Hi All,
I haven't riden a bike for a good 10 years or so now (but I used to be a keen biker - 16m hilly round trip commute back then on a racing bike). However my daily commute (3 miles each way) is really annoying me now. The time it takes is quite frankly ridiculous and I'm seriously considering biking to work (certainly in the better weather anyway). I'm looking at a mountain bike rather than a hybrid or road bike mainly because the roads are crap tbh, I want to be (naughty I know) hop the kerbs etc to skip traffic and also I'd like to extend it outside the realms of commuting to do some trail riding (I would have to travel out for this but thats not a problem) - my friend & his missus have just bought 2 hard tails (semi decent ones) and will most likely be riding regularly so it means I won't have to ride solo
My questions are as follows :-
1 - Am I better of getting a good/top groupset hard tail?
2 - Can full suspension bikes be setup so if your doing more road riding you can firm the rear suspension up?
3 - Commuters - do you keep a 2nd set of wheels or tyres (slick style) for the road?
4 - Anyone recommend places on the internet or in the midlands area (I'm near coventry) to either visit or get a bike from.
I don't want to get into a situation where I get something cheap and then find I'm enjoying it so much that I have to sell etc to get something decent so I'd rather go big aka expensive now and at worst flog it so I guess my budget would be up to probably £1500 (more if it was special).
Many thanks
I haven't riden a bike for a good 10 years or so now (but I used to be a keen biker - 16m hilly round trip commute back then on a racing bike). However my daily commute (3 miles each way) is really annoying me now. The time it takes is quite frankly ridiculous and I'm seriously considering biking to work (certainly in the better weather anyway). I'm looking at a mountain bike rather than a hybrid or road bike mainly because the roads are crap tbh, I want to be (naughty I know) hop the kerbs etc to skip traffic and also I'd like to extend it outside the realms of commuting to do some trail riding (I would have to travel out for this but thats not a problem) - my friend & his missus have just bought 2 hard tails (semi decent ones) and will most likely be riding regularly so it means I won't have to ride solo
My questions are as follows :-
1 - Am I better of getting a good/top groupset hard tail?
2 - Can full suspension bikes be setup so if your doing more road riding you can firm the rear suspension up?
3 - Commuters - do you keep a 2nd set of wheels or tyres (slick style) for the road?
4 - Anyone recommend places on the internet or in the midlands area (I'm near coventry) to either visit or get a bike from.
I don't want to get into a situation where I get something cheap and then find I'm enjoying it so much that I have to sell etc to get something decent so I'd rather go big aka expensive now and at worst flog it so I guess my budget would be up to probably £1500 (more if it was special).
Many thanks
