What budget bike should I get?

[jnb]

Another Evans one is possibly the Dawes Mirage

If you live anywhere near a Decathlon, then there are options like the Fitness 1 which is a sort of flat barred road bike or the Rockrider 5.2 which is a pretty decent hardtail mountain bike (although there's no fork lock-out)

Nearest Decathlon to me is Lakeside which is too far and, more importantly, is Lakeside and thereforeto be avoided. The Dawes is a possibility but your post highlights a problem with distance buying. One of the bikes has the problem of having 'no fork lock out', Oh good, or bad, or to be honest I haven't the foggiest what that means. I can't even find consistent guides on what frame size I would want, I get advice of anything between 18 and 21" frames. Hence a reluctance to do anything which means buying at a distance.

 

[JonnyBlade]

Raleigh pursuit is a decent starter

Dooooooooh thought you were after road bikes

 

[mcshroom]

Sorry jnb. The Rockrider has a suspension front fork for going off road. On road you tend to bouce up and down a bit on suspension forks, so you lose energy through the forks. Some suspension forks have a "lock-out" switch that stops the suspension from working. That bike's fork hasn't.

On the Mirage there's a rigid front fork (no suspension) so the lock-out bit doesn't apply.

I agree it is better to buy a bike in person than over the net, as you get to see what it's really like in the flesh before deciding.

 

[mark barker]

jnb, where abouts are you based? Maybe you're near another member that'd be willing to give a used bike a quick look to help you out?

 

[aberal]

Looked at the revolution / edinburgh cycle coop bikes and, while I like them they are not local to me and I can't really justify spedning £500 on a bike. Unfortunately this all means that I might have to spend my pennies at halfords or similar. (and yes I know that means I might then need to take it to a real bike shop to get it set up properly but it still might the only really affordable option)

No worries mate. I've dispensed the same bit of sound advice to loads of friends and relatives over the years and have been roundly ignored by each and every one of them, including my own brother.

Some of whom, admittedly, coming to rue ignoring the good advice, but too late...

The link to the Revolution by the way wasn't meant as a suggestion that that is the bike you should buy - more of an idea of the kind of bike you can get for 500 quid.

 

[jnb]

OK well after a bit of searching I've come up with a few options based on the highly scientific process of ask in the local shops combined with googling.

claude butler urban city which my local (non halfords) store can do for £220
Claude butler urban 100which seems to be slightly higher spec but slightly cheaper!

or an alternative would be

Giant expression DX 2009 which would seem to be the better bike but I could afford because I found someone selling an ex hire / demo model online for £170.

If I buy via the web is it worth it given that I'll probably have to pay for the local shop to set it up properly and I'll have front suspension which I really don't need but I would have the rack and guards which otherwise I'd have to buy.

Opinions?

 

[MickL]

I brought my Gt Aggressor XC 3 (09) for £90, Ive had it for over a year now, really shop around bargin pages etc I got my bike via an add in the paper shop window. Its used every day for commuting running to the shops etc, all I have to do is basic maintenance and I replaced the rear cassette and chain over the Christmas Period. Its also survived an incident with a lorry. My other bike was a cheapo bike it died after 7 months of commuting.

 

[Zoiders]

Find out if you have bike recyling project nearby.

£200 will get you pretty much what ever you need, older steel MTBs from the ealy 90's offer all the braze ons and you can swap the tyres for slicks.

My choice for a low maintanance tootle would be a fixed conversion of old road bike or single speed if you are a bit unsure about fixed.

 

[soulful dog]

I have a budget of about £200 to get a bike. Now I want this for short commutes, cycling to the squash club, farm shop etc.

I'd happily buy secondhand, in fact I always prefer to but secondhand rather than new. If I get properly into cycling then I'd look at replacing with a tourer. But the fact that I might keep it for several years isn't a reason to spend more because right now I can't tell you what sort of bike I'd want some years from now.

If you are going to spend £200 you'd be as well spending £500 IMO and getting something which at least is decent to ride AND if you don't like it, at least you can sell it for (say) £250-300 a year down the line. A £200 bike will end up in a car boot sale.

While there are good arguments for buying the best bike you can afford, if you are just starting and don't know for definite that you will stick with cycling or what kind of bike you want or might want/need in the long term, 2nd hand is a good way to go IMHO. And I don't think there is anything wrong with a £200 budget. As others have mentioned, if you can get to a Decathlon store, you could even get a reasonable new bike for around that.

I bought a 2nd hand Claude Butler Odyessy for just over £100 (probably cost £250 new). That was 2-3 years ago and I still have it. It's not ended up in a car boot sale, and I'll probably keep it for another year yet. In the meantime I've bought another 2nd hand bike for under £150, a tourer (Dawes Horizon) for my attempts at riding a little further.

Sounds quite similar to jnb's needs, and I've spent around £250 and got two bikes.

 

[jnb]

Well I've gone with ax ex hire / demo expression DX. It's buying remotely which I don't like when I'm not an expert in something, and it's a bit of a guess as to the most likely frame size, but their return policy allows for wrong sizings even on ex hire stuff and if it's the right size it's a good price for something that in all probability has just been pootled around center parcs. Now I just have to wait and see what state and size it really is when it turns up and then but a few bits from the local bike store. (well actually not the local bike store as they're so arrogant they seem determined to put people off cycling so it'll be the next nearest store)