Which hybrid

Quoted message said:

I've not owned a bike for years, and am really out of touch, but am
being encouraged to buy one with a cycle-to-work tax incentive.

I've been recommended to get a hybrid as I'll be mainly on road. My
budget is up to about £300.

Though of course if you're getting it through the tax dodge you'll have
effectively about £5-600, and it will be spread over up to 3 years so
you may wish to re-think the price a bit.

Quoted message said:

To my eyes they all looked and felt very similar. Question is, which
would anybody recommend? I'm thinking that at this level they're all
much of a muchness?

To quite an extent, yes. Things to look for on a general purpose
machine are hub gears (less maintenance), mudgaurds (less [censored] sprayed
over you if the road is wet) and a carrier for Stuff (it's far more
comfortable to carry stuff on the bike directly than in a rucksack).
You can retrofit guards and carrier to anything, hub gears are harder to
come by and not so good /if/ you want maximum versatility, but most
people would, I suspect, prefer a practically zero maintenance option
over more gears they don't use all of...

Avoid disc brakes (but not roller brakes, which look a little like them)
and suspension: pretty pointless at this level as they're not done very
well. But do consider what the effect on budget of going through the
tax scheme is.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Quoted message said:

Hi all

I've not owned a bike for years, and am really out of touch, but am
being encouraged to buy one with a cycle-to-work tax incentive.

I've been recommended to get a hybrid as I'll be mainly on road. My
budget is up to about £300.

Excellent! How far is your commute?
Unless you've got a really secure store at work don't forget to budget
for a decent lock and some basic stuff like a pump and puncture kit,
lights can probably wait until the Autumn.

POHB said:

Quoted message said:

Hi all

I've not owned a bike for years, and am really out of touch, but am
being encouraged to buy one with a cycle-to-work tax incentive.

I've been recommended to get a hybrid as I'll be mainly on road. My
budget is up to about £300.

Excellent! How far is your commute?
Unless you've got a really secure store at work don't forget to budget
for a decent lock and some basic stuff like a pump and puncture kit,
lights can probably wait until the Autumn.

Make sure you buy the lights before the clocks change, otherwise you
might get a nasty shock one monday afternoon.

Martin.

Peter Clinch said:

Quoted message said:

I've not owned a bike for years, and am really out of touch, but am
being encouraged to buy one with a cycle-to-work tax incentive.

Quoted message said:

I've been recommended to get a hybrid as I'll be mainly on road. My
budget is up to about £300.

Though of course if you're getting it through the tax dodge you'll have
effectively about £5-600, and it will be spread over up to 3 years so
you may wish to re-think the price a bit.

Quoted message said:

To my eyes they all looked and felt very similar. Question is, which
would anybody recommend? I'm thinking that at this level they're all
much of a muchness?

To quite an extent, yes. Things to look for on a general purpose
machine are hub gears (less maintenance), mudgaurds (less [censored] sprayed
over you if the road is wet) and a carrier for Stuff (it's far more
comfortable to carry stuff on the bike directly than in a rucksack).
You can retrofit guards and carrier to anything, hub gears are harder to
come by and not so good /if/ you want maximum versatility, but most
people would, I suspect, prefer a practically zero maintenance option
over more gears they don't use all of...

Avoid disc brakes (but not roller brakes, which look a little like them)
and suspension: pretty pointless at this level as they're not done very
well. But do consider what the effect on budget of going through the
tax scheme is.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

thanks for your reply. The scheme was explained to me as being worth
about 33% off the price, up to a maximum of £1000, to be paid over a
year. I was just trying to be careful and not to go too beserk, given
that I'm a newbie to cycling and presumably wouldn't notice the
difference between a deluxe bike and a hole in the ground!

So any of the models I mentioned would be ok?

Richard

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I was just trying to be careful and not to go too beserk, given
that I'm a newbie to cycling and presumably wouldn't notice the
difference between a deluxe bike and a hole in the ground!

You're not alone in that belief, but IME if you put somebody on a niceish
bike, they can tell the difference quite easily. Ok, the differences tail
off after a bit, but there's quite a steep change in quality per price
initially.

cheers,
clive

On Tue, 22 May 2007 15:55:41 +0100,

Clive George said:

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I was just trying to be careful and not to go too beserk, given
that I'm a newbie to cycling and presumably wouldn't notice the
difference between a deluxe bike and a hole in the ground!

You're not alone in that belief, but IME if you put somebody on a niceish
bike, they can tell the difference quite easily. Ok, the differences tail
off after a bit, but there's quite a steep change in quality per price
initially.

And it doesn't hurt to go to the bike shop and ask for a go on the more
expensive one first. You can still decide to buy the cheaper one.

--
Andy Leighton => [email hidden]
"The Lord is my shepherd, but we still lost the sheep dog trials"
- Robert Rankin, _They Came And Ate Us_

Clive George said:

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I was just trying to be careful and not to go too beserk, given
that I'm a newbie to cycling and presumably wouldn't notice the
difference between a deluxe bike and a hole in the ground!

You're not alone in that belief, but IME if you put somebody on a
niceish bike, they can tell the difference quite easily. Ok, the
differences tail off after a bit, but there's quite a steep change in
quality per price initially.

Wot Clive says... you can easily get to £500 or so before the
diminishing returns curve starts to get at all steep, and if you budget
for things like hub dynamo systems then you can add at least £100 just
for your light setup (but I doubt you'd regret it).

A deluxe bike is a pleasure to ride and encourages you to use it, a
cheap and nasty bike... isn't and doesn't.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

in message <[email hidden]>,

(') said:

Hi all

I've not owned a bike for years, and am really out of touch, but am
being encouraged to buy one with a cycle-to-work tax incentive.

I've been recommended to get a hybrid as I'll be mainly on road. My
budget is up to about £300.

I've seen a specialized globe sport for £299, a Felt bike for £280,
(can't remember the model number but it looked like the QX60) and a
ridgeback for about £240

To my eyes they all looked and felt very similar. Question is, which
would anybody recommend? I'm thinking that at this level they're all
much of a muchness?

If this is for commuting, you want reliability and low maintenance. I'm
inclined to suggest and epicyclic is likely to be better for you than a
derailleur, so look at

* Edinburgh Bicycle Co-op's Revolution Courier Nexus '06, currently on
special offer at £269.10;
* The same but the '07 model, at £310;
* Specialized Globe Comp IG8 at £450
* Ridgeback Nemesis (with hub brakes as well) at £450

There's another Ridgeback model - forget the name just now - which comes
with hub dynamo lighting system as well as the epicyclic hub for £450; if
you expect to commute through the winter or otherwise ride regularly after
dark it's worth considering.

Otherwise... the two Edinburgh bikes have 26" wheels (as does the Nemesis)
which might have infinitely slightly more rolling resistance than 700c
wheels on the Specialized. The Specialized also has carbon forks which
will probably give a slightly more confortable ride than the others. But
the '06 model from Edinburgh Bicycle Co-op looks like far and away the
best bargain, so if you're anywhere near one of their branches (Aberdeen,
Edinburgh, Newcastle, Leeds, Manchester) go and have a look.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

For office use only. Please do not write or type below this line.

Quoted message said:

Peter Clinch said:

Quoted message said:

I've not owned a bike for years, and am really out of touch, but am
being encouraged to buy one with a cycle-to-work tax incentive.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I've been recommended to get a hybrid as I'll be mainly on road.  My
budget is up to about £300.

Quoted message said:

Though of course if you're getting it through the tax dodge you'll have
effectively about £5-600, and it will be spread over up to 3 years so
you may wish to re-think the price a bit.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

To my eyes they all looked and felt very similar.  Question is, which
would anybody recommend?  I'm thinking that at this level they're all
much of a muchness?

Quoted message said:

To quite an extent, yes.  Things to look for on a general purpose
machine are hub gears (less maintenance), mudgaurds (less [censored] sprayed
over you if the road is wet) and a carrier for Stuff (it's far more
comfortable to carry stuff on the bike directly than in a rucksack).
You can retrofit guards and carrier to anything, hub gears are harder to
come by and not so good /if/ you want maximum versatility, but most
people would, I suspect, prefer a practically zero maintenance option
over more gears they don't use all of...

Quoted message said:

Avoid disc brakes (but not roller brakes, which look a little like them)
and suspension: pretty pointless at this level as they're not done very
well.  But do consider what the effect on budget of going through the
tax scheme is.

Quoted message said:

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch                    Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637   Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177              Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden]    http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

thanks for your reply.  The scheme was explained to me as being worth
about 33% off the price, up to a maximum of £1000, to be paid over a
year.  I was just trying to be careful and not to go too beserk, given
that I'm a newbie to cycling and presumably wouldn't notice the
difference between a deluxe bike and a hole in the ground!

So any of the models I mentioned would be ok?

Richard- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I don't think you'll go too far wrong with one of Sirrus models from
Specialized . They have all the necessary braze-ons and seem good
value. However, don't underestimate the Revolution Country from
Edinburgh Cycles which is well within your budget and comes fully
equipped. It did very well in a "Cycling" magazine survey when it came
up against much more expensive bikes.

Simon Brooke said:

in message <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] ([email hidden]'😉 wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I've been recommended to get a hybrid as I'll be mainly on road. My
budget is up to about £300.

I've seen a specialized globe sport for £299, a Felt bike for £280,
(can't remember the model number but it looked like the QX60) and a
ridgeback for about £240

To my eyes they all looked and felt very similar. Question is, which
would anybody recommend? I'm thinking that at this level they're all
much of a muchness?

If this is for commuting, you want reliability and low maintenance. I'm
inclined to suggest and epicyclic is likely to be better for you than a
derailleur, so look at

* Edinburgh Bicycle Co-op's Revolution Courier Nexus '06, currently on
special offer at £269.10;

I'll second that. Kate bought one a couple of weeks ago and she loves
it. The hub gears suit her style of cycling perfectly.

Others have suggested budgeting for a hub dynamo. We considered this but
decided that it was a lot easier and cheaper to carry a set of spare
batteries at all times. Back in the days of lights that required HP2s to
keep going, a dynamo seemed like a sensible idea. For people who tour
remote areas they seem a good idea too. I'm not convinced of their need
nowadays for the average commuter.

Cheers,
Luke

--
Lincoln City 0-2 Southend United (AET)
Swansea City 2-2 Southend United
We went up twice with Tilly and Brush

many thanks for your advice

Quoted message said:

From what you're saying it seems like it's worth spending as much as

possible. And the more I spend, the more I save under this scheme!

Richard

Ekul Namsob said:

Others have suggested budgeting for a hub dynamo. We considered this but
decided that it was a lot easier and cheaper to carry a set of spare
batteries at all times.

Cheaper, certainly, easier... no!

Quoted message said:

Back in the days of lights that required HP2s to
keep going, a dynamo seemed like a sensible idea. For people who tour
remote areas they seem a good idea too. I'm not convinced of their need
nowadays for the average commuter.

"need", fair enough, but it's not about "need", it's about what works
best and most conveniently day in, day out. For example, few people
"need" more than 3 gears (I know this as I ride a 3 speed around a town
with Real Hills), but that doesn't mean more is a Bad Thing.

For lights, winter commuting, there is just no comparison to the
convenience of a good hub dynamo setup. You get on the bike and your
lights are there when you need them, you can even have them so they turn
themselves on when it's dark enough. No pratting about taking lamps on
and off the bike, no forgetting them, no deciding whether you need to
juice the batteries, no faffing about juicing the batteries if they do
need it, no embarrassing battery rundown when you forgot to juice them.
You just get on and if the lights are needed they're there.

I found this out having reasoned the same way as you before my hub
dynamo epiphany. If you are going down the long term convenience route
then it makes *very* good sense to include it from the start, because
buying through the cycle to work scheme that way it will cost a lot less.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Peter Clinch said:

Ekul Namsob said:

Others have suggested budgeting for a hub dynamo. We considered this but
decided that it was a lot easier and cheaper to carry a set of spare
batteries at all times.

<snip>

Quoted message said:

For lights, winter commuting, there is just no comparison to the
convenience of a good hub dynamo setup. You get on the bike and your
lights are there when you need them, you can even have them so they turn
themselves on when it's dark enough. No pratting about taking lamps on
and off the bike, no forgetting them, no deciding whether you need to
juice the batteries, no faffing about juicing the batteries if they do
need it, no embarrassing battery rundown when you forgot to juice them.
You just get on and if the lights are needed they're there.

Aren't dynamo lights just as nickable as others? Roughly how much would
it cost to retrofit a hub dynamo and lights to a bike?

Cheers,
Luke

--
Lincoln City 0-2 Southend United (AET)
Swansea City 2-2 Southend United
We went up twice with Tilly and Brush

in message
<[email hidden]>, Ekul

Namsob (') said:

Peter Clinch said:

Ekul Namsob said:

Others have suggested budgeting for a hub dynamo. We considered this
but decided that it was a lot easier and cheaper to carry a set of
spare batteries at all times.

<snip>

Quoted message said:

For lights, winter commuting, there is just no comparison to the
convenience of a good hub dynamo setup. You get on the bike and your
lights are there when you need them, you can even have them so they turn
themselves on when it's dark enough. No pratting about taking lamps on
and off the bike, no forgetting them, no deciding whether you need to
juice the batteries, no faffing about juicing the batteries if they do
need it, no embarrassing battery rundown when you forgot to juice them.
You just get on and if the lights are needed they're there.

Aren't dynamo lights just as nickable as others?

No, they're usually bolted onto the brake bolt or similar, and even if not
are wired back to the dynamo, so you're going to have to cut either all
the cable ties or else the wire itself.

Quoted message said:

Roughly how much would
it cost to retrofit a hub dynamo and lights to a bike?

From about £100 upwards, depending on options. If a SON, then quite a lot
upwards. If with Solidlights, then quadruple it.

As far as I'm concerned a hub dynamo is the absolute cat's whiskers of road
bike lighting, but I don't have one because these days I don't ride often
enough in the dark to justify it.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; all in all you're just another click in the call
;; -- Minke Bouyed

Ekul Namsob said:

Peter Clinch said:

Ekul Namsob said:

Others have suggested budgeting for a hub dynamo. We considered this but
decided that it was a lot easier and cheaper to carry a set of spare
batteries at all times.

<snip>

Quoted message said:

For lights, winter commuting, there is just no comparison to the
convenience of a good hub dynamo setup. You get on the bike and your
lights are there when you need them, you can even have them so they turn
themselves on when it's dark enough. No pratting about taking lamps on
and off the bike, no forgetting them, no deciding whether you need to
juice the batteries, no faffing about juicing the batteries if they do
need it, no embarrassing battery rundown when you forgot to juice them.
You just get on and if the lights are needed they're there.

Aren't dynamo lights just as nickable as others? Roughly how much would
it cost to retrofit a hub dynamo and lights to a bike?

Cheers,
Luke

quite, i'm quite happy with twin lights front and rear, all differnt
lights so far haven't had to replace batterys but i would expect them to
have differning wear rate.

and being cheapish i would expect, and so far is true the lights top
stay put.

roger

Am Wed, 23 May 2007 20:47:14 +0100 schrieb Simon Brooke:

Quoted message said:

in message
<[email hidden]>, Ekul

Namsob (') said:

Roughly how much would
it cost to retrofit a hub dynamo and lights to a bike?

From about £100 upwards, depending on options. If a SON, then quite a lot
upwards. If with Solidlights, then quadruple it.

Here you can get a complete front wheel Rigida ZAC19R with Shimpanso
DH3-N30 hub dynamo for 39.95 Euros - delivery to the UK for 9.95 Euros.
<http://www.laufrad.net/product_info.php/info/p11_Laufrad-28--Vorderrad-mit-Nabendynamo-DH3-N30-silber.html>
plus another 10 to 20 pound for front/backlight and cables.

Andreas

Ekul Namsob said:

Aren't dynamo lights just as nickable as others?

FSVO of "nickable": you'd need a pair of snips and a spanner, but that's
a lot more than just sliding off something designed for easy dismount as
most battery lights are.
Also, because you can't use them without your own dynamo there's less
point in nicking it to start with.

Quoted message said:

Roughly how much would
it cost to retrofit a hub dynamo and lights to a bike?

Depends on the dynamo, and the lamps, and how you feel about wheel
building. The Shimano DH-3N70 is a very nice bit of kit and comes in at
£55, a significant percentage as good as the SON at half the price.
You'll need it built into a wheel, and though you could use an existing
rim it makes some sense to leave that as a summer/spare and get a
complete new build, cheaper if you DIY, otherwise consult a bike shop.
Suppliers of hubs will typically quote a complete build price.

For lamps, B&M are the easiest to find. Rear DToplight is £18, £29 with
standlight. On the front, £14.50 for the basic Lumotec, £32 with
standlight.

All comes in at a fair chunk of money... but I haven't regretted
spending it.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/