• Notice regarding image hosts and attachments. See here.

Second hand mountain bike or hybrid

n30_mkii

n30_mkii

n30_mkii

Associate
Joined
31 May 2005
Posts
2,270
Location
Alfreton,Derbyshire
Im looking to rekindle some of my youth and also get a little fiiter. Ive got a cheap and nasty £120 special which is now 12 years old and i never really used as it was heavy and awful to ride.

I would be doing some road initially and gentle oof road to start, but i would like to get into heavier offroad trails etc over time.

I cant spend a fortune but could i pickup something half decent second hand around £200-400? If so what should i be looking at in terms of make and kit? My last bike was gripshift which i didnt really like tbh

Many thanks, im a real newbie in this area so any advice appreciated
 
Hybrid is a dirty word round here so look forward to your road bike suggestions ;)

To be honest what your asking for is quite difficult to try and specify in a single bike as hybrids have a relatively limited off road capability. I think your best bet might be to go for a hard tail MTB with a lockout on the front fork for road use and keep a bit of cash aside for a second set of wheels that you can quickly swap out. One with slick tyres for the road and knobblies on the other for the trails. A 27.5" or 29" bike would roll a little better on road, TBH I'm not sure how many 26" bikes are still sold in the XC sector.

I have no idea what £200-400 buys second hand but I picked up a 27.5" Boardman with Raidon air sprung front fork, SRAM X5 and hydraulic discs for less than £400 new as an end of line model.
 
Based on what the OP has said I can't imagine many would suggest a road bike. Maybe a CX ;) Assuming that they really do want to do more off road stuff then an MTB might be the best choice.

Hybrid is a dirty word though, yeah. Don't buy one :p
 
Thanks for the feedback, I'll pretty much dismiss hybrids then, and try and have a think about my use cases a little more.
 
n30_mkii said:
Thanks for the feedback, I'll pretty much dismiss hybrids then, and try and have a think about my use cases a little more.
Click to expand...

Don't listen to the bike snobs - hybrids are fine. A chap I go biking with killed his mtb and the only bike he had running at the time was a hybrid and he still completed "the 8" red route as Gisburn perfectly fine. Sure, you wouldn't want to chuck it round BPW but I don't thinks that's your usage scenario anyway.

Heck, when I started mountain biking 20 years ago, the bikes weren't as good as the hybrids we have avail now - I didn't kill myself.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I've actually warmed to hybrids a lot more recently. I still ride mine a lot for shorter trips, and they are pretty versatile. I think the main criticism comes from the assumption that you "might as well get a bike for the type of riding you actually want to do", but that gets complicated when you have some quite different requirements. And yes, I know, n+1, but not all of us are made of money :p

Hybrids are decent on the road as they don't have heavy and energy sapping suspension to slow you down, and can handle a lot of off roading quite well too. Maybe not fast downhills, but certainly dirt trails, gravel and boulders. You can get them to perform even better in either case by swapping out the tyres, if you feel the need. Let's not forget that it wasn't that long ago that mountain bikes didn't have suspension anyway ;)

http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/products/revolution-courier-2-16
 
n30_mkii said:
Thanks for the feedback, I'll pretty much dismiss hybrids then, and try and have a think about my use cases a little more.
Click to expand...

It really depends on your usage. My comment was tongue in cheek as I have 3 bikes (road, MTB and hybrid) and the hybrid is the second most used. I honestly think that for people who just want a bike for getting out and about a hybrid makes the most sense.

That said I personally find a hybrid quite limiting on proper off road riding but I've had good rides on old rail paths on it which were flatish stone paths that I wouldn't take a road bike on. Would I take it round the trails at Thetford forest? No chance. Could I get it round the trails? Probably all bar the black sections but I don't think I'd enjoy it much.

PermaBanned said:
Let's not forget that it wasn't that long ago that mountain bikes didn't have suspension anyway ;)
Click to expand...

True... but they didn't have 700x28 tyres either :p
 
One limiting factor is a hybrid generally won't accept a chunkier tyre. My specialised cross trail won't take a super sam on the back.
 
True, kind of wonder if they'll offer a disc brake, 8 speed+ version of this:

http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/products/revolution-hybrid-1-16

But it seems like they're just rolling out their 2016 models so we'll see. I only really suggested them because my own hybrid was from there and that's been incredibly solid for the past ten years, has survived more than its fair share of abuse. Great value for money.
 
I certainly need to do some more reading and keep my eye on end of line and ebay to see what comes up in the price range.

Are there any good makes to keep an eye out for, i.e. reputable and well made?

Boardman has come up a couple of times
 
Second hand cheap bikes are rarely a good buy unless you really know what you're looking for.

You could end up in an ever ending cycle (boom boom) of replacements. My cross trail is like it now. One thing after another going wrong. So much so in hindsight I wish I'd flogged it when the first big bill come in and bought a new one.
 
This is the Trek 7.5FX hybrid I own and it is as fast as my Forme Longcliffe road bike.
It's got proper straight handlebars instead of those daft drop things that nobody uses..
I wouldn't bounce it up and down on rocks though.

trek7.5fx.jpg
 
OspreyO said:
I like the idea of the Trek Dual Sport bikes. Cross between a hybrid and MTB.
Click to expand...

I don't regret buying my Trek 7.5 FX and did a lot of research before I bought it but now knowing 100% exactly what I want a bike for and where I ride it, I would now choose the DS.
Mind you my Trek 4300 doesn't look that different to the DS.
 
There's riders using the drops from the start of your video... And it's a summit finish :confused: The minute I saw the profile it was obvious why no one would be in the drops, except for the drop before the climb. The drops aren't for climbing, unless you're Pantani. The drops are for going downhill or going fast on flat ground.

And Wiggins is on a TT bike there.

It's hard to be sure you're not being facetious.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom