I need a bike - any experts

Minority

Minority

Minority

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4 Jun 2003
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I need a new mountain bike to get about on. I don't want a stupid small BMX thing or one of those racing bikes with thin tyres, just a regular bike to go to the gym and work.

Anyone got any suggestions - £200 - £300? (Hopefully less)

Requirements:

Comfortable, fast, looks good.
 
I'm no expert, but I bought an MTB just before Christmas and I ended up going for a Carrera Kraken, the '05 model from Halfords. It was discounted from £400 to £266, and has decent running gear and bits on it, all Deore stuff. It's a decent solid bike and it was good and cheap, so I'd recommend it.
 
At this price as Mohinder did, go and take a look in Halfords. Lots of people will moan about them but they have a good range and the staff know a lot more than they used to (I was a bike specialist for a year in Halfords and I spoke to quite a few).

Some good websites to check too:

Leisure Lakes
Evans Cycles
 
my local halfords had some carreras reduced from 300 to £150 the other day

if you're v tall or v short, the sales are a great time to buy bikes, cos the biguns and the titchy ones tend to be all thats left over
 
I've had a Giant Boulder (no really they are called that) for about 6 Months now, very nice bike, but I used to for cycling across the south downs so needed the front suspension

If your only doing road cycling then getting a road bike will be much better, or a hybrid if you want a bit more flexability

I used this site as they did an insurance claim for us, they are very very good, ordered one day at about 3pm and it arrived the next day! Very helpful, give them a call and they will give you a recomendation based on your needs rather than the profit they make!

www.wheelies.co.uk
 
If you're going to be cycling on roads, i.e. not on muddy hills, I'd go for a hybrid. At least, definitely get a bike with smooth tyres - not chunky - and no suspension. Both will only hinder performance on anything but REALLY rough terrain. Smooth tyres don't have to be thin!

This is my bike, the Switch Nemesis (ooh scary):
Ridgeback Switch Nemesis


Ridgeback do a range of pretty cool urban hybrid mountain bikes, mine's a bit weird - because it has hub gears and brakes. Low maintainance, but not for everyone... They migh be just out of your price range - but they'll stay together much better than anything from halfords. Probably save you money in the long run, as you won't have to buy another one next year.

However, the cyclone looks pretty good, for £299.
Ridgeback Switch Cyclone
 
You may well get a cheap bike from Halfords (my local B&Q sell bikes too!).

But what about follow up servicing? Free 3 week checkup followed by free 3 month service? Something worthwhile going to a proper bike shop for.

At the price your looking for you'd be best avoiding suspension (certainly avoid £200 full suspension bikes with suspension made out of cheese!).

Again, look to getting a bike which can be fitted with a rear rack + panniers, something which will be a challenge on full suspension bikes.

Anything by Trek, Claud Butler or Ridgeback should do the trick.
 
greengiant said:
You may well get a cheap bike from Halfords (my local B&Q sell bikes too!).

But what about follow up servicing? Free 3 week checkup followed by free 3 month service? Something worthwhile going to a proper bike shop for.

At the price your looking for you'd be best avoiding suspension (certainly avoid £200 full suspension bikes with suspension made out of cheese!).
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Halfords offer a free tune-up having sold any new bike, at least they did when I worked there.

And avoiding suspension at this price isn't the best piece of advice. Avoiding full suspension perhaps yes, but most bikes in the £300 range will have a front suspension fork which will take the edge off road riding and I would highly recommend.
 
Big Chris said:
Halfords offer a free tune-up having sold any new bike, at least they did when I worked there.

And avoiding suspension at this price isn't the best piece of advice. Avoiding full suspension perhaps yes, but most bikes in the £300 range will have a front suspension fork which will take the edge off road riding and I would highly recommend.
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What edge on road riding ?
You utterly do not need front forks for riding to work, the "edge" is taken off by the pneumatic tyre and spoked wheel.
 
blueCAT said:
If you're going to be cycling on roads, i.e. not on muddy hills, I'd go for a hybrid. At least, definitely get a bike with smooth tyres - not chunky - and no suspension. Both will only hinder performance on anything but REALLY rough terrain. Smooth tyres don't have to be thin!
Click to expand...

Definitely. Makes a massive difference. And get rigid forks too - you'd be surprised how much power front suspension absorbs.
 
Indeed front suspension does take a lot of the power out, but I really miss it when I go back to a no suspension bike
 
Space Cowboy said:
Definitely. Makes a massive difference. And get rigid forks too - you'd be surprised how much power front suspension absorbs.
Click to expand...

Too right, my first decent bike was a Saracen Forcetrax, fully rigid frame, cost about £400 at the time. I traded it in against my Specialised FSR S-Works after about a year and missed it badly.
If I could have justified 2 bikes I would have bought it back.
Obviously the FSR was fantastic cross country and most of my daily commute was offroad but the fully rigid Forcetrax was superb on road and very fast.
 
DiG said:
I've had a Giant Boulder (no really they are called that) for about 6 Months now, very nice bike, but I used to for cycling across the south downs so needed the front suspension.
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Giant Boulder Alu-Lite here! I had front suspension fitted (bought from here) for mainly road riding. See my comments in the user reviews.
VIRII said:
You utterly do not need front forks for riding to work ...
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True, but it's a lot nicer and comfier on the ol' wrists than rigids are. Tyres make more of a difference to the power loss in my experience. Definitely get road tyres on it - you'll be impressed by how much easier and quicker your journey is. Atm I've got my winter tyres on and it's a right pain.

Edit: just remembered, GT is usually recommended in this price range by a lot of people here.
 
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Thinking of going for the Ridgeback Switch Cyclone but I'm concerned about the smooth tyres - how do these cope in rain?

What's the consensus on suspension then? Getting mixed signals here - don't confuse me!
 
Suspension is nice, but not essential, if you want speed go for no suspension, just a pure road bike, if you would like the option get something a bit more MTB like, maybe with a suspension
 
Minority said:
Thinking of going for the Ridgeback Switch Cyclone but I'm concerned about the smooth tyres - how do these cope in rain?

What's the consensus on suspension then? Getting mixed signals here - don't confuse me!
Click to expand...
Not smooth as in slicks, smooth as in not knobbly! ;)

DSC00025.jpg


Very happy with these babies. :)
Same as any other tyre in the wet - don't get too ambitious round corners or you'll fall off. Less rolling resistance, less noise and more rubber on the tarmac than off-road tyres for better grip. And they do a reasonable job on towpaths, etc. And I'm convinced that you get less water thrown up off the road and thus a dryer face and arse than with MTB tyres.
 
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