may be disappointed at the performance from any MTB in the price range you're looking at. There was a test done of a load of cheapo ones and they all broke on the first ride and it wasn't even a severe test.

Even better option is two bikes, get something like the Courier Race and go to the tip to pick up an old MTB. I've not paid more than £10 at my local tip for any bike I've wanted. Generally I've only been wanting parts and it's £2-3.

 

[PpPete]

I had a quick look at the Evans Crossway series. Think I'd shy away from the 125 model even though it's a single chainring that MacB recommends for very good reasons. Some of the other componentry is borderline BSO territory.
Loose ball Bottom bracket for example....only 30 years since any qality bike made with one of those !

The Crossway 200 or 300 look not half bad for £200 ditto the Pinnacle Stratus 1.0

 

[cyberknight]

I would also suggest the subway 1 from a popular high street chain ( halfords)

Normally around £220 , but the website is down atm so i cannot check !!


Mine was a cracker !!, stick some slick tyres on it and you can really get some speed going as well !

 

[g00se]

Looking at the Evans sales page, the Trek FX7.0 is good at that price.

 

[Mike!]

I would also suggest the subway 1 from a popular high street chain ( halfords)

Normally around £220 , but the website is down atm so i cannot check !!


Mine was a cracker !!, stick some slick tyres on it and you can really get some speed going as well !

Subway 1 seems to get good reviews, currently £279.99

or the Gryphon V Spec also from halfrords, lighter and more road biased but ok on light stuff currently £279.99 too.

I'd think you could bargain those prices down towards your budget though

 

[mightyquin]

Thanks all for the input.

MacB, thanks for explaining everything. I understand what you say about the gears, my old bike has 21 (I think) but I tended to just find one that felt ok for the road/path I was on, certainly I didn't use them all in any kind of sequence.

Reading the advice here and elsewhere I'm now thinking of getting a hybrid or road bike for my commuting and general running about, and .... getting the old MAX fixed up later on with some decent new parts, to use as a stripped down dedicated off roader!

The Revoultion disc looks great by the way, and I've been offered a Giant FCR for about the same price (s/h). Decisions decisions!

By the way, what's the point of a single speed MTB?

Re. Halfords, I did pop into my local branch today to have a look. They may well sell some decent bikes, but the stuff on the website wasn't anywhere in store, and there were absolutely no staff in the bike dept! I got fed up trying to get someones attention.

Keep the advice coming, I'm learning a lot!

Cheers

 

[TheBoyBilly]

Singlespeed on an MTB has it's place. For me it would be chasing down a muddy disused railway line or trail with not too many climbs (in fact, on my MTB, I only tend to use two or three gears off the middle chainring on the DownsLink anyway). It'll certainly make you work and improve your fitness no end. For this you don't need suspension so it will be a light bike and maybe even fixed-wheel for the more hardcore riders. Not my cup of tea, it has to be said, but all credit to those who ride off-road with just the one gear. Now singlespeed 'on the road' on the other hand......yes please!

Bill

 

[g00se]

Halfords - some of the bikes might be OK, but you run the risk of cr*p staff in some of them (who would rather be playing with the Chav car audio downstairs). Sounds like that might be your case...

The Giant FCR is a decent bike - but it's very much a road bike with flat bars, rather than the more MTB hybrids. Havr a look out for Kona Dew hybrids too.

 

[mightyquin]

I've been offered one of these very cheap http://www.pinnacle-bikes.co.uk/2009+Bikes/Hybrid-Commuter/Mean+Streak/#

Is it any good? I'm thinking of going for it as a stop-gap solution....but don't want to waste my time/money if its' a POS.

Also the frame is XL and I'm really an L size (according to the size chart), but would it be OK? (just under 6' with 33in inside leg).

Advice much appreciated.

 

[Browser]

If you want a good all-rounder, have a look at cyclo-cross bikes if any fall within you're budget range. They are, in essence (ducking to avoid incoming brickbats) a slightly more strongly-built road-looking bike, usually with chunkier tyres and cantilever brakes. Were I buying new now instead of a year ago like I did, I'd seriously consider one, especially in view of the country's rapidly deterioirating tarmac roads.