Anyone who can recommend a good bicycle?

apeZ

apeZ

apeZ

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Kent, England
I see to have quite a bit of loose cash lying around, and I was planning to treat myself. One possible option would be a good bike, to get around town, and perhaps go offroad/mountain biking every now and again.

Between £100 and £300 would be a reasonable price range, but I'm looking for something sturdy, long-lasting, and reliable.

I really liked the look of the bike that Richard Hammond used on the Top Gear 'Race across London' episode, but at £600 or so, it's a bit out of my range.

The primary use will be for getting around town (mainly small roads, quite busy city centre), but as I mentioned, taking it off road, or going for longer treks would also be on the schedule sometime.

Any advice or recommendations are welcome.
 
Depends how "offroad" you mean. I have a hybrid (Spec Globe Sport) which is fine for roads, handles most potholes, and towpaths etc, but i don't know if i'd want to take it onto proper offroad areas. At the very least i'd want to change the tyres.

PS> Just looking at that top gear ep, Hammond was on a Spec Sirrus Limited... more like £1200 it seems :o
 
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oddjob62 said:
Depends how "offroad" you mean. I have a hybrid (Spec Globe Sport) which is fine for roads, handles most potholes, and towpaths etc, but i don't know if i'd want to take it onto proper offroad areas. At the very least i'd want to change the tyres.
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Very same bike I have been looking at for the past hour or so. Mind if I drop you a few questions via email or something tomorrow? My email and MSN is in trust ;)

Also, regarding offroad, I would still be on some sort of path/trail etc. Nothing too serious. And my primary use is still around town really. It doesn't bother me too much if I can't go offroad.

And I'll check out those other brands too, thanks again radderfire.
 
I was recently in the same boat, looking for a decent bike and had set myself a limit of £300. I found after huge amounts of research that I couldn't get something that ticked all my boxes for £300 and had to increase my budget to £400.
I was initially looking for a hybrid, but having ridden my local canal path I decided against it as a rigid fork just made riding it too uncomfortable. My investigation then swung round to hardtail mtb's (front suspension only).
It comes down to how often you think you'll be riding off the road, and what terrain you want to ride. If it's likely to be anything more adventurous than a well surfaced trail, then a hybrid will probably not cut it and you would find a hardtail better.
My riding is 50% road and 50% very rough pathway. I'd like to do some woodland trailriding in the future when my fitness levels improve though.
My essentials were:
Disc brakes - riding in very muddy conditions get V-brakes crudded up and require a lot of TLC to keep them working nicely.
Preload forks - the ability to adjust the suspension - as a heavy person this is very important.
lockout forks - the ability to lock the travel of the suspension, giving the effect of having rigid forks. This makes road riding a lot easier as your energy goes to moving the bike forward, not in making the front end bounce up and down as you pedal.
Decent gears - not the number of gears, but a good set of components. You get what you pay for, and the more you can spend initially, the less often you'll need to replace as you ride over the months/years.

I still had to work to a budget and haven't got what is considered a 'good' bike. I've got a Mongoose Tyax Super. Ticked all the boxes for me though, and is lovely to ride. Should last a while too.

Bikeradar is a great cycling forum, they have a few good threads on bike choice, as well as a specific 'MTB buying' subforum.
For online bike sales, look at Evans Cycles, JE James, Edinburgh Cycles, chainreaction cycles, Wiggle, cyclestore, cyclesurgery. Look for 2008 bikes as they will be a lot cheaper than the 2009 equivalents.
 
Check out the Carrera range of bikes in Halfords. They use resprayed Kona frames and usually have a pretty good spec for your budget.
 
Bennie-Mac said:
Check out the Carrera range of bikes in Halfords. They use resprayed Kona frames and usually have a pretty good spec for your budget.
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Indeed.

I bought a Carrera at the weekend. The Kraken. This one to be precise.

Very nice bike for the money.

Main features that were useful to me are

Remote locking front suspension (for road riding which stops the suspension absorbing energy, as said above by emailiscrap.

Aluminium Frame (very light)

Hydraulic disc brakes.

Happy with it so far and got me to work ok this morning :D
 
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For a budget of £300 I'd recommend you don't get a full suspension bike! From what you plan to ride a rigid hybrid bike will probably be the best bet.

Also handy if the bike can take a rear rack / full mudguards if you decide to use it for commuting or long day rides.

Not sure about hydraulic disk brakes in this budget, in my opinion unless you are doing a lot of muddy off road riding there is a lot to be said for the simplicity of rim brakes. Hydraulic disk brakes are a major pain to fix when they go wrong.

Best thing to advise is to visit a few local bike shops and try the bikes for size rather than buying online. Nothing worse than ending up with a bike that doesn't fit well.
 
oddjob62 said:
Ask away. Email in trust.
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Added.

Thanks for the replies so far, and thanks for moving it moderators.

Still taking a look around. Starting to think that a MTB might be a better option than a hybrid, but I really like the look of hybrids (design-wise). I'm wondering if the lack of a gearing system would impair it though.

Will take a look at the Carrera range too - but I'm really keen on the Specialized range. Although they aren't cheap, they look like they have a very good build quality, and they look like a very reputable manufacturer.

Another question. Is it worth shelling out the extra £100 or so for a '2009 edition' of a bike, even though they look exactly the same? :confused:
 
Just been having a look at some MTB ranges, as taking a bike off road is looking more appealing.

These two particularly stood out:

Specialized Hardrock Sport 2009 Mountain Bike - http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/hardrock-sport-2009-mountain-bike-ec016011

Specialized Hardrock Sport Disc 2009 Mountain Bike - http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/hardrock-sport-disc-2009-mountain-bike-ec016012

But could someone possibly tell me what this 'Disc' version entails, and whether it is worth the difference in price?

I also figured that a bike will last me at least a few years, so have bumped budget up to £400. I'd rather spend money and get a decent bike for a few years than feel the need to upgrade after a year or two to get something suited to more intense trails.

Thanks for all the answers and support so far!
 
The disc version has disc brakes, however they are mechanical not hydraulic and aren't as good as they could be.
It was one of the bikes I looked at, but the lack of fork lockout meant it was not an option for me as I do a lot of road riding.
Sepcialized is a very good brand.
Have a look at the 'what hardtail' thread on bikeradar. They have a list of the best buys for any given price range.

Regards your last post, hybrids don't tend to be single speed, unless you looked at the Specialized Centrum. I'd also get a 2008 version if available unless the specs were noticably worse - they rarely are!
 
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