First bike in 10~ years - Hybrid?

grudas said:
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.
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Probably this, only managed a couple of long runs the tail end of last year, yet to take it out this year. I've been out plenty on the mtb but at times where i'd rather be offroad and in the middle of fields :cool:
 
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.

However, they are in the process of bringing back their cycle specific shops. Cant remember what they are called.
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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 :eek:
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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.
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Woah! I'll be going to a little independent shop then.
 
Andr3w said:
Woah! I'll be going to a little independent shop then.
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Halfords bikes are generally good, it's the service that lets them down.

My local bike shop (100m from where I currently sit on my sofa) mainly sell Treks. They are good bikes.

However, I wouldn't trust my local bike shop to do any work on any of my bikes; I once asked them to fit a new bottom bracket (road 68mm width) and they fitted an MTB one (73mm wide) and then accused me of fitting the previous one incorrectly saying there was only one standard.

Of course when I came to put the cranks in the crank axle was 5mm too short....

LBS can be just as bad as the chains.
 
Agreed.

Halfords is fine if your happy to spend some time setting up the bike after. Same with a lbs too though, either know your going to a good one or be confident in checking over your bike before you ride.

Can always drop it round mine if you do buy from Halfords too, I've got everything you'd need to check it over.
 
4 miles on an MTB is doable, but I'd much rather do it on a CX bike. Also, whatever you end up with if it's mainly for commuting then make sure you get something that will take mudguards. If you're riding in the rain they make the journey a hell of a lot more tolerable!
 
Begbie said:
Halfords is fine if your happy to spend some time setting up the bike after. Same with a lbs too though, either know your going to a good one or be confident in checking over your bike before you ride.

Can always drop it round mine if you do buy from Halfords too, I've got everything you'd need to check it over.
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I got my bike from Halfords (it's a Boardman so I had no choice). Always let Halfords do the initial bike setup. If you have a mechanical malfunction in the first few rides and you've set it up yourself (even something like rear mech limit screws which should be fine...) then you'll have a massive headache getting them to replace anything.
 
Bought my Boardman full suss from Halfords, was put together fine. Got it checked over by a workmate who knows his stuff and he couldn't fault it. Literally the only thing I've had to do since getting it 2-3 months ago is tighten up some bolts on the rear suspension (which they'd have picked up if I had taken it in for the free service - I never bothered with it)

Meanwhile I had my old bike serviced by a local bike shop. Who managed to royally screw everything up. They failed to diagnose a crank that would work itself lose (old warn out BB) and ended up giving it back to me with gears that barely changed.

As for road bikes, I've got a roadie with drop bars. Took some getting used to but really love it for road riding now, as others have said the range of positions is great. I can reach the brakes from the hoods but have to give them a really tight squeeze compared to on the drops. Ability to stop is poor compared to the disks on my mountain bike but I didn't expect anything different. Cantilever brakes and skinny tyres just mean I ride cautiously.

Before I bought my road bike I was borrowing my brothers Hybrid. Whilst I'd not buy one now, it was a nice intro into a more road orientated bike. I think I'd have found going straight to drop bars and skinny tyres without suspension a little too much. I'd say you can't go far wrong with grabbing a cheap second hand Hybrid to start with if you aren't able to borrow and properly try out some of the other options available. (ie CX vs MTB)
 
Just to add further confusion to the mix...

I have a hardtail MTB which I use if I'm going to be doing any offroad work no matter if it is proper off road or a gravel footpath.

I have a hybrid that I bought when I was doing a 4 mile each way commute. This was my main bike until this March when I bought a road bike when I started regularly doing rides over 25 miles.

My road bike is only used for leisure rides on road (excluding mapping fails where it has had to do some footpaths!)

Here is the thing though, if I were allowed to do my 8.5 mile each way commute by bike I'd use the hybrid over the road bike.
 
Begbie said:
Agreed.

Halfords is fine if your happy to spend some time setting up the bike after. Same with a lbs too though, either know your going to a good one or be confident in checking over your bike before you ride.

Can always drop it round mine if you do buy from Halfords too, I've got everything you'd need to check it over.
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I'd need to get it checked out for sure. I haven't done any 'real' bike maintenance before!

Roughly where are you based down here?
 
Begbie said:
Same place as yourself ;)

Well I live there, work elsewhere (with Zefan). Though I'm sending most of my stuff of next week.
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Well thats freaking me out. Didn't realise Zefan was still down here! Either of you actually living at my location or are you in town? Where you moving to?

edit: I'm potentially buying a bike this weekend. (I say potentially, the credit card is ready to go!)
 
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grudas said:
http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/road-bikes/boardman-cx-comp-bike

is good bang for your buck.. if you're going with high street retailer! on that note.. what type of bike did you decide to go for then?
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I keep looking at the bike - it looks PERFECT for what I want. Just need some mud guards and a rack on the back!

They don't have it in stock at my local Halfords.
edit: They have them in stock 12miles away from me. I'd like to see one in real life, I'd also need to purchase the additonal items such as Helmet/Lock!
edit2: THIS IS GETTING EXPENSIVE lol!

I'm 6ft, would this require a 57.5cm frame? I'm tempted to buy that online and then take it to Begbie (If he doesn't mind :D )!
 
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No problem at all, take two seconds to check over bolts etc. Also I have a helmet here, that I was going to chuck in my box as I've forgot to sell it. It's pretty old now, but still decent. Giro Hex, you're welcome to it.
 
Begbie said:
No problem at all, take two seconds to check over bolts etc. Also I have a helmet here, that I was going to chuck in my box as I've forgot to sell it. It's pretty old now, but still decent. Giro Hex, you're welcome to it.
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Legend! Are you around at the weekend? And if so can I borrow you to drive to Halfords with me? :p
 
or just get someone to go with you to halfords and see how well they put it together ;) on the frame size, I'd say you need to sit down on the bike and figure out where you feel more comfortable/natural position wise :)
 
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