2nd hand bike for commuting?

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[DOD]Asprilla;25922271 said:
Are there any hills?
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Are you about to suggest SS? :p

A friend of mine recently got a very nice deal on an SS bike (£100, 531 frame, conti 4 seasons and new blah-spec wheels and brakes) which has served him very well riding around central Manchester.

edit: I see you were. I jumped the gun on my reply.
 
FrenchTart said:
So you've changed your mind from above? You seemed sold on the road bike idea earlier.

Or is this another tongue-in-cheek comment? :p
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I'm confused, best thing IMO would be to test ride both. I wasn't 'sold' on the road bike idea, as while thinking about it still gave me some concerns.

From Decathlon guide, the bike size will have to be Large, 28 inches

Edit

But even if I like the riding position of an road bike, I'm NOT wearing Lycra pants! ;)
 
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IC3 said:
I'm confused, best thing IMO would be to test ride both. I wasn't 'sold' on the road bike idea, as while thinking about it still gave me some concerns.

From Decathlon guide, the bike size will have to be Large, 28 inches
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Can you get to a Decathlon to try them out?

Perhaps "sold" was too strong a word.. but you seemed to be at least warming to the idea :p

If you do give them both a try side-by-side the one thing I'd keep in mind is that you will get used to braking extremely quickly and also to the fact that drop-handlebars on a road back require less movement to turn. With flat handlebars you need to move your arms more to turn the bike - when I first moved to drop-bars I actually found it a bit alarming that I could turn with such small arm movements but now I'm used to it I prefer it.

Just a few things to think about anyhow.
 
FrenchTart said:
Exactly. Very well put.

And the bit I highlighted is *exactly* what I did when I first got a bike. The reason I and others on here are banging on about getting a road bike is that we're trying to save others from making the same mistakes we did.

Aside from the one outlier that seems to have gone the other way...



I think the problem here is writing comprehension rather than reading.
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before getting my triban 3 I had a red haro something hybrid sitting in a box.. put it all together sat down.. and went "nope" packed it all in, returned it and got my triban 3.. best decision ever.
 
grudas said:
before getting my triban 3 I had a red haro something hybrid sitting in a box.. put it all together sat down.. and went "nope" packed it all in, returned it and got my triban 3.. best decision ever.
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It's a very nice bike for the price. All it needs is discs and it would be perfect :p :D
 
FrenchTart said:
It's a very nice bike for the price. All it needs is discs and it would be perfect :p :D
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I hate disc brakes...

uv said:
That's the wheelsize, which is standard.

At your height, you'd be looking at 60cm for the Triban 3
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Yep, but the biggest size available is 51cm and someone before said that the white one is ****. Than I'll need to find good alternatives...
 
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IC3 said:
Any suggestions on a decent hybrid bike for my budget?
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Vitus Vee 1, although as I mentioned before it is only single speed. I don;t know what your route profile is, but single speed means much easier maintenance and fewer parts to brake / replace. I commute on a single speed for these reasons and because it makes you work a little harder.

If you want gears then go for a Carrera Subway from Halfords. Currently £200 from £400, but that might be a thing they do fairly often. It's probably worth somewhere in between. Get a decent bike shop to check it over if you do get one, Halfords spanner monkeys have been known to make some terrible errors.
 
[QUOTE='[DOD]
If you want gears then go for a Carrera Subway from Halfords. Currently £200 from £400,[/QUOTE]

I would advise going for the £279 one, the £200 Limited Edition does have cheaper parts.
It is quite a fast bike also.
 
IC3 said:
18inches is around 46cm? That's a bit too small for me, as my height is 184cm..
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you probably need 19inchs on a hybrid frame if not 18 go to the shop and sit/stand over some

I have a 21inch boardman mx race and it's almost to big for me 6"3.5 ,I think my legs are 34-36 and I barely stand about an inch over the frame.

I'd probably have been okay with a 19" which I think was the next size down but I was worried about my toes clipping the front wheel when turning.

loads of people comment that my bike looks huge lol

also wish I bought a road bike or a crossbike like everyone else who ever bought a hybrid.
 
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grudas said:
I bet it isn't! i'd leave you on my roadie with no leg muscles ;) :p
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I've no doubt you are way better than me because I have advanced arthritis in my knees, hips & spine but I mentioned before that over my 5 mile commute the time difference between my Forme Longcliffe & Carrera Subway is less than 2 minutes which is massive in the Tour De France but not on a commute.
And of course in this weather I feel much safer sitting on something more solid than a feather.
 
Dimple said:
I've no doubt you are way better than me because I have advanced arthritis in my knees, hips & spine but I mentioned before that over my 5 mile commute the time difference between my Forme Longcliffe & Carrera Subway is less than 2 minutes which is massive in the Tour De France but not on a commute.
And of course in this weather I feel much safer sitting on something more solid than a feather.
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my 11kg triban would like to disagree with "feather" lol

and time depends on a lot of things.. 2 minutes over 5 miles for me could be an extra mile.

also today for e.g. it took me 10 more minutes to get to work over 11 due to massive traffic jams for ~4 miles.

for the same amount of work you put through a MTB or hybrid you could be there at work sooner and feel more comfy.. just because you have fat tyres doesn't mean you can't crash or feel safer? skinny tyres tbh are better and trust me I rode MTB's, BMX'es on dirt, snow etc and road bike IMO is the best thing to use for commuting.
 
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