bike advice for beginner

tony said:

I'm new to cycling and could use some help choosing a bike around the £200
mark. I'll be using it for daily commuting to and from work (mostly main
roads), about 4 miles each way. I'm unfit, overweight (but working on it)
and a large part of the route to work is up-hill so I need something with
enough gears.

I'm thinking of getting either the dawes discovery 201 or the dawes mojave.
Which of these would be more suitable for me? any other suggestions?

Dawes are a good no-nonsense brand. The main difference between the two
you outline is that the Mojave already has things like mudguards and a
rack which will make a commute a good deal more pleasant (no bag on your
back and no road skog soaking your feet and legs). Looks pretty much
ideal for what you propose with the available budget.

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/

Following on from tony's message. . .

Quoted message said:

Hello all

I'm new to cycling and could use some help choosing a bike around the £200
mark. I'll be using it for daily commuting to and from work (mostly main
roads), about 4 miles each way. I'm unfit, overweight (but working on it)
and a large part of the route to work is up-hill so I need something with
enough gears.

I'm thinking of getting either the dawes discovery 201 or the dawes mojave.
Which of these would be more suitable for me? any other suggestions?

thanks
tony

* Spend as much as you can. For £200 you get 'poor to average'. £400
would be a better budget.
* Mudguards (get the shop to fit them)
* Lights (+ charger for rechargeable front batteries)
* Pannier rack
* _clip on_ Pannier bag
* Toe clips (loose to start with)
* Cyclecraft by John Franklin Pub. HMSO (Essential)
* Spare inner tube
* _Not_ knobbly tyres but 'puncture resistant' ones
* Pump. (track pump if possible - keeping tyres pumped up pays off)
* Way to remove wheels in order to replace inner tube in case of
puncture

Sounds a lot but look at the thread "Bit of a renaissance, and shock to
the system" for why you won't regret it.

/Generally/ your backstreet local bike shop(LBS) will be a much better
place to buy and get advice than a well known chain. Tell us where you
are and you may get some LBS recommendations.

--
PETER FOX Not the same since the statuette business went bust
[email hidden]
www.eminent.demon.co.uk - Lots for cyclists

Peter Fox said:

* Mudguards (get the shop to fit them)
* Lights (+ charger for rechargeable front batteries)
....

and a lock

Quoted message said:

Which of these would be more suitable for me? any other suggestions?

thanks
tony

Others you could consider in the same sort of mould ...
Trek T10
Ridgeback Speed

in message <[email hidden]>, tony

(') said:

I'm new to cycling and could use some help choosing a bike around the
£200 mark. I'll be using it for daily commuting to and from work (mostly
main roads), about 4 miles each way. I'm unfit, overweight (but working
on it) and a large part of the route to work is up-hill so I need
something with enough gears.

I'm thinking of getting either the dawes discovery 201 or the dawes
mojave. Which of these would be more suitable for me? any other
suggestions?

The Dawes Mojave certainly looks an excellent low-cost utility bike. I
haven't seen one in the flesh, but I can recommend the very similar (and
similarly priced) Claud Butler Classic. The Discovery 201 is also a good
and well liked model, but for commuting you would need to add mudguards
and some sort of luggage carrier.

If you're commuting in winter you might think about the Ridgeback Neutron.
It costs twice as much (without mudguards or rack, which is stupid) but
has two significant advantages. First it has epicyclic gears, which are
very much lower maintenance than the derailleur gears used on the Mojave
and Discovery; and second it has a hub dynamo light, which means you don't
have to worry about whether you have enough batteries for your lights on a
dark wet night.

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

'there are no solutions, only precipitates'

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

Quoted message said:

Hello all

I'm new to cycling and could use some help choosing a bike around the £200
mark. I'll be using it for daily commuting to and from work (mostly main
roads), about 4 miles each way. I'm unfit, overweight (but working on it)
and a large part of the route to work is up-hill so I need something with
enough gears.

I'm thinking of getting either the dawes discovery 201 or the dawes
mojave. Which of these would be more suitable for me? any other
suggestions?

thanks
tony

I found out this evening that my family have bought me a £100 gift voucher
for parkers of bolton, except their choice of hybrid bikes is limited:
http://shorterlink.com/?L4KJ87

I can't find any reviews or even mentions of those bikes other than on
parker's site ebay shop. are any of those bikes worth considering or should
I try and get a refund on the voucher?

thanks
tony

in message <[email hidden]>, tony

(') said:

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

Quoted message said:

Hello all

I'm new to cycling and could use some help choosing a bike around the
£200 mark. I'll be using it for daily commuting to and from work
(mostly main roads), about 4 miles each way. I'm unfit, overweight (but
working on it) and a large part of the route to work is up-hill so I
need something with enough gears.

I'm thinking of getting either the dawes discovery 201 or the dawes
mojave. Which of these would be more suitable for me? any other
suggestions?

thanks
tony

I found out this evening that my family have bought me a £100 gift
voucher for parkers of bolton, except their choice of hybrid bikes is
limited: http://shorterlink.com/?L4KJ87

I can't find any reviews or even mentions of those bikes other than on
parker's site ebay shop. are any of those bikes worth considering or
should I try and get a refund on the voucher?

thanks
tony

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
/-\ You have discovered a security flaw in a Microsoft product. You
|-| can report this issue to our security team. Would you like to
| | * Be completely ignored (default)?
| | * Receive a form email full of platitudes about how much we care?
\_/ * Spend hours helping us fix this problem on your own phone bill?

in message <[email hidden]>, tony

(') said:

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

Quoted message said:

Hello all

I'm new to cycling and could use some help choosing a bike around the
£200 mark. I'll be using it for daily commuting to and from work
(mostly main roads), about 4 miles each way. I'm unfit, overweight (but
working on it) and a large part of the route to work is up-hill so I
need something with enough gears.

I'm thinking of getting either the dawes discovery 201 or the dawes
mojave. Which of these would be more suitable for me? any other
suggestions?

I found out this evening that my family have bought me a £100 gift
voucher for parkers of bolton, except their choice of hybrid bikes is
limited: http://shorterlink.com/?L4KJ87

Don't. Really, really don't. These are rubbish, and you will regret it.
Even if you can't get a refund on the voucher, just don't.

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

;; So, before proceeding with definitive screwing, choose the
;; position most congenital.
-- instructions for fitting bicycle handlebars

Simon Brooke said:

Quoted message said:

I found out this evening that my family have bought me a £100 gift
voucher for parkers of bolton, except their choice of hybrid bikes is
limited: http://shorterlink.com/?L4KJ87

Don't. Really, really don't. These are rubbish, and you will regret it.
Even if you can't get a refund on the voucher, just don't.

Agreed. Their Viking bikes are /not/ Viking of Wolverhampton, of
fond memory.

However, the range of lights, pumps, computers contains some decent items
(Cateye, Blackburn, etc), so spend the voucher on those things you will
need beside the basic bike.

I notice that they offer locks for as little as £1.95 -- just right for
securing a £5 bicycle!

Mike

I would look at the Halfords Subway range,
especially the Subway 8. This has hub gears and hub brakes,
so low maintenance. Don't worry about the eight gears versus the
30 gears of a racing bike - it is the spread of gears which is important.
I got one of these last year.

Currently selling at £280, which is within your budget range if you
stretch it a bit. The bike has full mudguards this year, so you can
justify some of the extra cost for that.

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

Quoted message said:

Simon Brooke said:

Quoted message said:

I found out this evening that my family have bought me a £100 gift
voucher for parkers of bolton, except their choice of hybrid bikes is
limited: http://shorterlink.com/?L4KJ87

Don't. Really, really don't. These are rubbish, and you will regret it.
Even if you can't get a refund on the voucher, just don't.

Agreed. Their Viking bikes are /not/ Viking of Wolverhampton, of
fond memory.

However, the range of lights, pumps, computers contains some decent items
(Cateye, Blackburn, etc), so spend the voucher on those things you will
need beside the basic bike.

I notice that they offer locks for as little as £1.95 -- just right for
securing a £5 bicycle!

Mike

Agreed! I used to go to college in Bolton. Went to check out Parkers once -
totally unimpressed. The bike shop was just an adjunct to the Peugeot car
dealership. In fact, the whole thing used to be called 'Parkers Ride and
Drive'. Viking used to be a good name, but that was 20+ years ago.

Doubt that you'll get a refund on the voucher - you don't with any other
retailer in the country. Use it to buy tools, a GOOD lock, inner tubes, etc.
The car carriers are probably the best things there, but you may not be in
the market for those.

There used to be a good little bike shop on Moore Street. There is also MK
Cycles on the road out to Harwood. These are your best bet for quality
components, in the future.

--
David Lloyd,
The pub is responsible for my opinions.

David Lloyd said:

Agreed! I used to go to college in Bolton. Went to check out Parkers
once - totally unimpressed.

I think they were the company who dealt with my insurance replacement for
mine and my Mum's bikes. They were able to order from Scott, Ridgeback and
Dawes.

I remember the first contact I had with them where the bloke I was talking
to said "Oh, you're the one with the expensive dynamo [a Lightspin]. We had
to look up to see if there were any that expensive, but we found one".

They managed OK, anyway.

A