Cycle to work bike advice.

jamesblade

jamesblade

jamesblade

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19 Jul 2010
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Just found out my company does Cycle to work so looking at using it to get myself a bike. Not ridden in 10 years so things have changed a lot from what I can see. Used to do 100+ miles a week back then but I was 3 stone lighter :)

Options are £200, £600, £1000 so looking at going with the £600 one, which works out around £29 a month.

Mainly going to use it to get to work which is a 16 mile round trip on roads and canal paths.. but will probably use it more to carry on the car and spend the day in the lakes, peak district north York moors etc.

Am I looking for a Hybrid style, with lockout forks ? 29er ?

I've got an Evans Cycles, Cookson cycles and Leisure lakes all near me..

To be honest though apart from a few similar threads in here I've no idea what's the best brand etc. Trek ? Specialized ? or one of many others.

I'll be needing to spend some on a helmet and possibly a decent pair of padded shorts if they let you ?

Any suggestions before I call down on Saturday ?

Cheers..
 
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I know when I did cycle2work I was able to purchase the accessories like helmets and shorts no problem. The other thing I would add is that the £29 a month is great but there is still a 20% that you need to pay after a year which sucks but its still better than outright purchase.

With regards to bike I don't know much about commuters, I've a GT traffic I got from evans and its very sturdy, reliable and I'm very happy with it but I often look on with envy at the road bikes that fly effortlessly past me, if I was choosing again I'd probably have gone for one of those.

I would also recommend spending on some good lights and a jacket if you plan to commute year round.
 
I agree you don't need front susspension unless your going off road, generally speaking forks on bikes this price are worthless.

With regards to brands most frames are much of a muchness and the only differentiation is the gear attached to them which generally comes from one of two manufactures SRAM or Shimmano which again is all much the same. The frames and equipment should all be reliable for a few years with minimum servicing/maintenance.

The differences I imagine you will see are:
* disk brakes vs V-brakes vs Canti
* Suspension vs Rigid
* Number of gears

personally I would be going for a rigid fork with better gears and non disk brakes as you will prob get slightly better equipment that way
 
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Go full rigid with normal cantilever/v brakes probably a lot easier to maintain and you end up with a decent spec bike. I would also go with a 29er if possible heck you might not even need gears then I recommend this bike http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mobile/vitus-bikes-vee-29-city-bike/rp-prod81000

Disc brakes version for another £50

I got the 26 inch version. Brilliant light bike. Spend the £200 on bike gears and you are all set.
 
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remy87 said:
Go full rigid with normal cantilever/v brakes probably a lot easier to maintain and you end up with a decent spec bike. I would also go with a 29er if possible heck you might not even need gears then I recommend this bike http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mobile/vitus-bikes-vee-29-city-bike/rp-prod81000

Disc brakes version for another £50

I got the 26 inch version. Brilliant light bike. Spend the £200 on bike gears and you are all set.
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I can see that bike being a hell 16miles/day/5days/week.. get a roadie.. TBH I don't see how those "canals" really have anything worse than a normal road.. actually the people I know who cycle through them never seem to complain about the surface :o
 
grudas said:
I can see that bike being a hell 16miles/day/5days/week.. get a roadie.. TBH I don't see how those "canals" really have anything worse than a normal road.. actually the people I know who cycle through them never seem to complain about the surface :o
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Not that bad unless it's really hilly. The gear ratio should be fine also.
 
39/18... At 90 cadence that would be about 15mph. That's not super fast on the flat. Equally, it's not super low if you do hit any hills, and given the op has said he might be going some leisure riding in the lakes, I don't think that's the best option.
 
Vonhelmet said:
Think about whether you really need front suspension. Canal paths don't strike me as seriously offroad enough to make it worth the wasted energy, extra point of failure, etc.
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Some towpaths can be quite rough with potholes etc and lots of cobbles in places, suspension can be a welcome relief for those bits. You can always switch it off on the smooth parts too :)
 
uvarvu said:
Some towpaths can be quite rough with potholes etc and lots of cobbles in places, suspension can be a welcome relief for those bits. You can always switch it off on the smooth parts too :)
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True, but I suppose it depends on the specific paths the op will be using. The paths round me are no bother without front suspension but sure, some places round the country they are like the surface of the moon.
 
Cheers for the input so far people, started looking into Cycle cross. Sagalout, that bike you linked too is Sexy :)

Time to sleep now, no more research tonight, got an early start course tomorrow and should have hit the sack hours ago lol
 
Canals can be pretty rough near me... I went for a Trek 4300D as it has a lockout front suspension -I mainly use it for commuting to work along roads where the fork is locked out, but unlock off road etc... Try and get lockout if possible is my little input ha
 
I'm not sure how bad the canals are where you live but I use the ones in central London on a daily basis and I never have any trouble with my cyclocross. Heck I often see people on road bikes and skinny tires riding along so you really don't need suspension unless they're in a really bad state.

EDIT: forgot to mention, I use a 2012 Cannondale CAADX with 105 (an older 105 version of the one linked to above but without disks)
 
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Front suspension is utterly pointless if you're riding on roads most of the time. I can't imagine the canal would be bad enough to require it either - if it's that bad you probably wouldn't even want to be riding on the cacky front suspension bike you just spend 500-1000 pounds on.
 
Don't waste your money on front suspension any cracks and potholes in a footpath are easily dealt by bending your arms and legs. Anything bigger will probably damage your tyre, wheel and arse so should be cycled around rather than over.

Good suspension forks will cost more than your £600 budget so just stay well away. Get a rigid hybrid or cyclocross for all year round performance so you can fit wider tyres or a racer if you only plan on fair weather cycling.
 
grudas said:
I can see that bike being a hell 16miles/day/5days/week.. get a roadie.. TBH I don't see how those "canals" really have anything worse than a normal road.. actually the people I know who cycle through them never seem to complain about the surface :o
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I am recovering from a fall last Thursday on a roadie. The bike (Specialized Sirrus Pro) slipped on some goose crap in wet weather down by the Thames and I went over within a second. My wrist is strapped up and possibly fractured.

I've retired the road bike for the winter and am also looking at a Vitus Vee. You must remember that on a cold morning the river areas are normally a little colder than town and are prone to ice.

The Vee is a no nonsense bike and the thicker tyres should help avoid any slipping. Plus it looks like great fun, I can get that BMX feel back which I have really missed.

It is either that or a Voodoo Marasa as do not want to use my weekend MTB for the commute.
 
PapaLazaru said:
I am recovering from a fall last Thursday on a roadie. The bike (Specialized Sirrus Pro) slipped on some goose crap in wet weather down by the Thames and I went over within a second. My wrist is strapped up and possibly fractured.

I've retired the road bike for the winter and am also looking at a Vitus Vee. You must remember that on a cold morning the river areas are normally a little colder than town and are prone to ice.

The Vee is a no nonsense bike and the thicker tyres should help avoid any slipping.

It is either that or a Voodoo Marasa as do not want to use my weekend MTB for the commute.
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Meh. I rode my CX with slicks throughout all of last winter with the snow and ice everywhere and didn't have any fall. The year before my older CX which has wider and treaded tyres slipped. It's more often than not down to the rider than the bike. If you're worried about ice or whatever then you need to get tyres that can deal with that - but really you just need to be more careful.
 
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