Road Cycling

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Not quite sure this is the best place... But I'm thinking of buying a bike for commuting, instead of a train.

It seems to be an hours worth each way, thankfully part of the national routes, but I am entirely out if my depth.

I realise a good bike costs a few limbs, but I need one limited to around £500, as I'm not rolling in cash.

So is it better to build from parts or premade firstly?
 
What's the distance? What's the profile? Are you definitely doing it off-road? £500 will be plenty for a bike, but you'll need extra for accessories, clothes, etc. And buying a ready built one is almost certainly a better bet, unless you're going to get something out of building it, though that requires tools and time and so on.
 
Vonhelmet said:
What's the distance? What's the profile? Are you definitely doing it off-road? £500 will be plenty for a bike, but you'll need extra for accessories, clothes, etc. And buying a ready built one is almost certainly a better bet, unless you're going to get something out of building it, though that requires tools and time and so on.
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It's about 8 to 9 miles, seems to be purely road, I guess its better to get a specialised bike instead of an all rounder right? Not sure what profile means, the style of chassis?
 
Profile as in the roads, hills, junctions, etc. An all round road bike should do the job. Have you got a decathlon near you? They do some very good value bikes around that price point. Wiggle too, or maybe Evans.
 
Vonhelmet said:
Profile as in the roads, hills, junctions, etc. An all round road bike should do the job. Have you got a decathlon near you? They do some very good value bikes around that price point. Wiggle too, or maybe Evans.
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There is a decathlon a few miles north, is profile mainly elevation changes? Otherwise still kinda unsure.
 
Lethal` said:
Is it normal for chainrings to work themselves loose? Was pretty surprised to notice this much play in mine earlier. Lucky to have not lost a bolt!
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Is it actually the bolts? The inner ring seems to move aswell, which would indicate a broken BB.

StriderX said:
There is a decathlon a few miles north, is profile mainly elevation changes? Otherwise still kinda unsure.
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For £500 commuting in Winter, you're going to want to spend a fair bit on clothing - waterproof, gloves, shoe covers etc. Add on a helmet and a lock, and the cheapest decent lights, and you'll have ~300 for the bike. At that price point, the Triban 500SE at Decathlon is the clear winner.
 
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StriderX said:
There is a decathlon a few miles north, is profile mainly elevation changes? Otherwise still kinda unsure.
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It could also refer to things such as: will you be riding on the road or canal paths, completely off-road, etc. From what you've said so far it sounds like primarily road (and road-y cycle paths) so the Triban advice is good. You can get as good or better deals online with things like Felt bikes but having Decathlon there to look at your bike when it goes wrong is probably a good idea for your first bike, no matter what people's opinions of Decathlon bike staff are. Just don't believe any of the sales talk :)
 
uv said:
Is it actually the bolts? The inner ring seems to move aswell, which would indicate a broken BB.
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Would it? The bolts are certainly loose (and I don't have torx wrench urgh!) but the spider doesn't seem to move at all. The inner ring seems independent of the spider too.

Pretty surprising either way on a brand new bike for 1600 miles since July.
 
It's hard to be sure from that video but I'd guess that it's just the bolts being loose rather than the BB being knackered. It will be pretty clear once you tighten them up anyhow.
 
The inner + outer rings will be bolted together with 1 set of bolts, so if they come loose both chainrings will move.
 
guess it was never tightened properly! I never had my chainrings come loose and I pretty much manage to break everything.
 
Vonhelmet said:
Most people have used a handful of tyres and can offer some opinions on those.
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Exactly this! Although most of us like to throw our opinions around (I'm great at this!) there are probably only a few of us who've been through most tyres, including wearing most of them to - death as opposed to changing due to damage/other reasons. grudas and Tart spring to mind...

BennyC said:
Does anybody else have a drawer/box full of 'bike food'? :) Local market stall haul today for the grand total of £2:
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I find a pair of the oat biscuits & a banana hits the spot nicely and digests comfortably. As does a snickers :p
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I have a couple of boxes of 'Wiggle/OCUK' Haribo bags, box of gels, tubes of tabs, recovery powders and other random bits... Usually have oat style biscuits and museli style bars for our work lunches so I use them for cycling too (quite handy as they change from week to week depending on where we shop and what's on offer)! I like those oat bars you have - they do a moist apple style one as well which is incredible! The GoAhead garabaldi style biscuits are ok, although I don't find them great to eat while riding - they get too gooey and stick to my teeth. I usually aim at something chewy (like museli bars) or something which breaks up easily and washes down with a gulp of drink.

janp said:
Had an eventful group ride today. Managed to fall off again, fortunately nobody saw this time. Bent hanger again though...doh!

Also, had a bit of run in with some local farmers. I threw a banana skin into a hedgerow, and they went absolutely ballistic. Threatened to set their dogs after us and all sorts. Certainly motivated me to climb the hill quicker :P
I wouldn't dream of littering, but didn't really consider a banana skin into a hedge littering. I'll keep hold of them next time till I get home :P
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Numpty! Think we need to get you some stabilisers for xmas? :p

Hope you said it was only a banana skin, I know (I'm from a farming family) my father would be annoyed about littering (hell, even I am! I moan at people on group rides which do it!) he wouldn't be too concerned about apple cores/banana skins. They soon degrade- banana is great for potassium anyway, most farmers should welcome that on their fields! :D

ShiWarrior said:
I will be in, but I'll be sleeping :)

we have a motion detector light, but had to turn it off because the cover makes it go off all the time

alarm is a good idea then?
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You could get a different PIR activated light, I've got one in my back garden and was able to adjust the sensitivity enough so my dog sets it off 80% the time and any larger body does anywhere in my back garden (only a small dog & garden!). Yet things like the BBQ and clothes wirlygig with covers on (flapping in the wind) don't (as it's PIR rather than motion). Think it only cost £30 or something. Ground anchor is a great idea, as is some kinda metal frame you can fix to the house. I would say quantity is key - if a thief has to get through several fixings/fitting and can clearly see them they're more likely to avoid your bikes and look for an easier target.
 
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