2nd hand bike for commuting?

IC3 · 26 Feb 2014 at 21:19

Road bike for £400-450?

Hello, I'm on really low budget, I need something to travel from point A to point B roughly 10 miles per day. I was thinking of buying a 2nd hand bike, as my budget is between 200-300 pounds. Is it possible to buy something reasonable for this price? Last bike I had was 7-8 years ago, built it myself as well

I was thinking of a road bike, as the're cycling tracks everywhere. My height is just a bit above 6ft (184cm), the reason for small budget is also the fact that it might get stolen, as it will be outside during the day (e.g. collage).

Edit

Sorry, if I've posted this in wrong section.

IC3 · 27 Feb 2014 at 00:00

Double post

IC3 · 27 Feb 2014 at 00:09

Sorry, for not making myself clear, I'm looking for a bike with thicker tyres than road bike and straight handle bars. I think it's hybrid, anyway an MTB is also an option. I've a ped as well, but I'm starting get fater so a bike will be good excersise.

IC3 · 27 Feb 2014 at 11:06

grudas said:
why? what are you going to be riding on?

Concrete

FrenchTart said:
Making the mistake that you need flat handlebars I can understand (I made the same mistake when I first resumed riding). It *is* a mistake though.

Unless you're doing some serious off-roading you will have an easier ride getting a proper road bike.

Why is it a mistake? What's better about 'rounded' handelbars?

IC3 · 27 Feb 2014 at 11:21

[QUOTE='[DOD]Also, being narrower, filtering is easier.[/QUOTE]

There's no need to ride the bike on the road, as there are many bicycle paths and I can get to places faster by using them.

IC3 · 27 Feb 2014 at 14:02

Well, if an road bike will be much better for commutting than hybrid or MTB, than there's no point for me to buy MTB just to have a bit of fun going down stairs, jumping of different things etc. I'll be mainly travelling on fairly good cycling paths, but there are some areas which aren't that straight I'm a bit scared of braking the rode bike and also the riding position seems uncomfortable. I've never had any experience with road bikes, always something offroad e.g. mtb, bmx.

I'm surprised that road bike survived that torture (YouTube video), I thought that road bike had to be taken with extra care?

I live in Hertfordshire county, around 25 miles away from London

Forgot to mention that before, as I prefer to see the bike and possibly test it out before buying.

IC3 · 27 Feb 2014 at 14:12

FrenchTart said:
To be honest I had the same worries a few years ago. I bought a hybrid as I was kind of worried about the riding position and the brakes/etc. After that bike was stolen I moved to a road (well, a CX) bike and it takes very little time at all to adjust to the way the brakes work and the riding position. In the meantime you'll have to put less effort in to go at the same speed (or faster) and the hand/arm position is much more natural than with flat bars. I'd never go back to flat bars now (unless I do some actual MTB riding one day).

The Triban 3 linked to near the start of this thread is pretty solid as road bikes go. I think you'll struggle to break it

250 is spot on, I'll have 50 to spend on some gadgets

Dimple said:
I said I ( me) feel much safer riding an Hybrid in the winter than I do a road bike. I am only speaking for me so please don't misquote me. The frame is just way better for me.

I won't be riding the bike during winter, checked the mileage on google maps and by cyclling paths it will be around 3-4 miles from point A to B.

IC3 · 27 Feb 2014 at 14:30

uv said:
Christ, I didn't realise the red triban3 was down to £250 nowadays - that's an absolute steal!

Yeah, but 51 is the biggest available... What size should I be looking at? I'm a bit over 6ft tall (183-184cm).

IC3 · 27 Feb 2014 at 14:40

[DOD]Asprilla;25922222 said:
Precisely.

However, there is a lot if incorrect information and misconceptions about road bikes (comfort and resilience being two) that need to be dispelled so that someone can make an informed choice and not limit their options for no reason.

Using no statistical analysis at all, the commuting section of Bike Radar is filled with stories of noobs who ask for advice on which bike to buy, get told to buy a road bike, ignore that advice and buy a hybrid and then return six months to a year later full of regret and want to know which road bike to get.

People are scared of road bikes; scared they hurt, scared they will brake and scared that they lead to Lycra fetishism. None of these are true. Road bikes are not for everyone and for all situations but they are worth trying.

I'm not planing on wearing tight lycra pants, hybrid will be better for me IMO.
So what hybrid bike do u recommend and what sizes should I've a look at?

IC3 · 27 Feb 2014 at 14:46

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?

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!

IC3 · 27 Feb 2014 at 14:56

FrenchTart said:
It's a very nice bike for the price. All it needs is discs and it would be perfect

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

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...

IC3 · 27 Feb 2014 at 22:54

Any suggestions on a decent hybrid bike for my budget?

IC3 · 27 Feb 2014 at 23:43

18inches is around 46cm? That's a bit too small for me, as my height is 184cm..

IC3 · 28 Feb 2014 at 11:00

arknor said:
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.

So from what you're saying, would the triban 3 51cm would be alright for me? I've roughly 43 miles to the nearest Decathlon store so...

IC3 · 28 Feb 2014 at 15:53

I've some hybrid bikes to look at, what about rode bikes? Triban 3 is a no, as apparently the white new triban is poo. I'm gone go to Halfords tommorrow, bikes suggestions can be from different stores not just halfords.

IC3 · 28 Feb 2014 at 17:43

uv said:
Unfortunately there are no stores other than Decathlon and Halfords that will sell anything even remotely decent for your budget. Tbh, Halfords offerings at your budget are pretty poor.

Back to the original opening post, you'd be best off going second hand if you want a road bike and cannot find a new red triban 3 that's the right size.

But the thing with 2nd hand is searching, knowledge (about bikes which I don't have). The Carrera subway for 199 seems like a good deal, but I want an alternative road bike upto 300.. :confused:

Edit

What do u guys think about Vitus Vee-1?

Edit2

What kind of lock for 30ish would you recommend?

IC3 · 28 Feb 2014 at 17:58

FrenchTart said:
If you're absolutely set on Halfords then this doesn't look utterly terrible:

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/...uctId_810707_langId_-1_categoryId_165710#tab2

Personally not something I'd get so I may have missed something obvious (I'm sure someone else will chime in if I have).

It's slightly over your budget but there are often Halfords discount codes knocking about so you may be able to get it down to <£300.

IC3 said:
I'm gone go to Halfords tommorrow, bikes suggestions can be from different stores not just halfords.

IC3 · 28 Feb 2014 at 18:04

FrenchTart said:
Yeah..I just re-read your posts. No idea where I got that idea from

Don't blame you, when there's more then 3 pages I usually don't bother reading all posts either..

I can buy parts and put the bike together, it's not a problem as I've all the needed tools

Edit:

Could you also recommend me a decent lock up to 30 pounds, and suggest bikes from any shop (obviously in the UK

)

IC3 · 28 Feb 2014 at 18:22

FrenchTart said:
A lock from Halfords-only, you say?

Troll

FrenchTart said:
edit: Purchasing components and building the bike yourself is often more expensive than getting a pre-build tbh :/

, but actually it's not a bad thing once you think about it.

IC3 · 1 Mar 2014 at 12:03

FrenchTart said:
..seems a bit of an overreaction when I posted a link to a lock as per your request?

Why so serious? Yeah, thanks for the lock

What sort of models (2nd hand road bikes) would I be looking at for 300?