Forme bikes?

DanTheMan · 6 May 2022 at 13:58

Hi all,

Has anyone had any experience with Forme bikes before? I wanted a relatively cheap commuter for work, that has a semi decent spec and was more hybrid than out and out road bike.

I'm thinking of ordering the Forme Winster 1:

https://www.cyclesolutions.co.uk/bi...SKjgXtiijoruCaBftoHbdos8hoCbjL5hoCdWsQAvD_BwE

It will mainly be road / canal path use and the first mile of my commute will be the school run with my daughter on the back. I wanted something with flat bars and wider tyres than a road bike. It comes with mudguards and a rack which is a bonus.

I'm not a fan of a 3x chainset but I can live with that. It comes with hydraulic discs and half decent tyres, which is good for the price.

Annoyingly, I'm limited to cycle solutions for our c2w scheme and the few bike shops nearby that I can also use, don't have anything in stock.

SexyGreyFox · 7 May 2022 at 18:46

I bought a Forme Longcliffe 3 about 11 years ago and it's a great bike.
The only problem was I was advised by 3 shops that I needed a road bike because 'some' of my commute was on the road.
After 3 months I realised that if 90% of my commute is roads and the rest is canal paths/uneven ground then a road bike is useless.
The bike you have linked to is like my Trek Hybrid which I wouldn't ride down parts of our canal paths and I have to get off.
There's even roads in Stoke that my MTB has trouble with

Martynt74 · 7 May 2022 at 19:25

I take my gravel bike with dropped bars down the canal and river towpaths without any issues. Although unsure how it’d be when it’s properly muddy.

Not from that site but HDUK had a cheap Pinnacle bike which looked decent for your needs at a good price that might be cheaper even considering C2W

SexyGreyFox · 8 May 2022 at 00:53

Martynt74 said:
I take my gravel bike with dropped bars down the canal and river towpaths without any issues. Although unsure how it’d be when it’s properly muddy.

Not from that site but HDUK had a cheap Pinnacle bike which looked decent for your needs at a good price that might be cheaper even considering C2W

We have Coronation Street type cobbles in places on ours.

DanTheMan · 10 May 2022 at 17:11

Martynt74 said:
I take my gravel bike with dropped bars down the canal and river towpaths without any issues. Although unsure how it’d be when it’s properly muddy.

Not from that site but HDUK had a cheap Pinnacle bike which looked decent for your needs at a good price that might be cheaper even considering C2W

Cheers for the advice. I had a look at the hduk pinnacle but it's back up to £450 everywhere. I also don't fancy cheap suspension forks on a commuter.

I'm sure the bike will be fine, just heavier than some more expensive ones.