First bike in 10~ years - Hybrid?

Ben Cole · 4 May 2015 at 23:28

arknor said:
crap pointless bikes you can probably get them second hand for cheap though due to that as people decide they want a real bike

Funnily enough that's how I bought mine.

£225, (£450 new) been ridden twice apparently.

Haven't regretted it for a second. Done hundreds and hundreds of miles on it. Great when out with the kids, will do tracks ok and ideal for getting to town and parking up when in the shops.

As I said earlier, as a compromise I still think it's a good shout...but then I'm not a bike enthusiast as such, I just ride it and enjoy it.

Andr3w · 5 May 2015 at 10:28

Are you guys dead against Cyclocross bikes?

I think a MTB would be too extreme for the gravel paths i'd be using, i'm not planning on doing full on off roading!

Vonhelmet · 5 May 2015 at 10:32

Andr3w said:
Are you guys dead against Cyclocross bikes?

I think a MTB would be too extreme for the gravel paths i'd be using, i'm not planning on doing full on off roading!

No, quite the reverse. Some people are keen to recommend CX to anyone who mentions riding even 100 yards on the road.

FrenchTart · 5 May 2015 at 10:32

Quite the opposite. Some of us love CX bikes (me included). I think people are just trying to resist saying "get a CX" as it's the standard response in here and we're trying to break ourselves of the habit.

Drop handles and discs are awesome. The only thing you'll need to be careful of is that you get one with mudguard mounts as commuting without them is really really sucky.

edit: Beaten.

Armageus · 5 May 2015 at 10:47

grudas said:
drop bars are easy too because you can pretty much have ANY hand position you want?

From my experience, most of the time on a drop bar, you spend most of the time on "the hoods", as it tends to be the most comfortable position - but the benefit of drops, is you have a choice of grips:

http://lovelybike.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/drop-bar-hand-positions-introduction.html

Andr3w said:
I assume its easy enough to get a road bike with normal pedals, not clippy ones?

Yes just buy whatever pedals you want and change them.

If you go down the clipless route, then I would go for SPD style pedals (i.e. the ones recommended for Mountain Bikes) rather than the SPD-SL road pedals. I have the Shimano M520 pedals, but when I bought mine they also came with an additional plastic platform/reflector, so you can use one side with Cycling shoes, the other as normal pedals - ideal for when I ride with the Kids and need to get on/off the bike quicker.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-pd-m520-pedals
http://www.bergzeit.co.uk/shimano-pedal-retro-reflector-spd-sm-pd22/

Asprilla · 5 May 2015 at 10:53

I love my CX, but these days tend to be a bit expensive for what you get.

I got my hybrid second hand and it cost £70. It's the bike I've owned the longest as there hasn't been a need to replace it. I striped the gears off it and I replaced the wheels when one got stolen and another damaged at the train station.

If you are thinking about a hybrid then get as basic a bike as you can, preferably second hand to see if you like it. It may well do the job, but most folks who get them move on to something better pretty quickly once they work out where and when they actually enjoy riding. The less you spend now the less you will regret it and the more you will have to spend later.

Andr3w · 5 May 2015 at 10:55

FrenchTart said:
Quite the opposite. Some of us love CX bikes (me included). I think people are just trying to resist saying "get a CX" as it's the standard response in here and we're trying to break ourselves of the habit.

Drop handles and discs are awesome. The only thing you'll need to be careful of is that you get one with mudguard mounts as commuting without them is really really sucky.

edit: Beaten.

I'm 100% going to be needing mudguards. Is it possible to add a Pannier to a CX bike?

Asprilla said:
I love my CX, but these days tend to be a bit expensive for what you get.

they bloomin well are expensive!

FrenchTart · 5 May 2015 at 10:58

Plenty of them have mudguard and rack mounts yeah.

Asprilla · 5 May 2015 at 11:02

Depends. Halfords are going a CX bike starting at £250 and the cheapest Boardman one they do is £599. Their cheapest with disc brakes is £499.

I've not ridden any of those models but I reckon they woudl be reasonable, especially the Boardman.

Andr3w · 5 May 2015 at 11:03

What are Halfords like for advice? I was thinking about trying a local shop although I don't think they have as much choice as Halfords!

Asprilla · 5 May 2015 at 11:06

Rubbish. If you bought from them then get a decent local bike shop to check it over to make sure they put it together right.

However, they are in the process of bringing back their cycle specific shops. Cant remember what they are called.

grudas · 5 May 2015 at 11:08

Asprilla said:
Rubbish. If you bought from them then get a decent local bike shop to check it over to make sure they put it together right.

agree... even saw a bmx on the shop screen with a fork that was fitted the wrong way round! fixed a kids bmx in a park when he was riding with the fork pointing the wrong way too.. - bought from halfords, setup by "professional" bike mechanic lol :eek:

peige · 5 May 2015 at 11:21

Armageus said:
From my experience, most of the time on a drop bar, you spend most of the time on "the hoods", as it tends to be the most comfortable position - but the benefit of drops, is you have a choice of grips:

Not to side track to much but this is the worse aspect of a roady for me, I ride a mtb most of the time and have a road to broaden my experience and get some real distance runs in but I find that I don't like the low riding position but when i'm up top I'm away from the brakes which doesn't feel right.

FrenchTart · 5 May 2015 at 11:23

If things are set up correctly then riding on the hoods gives you more than ample braking ability unless you're on a steep descent. With discs even then you'll be fine.

Asprilla · 5 May 2015 at 11:26

If you can't lock-up from the hoods then that's an issue with your brakes, not the position. You should have plenty of power and modulation when on the hoods.

peige · 5 May 2015 at 11:29

So you break with your hands still up top? I have been moving my hand lower to grip the levers with normal fingers

/noob mode

grudas · 5 May 2015 at 11:29

I ride on the hoods 90% of the time and I have no problems flipping over my bars if I need to

either you bike is set up wrong or you haven't really spent enough time with it.

Vonhelmet · 5 May 2015 at 11:30

grudas said:
agree... even saw a bmx on the shop screen with a fork that was fitted the wrong way round! fixed a kids bmx in a park when he was riding with the fork pointing the wrong way too.. - bought from halfords, setup by "professional" bike mechanic lol

There was a picture on road.cc of a whole row of bikes at Asda with the forks on backwards and the brakes behind the forks. The steering would be unbelievable.

FrenchTart · 5 May 2015 at 11:31

Vonhelmet said:
There was a picture on road.cc of a whole row of bikes at Asda with the forks on backwards and the brakes behind the forks. The steering would be unbelievable.

Clearly just set up for aero gains.

grudas · 5 May 2015 at 11:32

Vonhelmet said:
There was a picture on road.cc of a whole row of bikes at Asda with the forks on backwards and the brakes behind the forks. The steering would be unbelievable.

it's not that bad actually - rode for a fun

but it is SO easy to flip over your bars! - hence the reason for sorting the kids bike at the park..