I need a new bicycle, I think.

willhub

willhub

willhub

Caporegime
Joined
3 Jan 2006
Posts
25,284
Location
Chadderton, Oldham
Hi.

Well I've got a Saracen Xray 2003 versions, and its been good, I recently started traveling to college on it, I would say about 20-30 miles a day on my saracen, now its been a good bike thats given me good speed through the city and also its been good for off roading, but its litrally been falling apart, back wheel fell off, had to get a new one, pedals were falling off so had to replace those and front gear part w/e its called, then tires started to fall apart so replaced those, and now on tuesday on my way to college the bike was fine, gears were working as they had been for a while (they worked but not properly, for example on 1st gear the chain came off, and I could never properly select gears and if I ever needed to get any speed it would proove dangerous and I was risking falling off my bike, but when I got to college I locked it up, 5 hours later came back, got me bike unlocked and thought hmm best change to a higher gear to get up this hill, but then I was like huh? the gears were not working, as if the cable was snapped, but it was not, I looked at the gears and the this metal part that hold the cable in near the gears has broke clean off, and my cable was slack, with no way of repairing it I went home in 7th gear (21st) all the way, anyway my dad changed the gears but I almost broke the cable trying to turn on my bike as my dad knows nothing about fixing gears (I dont know anything about bikes too), So I feel that my bike might be finished now, I dont know if I should get new gears and get a professional to fix em or scrap my bike and get a new one.

Here is my bike:
DSC00379.jpg


Now I know nothing about bikes, I dont know what I should look for but I need new gears for sure, how much will some new gears cost and what will I need for this bike?

How much round about would it cost to buy a bike new thats about the same as my current one, and how much for second hand?

Now I'm considering taking this bike to the scrap now and buying a new one, but I'm just worried I wont be able to find a bike thats easy for me to get some high speed on like I did with my current one and also good for off road/dirt tracks etc.., I dont know what to do but I was planning on riding to college tomorrow but the bikes totally knackered so dunno what to do.

Any advice on what I should do and how much it would cost for a new bike or new gears?

Thanks, sorry for the long post.
 
If you're riding on road don't buy a MTB, buy a road bike/flat bar road bike/tourer/hybrid/commuter/cyclocross with road tyres.

Any of those will allow you to cruise at faster speeds easier than that Saracen.
 
I bet they will, but I'm happy with the speeds of the saracen, got me from A to B dunno if it ever will again tho.

I dont have much money, I have about 100 quid to spend, so either repairing bike or a cheapo new bike, what gears will fit this?
 
A overhaul for the gearing system won't cost more than £100. tbh you give cyclists a bad name, riding a machine that's unsafe. If a wheel "falls off" and pedals "fall off" with dodgy brakes and gearing you obviously don't keep it maintained.

You also have to factor in other wear and tear, it might be repairable but say if BB is rusted to the frame I'd scrap the bike.
 
badbob said:
A overhaul for the gearing system won't cost more than £100. tbh you give cyclists a bad name, riding a machine that's unsafe. If a wheel "falls off" and pedals "fall off" with dodgy brakes and gearing you obviously don't keep it maintained.

You also have to factor in other wear and tear, it might be repairable but say if BB is rusted to the frame I'd scrap the bike.
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Oh no it was unsafe, the wheels, tires and pedals have been replaced, I would never ride with it been unsafe :eek:, it is well maintaned now apart from the gears.

Now if I bought some decent gears, and smaller gear cogs could that improve my overall top speed and speed I can cruise at?
 
and smaller gear cogs could that improve my overall top speed and speed I can cruise at?
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Just buy a road bike. That thing is heavy, slow not aerodynamic, upright sitting position, high rolling resistance. Even if you change gears you're still limiting to the drawbacks of the bike.

You can't polish a turd..
 
badbob said:
Just buy a road bike. That thing is heavy, slow not aerodynamic, upright sitting position, high rolling resistance. Even if you change gears you're still limiting to the drawbacks of the bike.

You can't polish a turd..
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Lol makes me happy with the speeds I can get on the bike then lol if its that crap haha.

How much am I looking at for a road bike?
 
4.5k? jesus thats a lot, can buy a car for that !!!!.

I bike to college and were I lock me bike up lots of ***** hang around, I want something that can do speed a lot better than me current bike and will be cheaper than the 250 quid one you linked to.
 
If hes got £100 and hes replaced all the other parts that went **** up and hes just asking for advice on what gears to get then why try and push him into getting a new bike yes its a better idea but no where near possible in his budget
 
<£250- brown sausage

If hes got £100 and hes replaced all the other parts that went **** up and hes just asking for advice on what gears to get then why try and push him into getting a new bike yes its a better idea but no where near possible in his budget
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If the BB is rusted to the frame I certainly wouldn't continue spending money on it. That's if it is of course.
 
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I really cant afford anything, the saracen was £300 brand new 4 years ago, its not road tires on, well one normal tire on back and road tire on front, the rear worn out too fast, I put a disk break on aswell.

£100 to do something fast really, I need a bicycle.
 
this is a good oppurtunity to learn about your bike, if you can build your own pc your can easily learn enough to keep your bike in great condition wether it's a £50 argos bike or a £2000 race machine. first thing you need a good book, parktool maintence book or zen the art are both worth getting. www.parktool.com has great tutorials and how-to pages, you click on a bike part and it shows you how to fix it, http://www.parktool.com/repair/
 
What kind of bike can I get for around £150-£200, I dont know what I want really, its the front suspension I'm worried about, the one on my saracen is tall and looks kind of thick compared to most ones I see, I'm wanting a new bike now, are the thin suspensions all the same and good?

I just cant understand these derailer things just makes me want a new bike to get from to and from college, I worry they wont be as fast as I'm able to push on my saracen of the front suspension will snap or something.
 
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any new bike you get with gears is going to need you to have a at least a small understanding of the gears unless you don't mind lots of trips to a local bike shop. you always get cable stretch so you need to make small adjustments to the gear barrell adjusters (on the gear levers and/or mechs) to correct that, counter clockwise turns take out cable slack, i think. i just twiddle mine till it sounds quiet :)

Specialized Hardrock Sport 2007 £270
http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=70060

Trek 3700 2007 £230
http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=5190

Scott Aspect 60 2008 £240
http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=86511

Mongoose Tyax Elite 2007 £230 (best deal?)
http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=70320

Mongoose Rockadile 2008 £190
http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=86628

Mongoose Tyax Comp 2007 £200 (w00t all sizes still available)
http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=70319

the tyax's look good i reckon. if you're not keen on doing any maintainence yourself best bet would be to get the bike from a lbs with some free servicing thrown in.
 
That Mongoose Tyax Elite 2007 looks good, you think it'll weigh less than my saracen and I'll be able to push faster on it and sutain higher speeds?

Thanks for the help, I'll read up on that website and get to know how to maintain me bike if I get this new one, at least if I get the new one its something to motivate me to learn.
 
i would guess it'll be a bit lighter, that fork on your saracen looks huge and heavy! it'll be even faster if you fit some lighter tyres like maxxis crossmark or ranchero or even something like continental town and country tyres, wont be much fun off road with those though.
 
dunker said:
i would guess it'll be a bit lighter, that fork on your saracen looks huge and heavy! it'll be even faster if you fit some lighter tyres like maxxis crossmark or ranchero or even something like continental town and country tyres, wont be much fun off road with those though.
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Do these continental tyres cost a lot? I hardly go off road, mainly on road but I can always switch the tyres around, maybe get another set of wheels?
 
they're about £15-£18 each i think, if you hardly ever go off road prolly not worth the money for another set of wheels, changing tyres over does'nt take long maybe an hour?

if you got a new bike from an lbs it's something they'd prolly do for you free with buying the bike, plus throw in some free lights and computer if you haggle a bit i guess.

http://velokit.co.uk/cart_productdetails.asp?PRODUCTID=642 oooo police tyres hehe
 
I use Continental City Ride cost me around £20 for the pair from wiggle.co.uk great tyres for racing round town without spending a lot of cash
 
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