Newbie Bike Question

Sean Rooney said:

Been to Halfords and the local bike shop but still confused!

I'd like a decent bike that will comfortably do 20 - 30 miles on a day run,
usually on national cycle routes, but occasionally on forest tracks, but not
mountain biking.

I've seen the £300+ and the sub £100 bikes. I just don't know what to buy.

Any advice welcomed - what is a good make, how much should I pay, what
accessories are essential.

Many thanks.

Sub 100 = Ugh, yuck, bleargh

100-200 = Ugh, yuck but not bleargh

200-300 = Ugh but not yuck and not bleargh

300+ = something pleasant and up for the job

200 will get you a bike. 300 will get you a bike with sensible
accessories such as mudguards and luggage rack. These might well be
suitable to forest tracks and NCN routes.

No accessories are essential, but if you wish to cycle after dark,
wish to carry luggage and wish to stay clean, then lights and
mudguards *are* desirable.

--
Microsoft Sam speaks his mind:
www.artybee.net/sam_speaks_his_mind.mp3

Sean Rooney said:

what accessories are essential.

I'd recommend this lot:
Pump (£7+), spare inner tube & puncture kit (£3), lights (£10+),
bottle cage & bottle (£5+), allen keys & small screwdriver (£2), some kind
of bag or rack (large or tiny) (£5+), lock if leaving the bike anywhere
(even a naff lightweight cable lock is better than nothing) (£5+),
windproof jacket/gilet (£15+), waterproof jacket (£9+), cycle computer
(£7+).

Apologies for skipping the harder questions.

~PB

Have a look at the Ridgeback range. There's something there that will meet
your needs.
FWIW I bought a Carrera Kraken SE from Halfords two years ago and have been
very happy with it.
I've ridden it on 25 mile trips on the surfaces that you mention but have
found that my hybrid, a Ridgeback, a
better proposition as it has lower rolling resistance and mudguards and a
rack fitted. You can of course fit slicks to
a mountain bike to reduce the rolling resistance. You will not get a decent
new sub £100 bike.

Look out for muguard mounting eyes on any bike that takes your fancy.
Mudguards do make riding in inclement
weather a tad more enjoyable. A rack will allow you to branch out into
camping expeditions.

Have you considered buying second hand?

in message <[email hidden]>, Sean Rooney

(') said:

Been to Halfords and the local bike shop but still confused!

I'd like a decent bike that will comfortably do 20 - 30 miles on a day
run, usually on national cycle routes, but occasionally on forest
tracks, but not mountain biking.

I've seen the £300+ and the sub £100 bikes. I just don't know what
to buy.

My advice is not to pay less than £200, and buy from an LBS. As one of
the Martins keeps saying, some of the cheaper bikes are OK, but most
are rubbish and telling the difference needs an educated eye. Buy from
the LBS because you _should_ get the bike properly set up (you should
at Halfords, too, of course, and Halfords branches are variable - some
are OK - but your LBS is the better bet).

At £200 look for an aluminium frame, V brakes and rigid forks. If you're
anywhere near an Edinburgh Bicycle Co-op branch, their own-brands (e.g.
Revolution Trailfinder, Revolution Courier, Revolution Courier Race)
are excellent value-for-money cheap bikes; otherwise Claud Butler, a
nationally available brand, are also good value for money.

If you're prepared to move up-budget a bit, Dawes, Giant, Specialized,
Marin are all reliable mid-price brands.

If you aren't into mountain biking, there's no need for suspension, and
it adds weight; similarly, there's no need for disk brakes, which add
complexity and weight. If you're riding on national cycle routes the
surface is very variable; if the tracks round your way are mostly
fairly smooth, the best sort of bike for you will be a 700C wheeled
hybrid (e.g. EBC's Revolution Courier Race (£265) at the cheaper end,
or Specialized's Sirrus Sport (£500) higher up the price range). If the
tracks around you are rougher go for a 26" wheeled hybrid which will
take fatter tyres (e.g. EBC's Revolution Trailfinder (£215) at the
cheap end, Cannondale's Bad Boy (£649) at the expensive end).

What you get for more money is a lighter frame and longer-lasting
components. Components are mostly interchangeable and can always be
upgraded, but the weight of the frame is something you're stuck with
for the life of the bike. If two bikes you are considering fit you
equally well and look equally good, buy the lighter one.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
.::;===r==\
/ /___||___\____
//==\- ||- | /__\( MS Windows IS an operating environment.
//____\__||___|_// \|: C++ IS an object oriented programming language.
\__/ ~~~~~~~~~ \__/ Citroen 2cv6 IS a four door family saloon.

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

Quoted message said:

Re spare tube: it is stupid not to carry a puncture kit in addition.
Takes up hardly any room and will deal with a second puncture. Only costs
a quid or two.

I'll second that - carry both. 'Fish' suggests just a puncture repair kit -
there are many holes which can't be mended with one of these..

cheers,
clive

Pete Biggs wrote:

[Accessories]

Add Park Tyre Boot (Three or four quid), certain types of Foreign banknote
(price varies) or piece of FedEx envelope. Big holes in tyre sidewalls are
a Bad Thing when it comes to retaining the integrity of one's inner tube...

--

Dave Larrington - http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/
World Domination?
Just find a world that's into that kind of thing, then chain to the
floor and walk up and down on it in high heels. (Mr. Sunshine)

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

as far as essential I would not go all that far I would say

Pump, puncture kit, lights ,bottle cage & bottle allen keys & small
screwdriver and spanners(or adjustable) some kind of bag(get a
expandable one if you can) or rack (large or tiny) lock if leaving
the bike anywhere I would recommend a decent one thats fairly small
(you never know when you might need it so its best you have one that
you can carry everywhere) ,windproof jacket/gilet ,waterproof jacket
(you can probably get these both in one).

I wouldnt say that you need!! a spare inner tube AND a puncture kit
and a cycle computor is hardly a nessesity. and if you have a
backpack with built in hydration or side pockets you shouldnt need
that waterbottle and cage either. ]

I agree that not all the items I mentioned are absolutely essential
(nothing is, really) but still I thouroughly recommend getting them. They
improve the cycling experience and needn't cost very much, as pointed out.

Re spare tube: it is stupid not to carry a puncture kit in addition.
Takes up hardly any room and will deal with a second puncture. Only costs
a quid or two. Add two tyre levers to the list as well.

I agree I do carry a tube and punture kit but I suppose it depnds on your
requirement's I also carry enough kit to either fix or do a bodge get me
home job with just about anything that could go wrong with the bike it seems
pointless to carry enough kit to fix anything that could ever go wrong with
a inner tube and none to fix a damged chain or slashed tyre which I would
say are about as common as a irrereapirable inner tube . thats something
else that should be added to the essetial list a basic tool kit (to leave at
home) usually enough kit so you can repair the most common faults. I wouldnt
expect you to own the whole hog some of it cost's a bomb.

Fish said:

I agree I do carry a tube and punture kit but I suppose it depnds on
your requirement's I also carry enough kit to either fix or do a
bodge get me home job with just about anything that could go wrong
with the bike it seems pointless to carry enough kit to fix anything
that could ever go wrong with a inner tube and none to fix a damged
chain or slashed tyre which I would say are about as common as a
irrereapirable inner tube . thats something else that should be added
to the essetial list a basic tool kit (to leave at home) usually
enough kit so you can repair the most common faults. I wouldnt expect
you to own the whole hog some of it cost's a bomb.

I wouldn't have mentioned the things that can go wrong with tubes if they
were very uncommon. They're more common than a chain breaking for a
start.
Sadly, valves coming off inner tubes is quite a common problem now after
millions of tubes of various brands were poorly manufactured. And I've
had more irrepairable rips & slashes in tubes than slashed tyres (although
I also recommend carrying a Park Tyre Boot: I forgot that one).
By the way, a chain is extremely unlikely to break if it's a good
quality one and has only been joined with a powerlink.

On the other hand, all this talk of puncture repairing must seem well over
the top to those who have only used very tough thick tyres, who would have
experienced very few punctures in their life, perhaps none. It's a
different story with lighter tyres (and tubes). Nevertheless, everyone
might as well carry a tube & puncture kit, if nothing else, as fixing a
flat is an easier job than fixing a lot of other things that can go wrong
on a bike.

~PB

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

Quoted message said:

No accessories are essential, but if you wish to cycle after dark,
wish to carry luggage and wish to stay clean, then lights and
mudguards *are* desirable.

'cept maybe a pump, tyre levers and repair outfit and perhaps maybe a
seatpack to carry them (although you can stuff them in a jersey pocket,
assuming suitable jersey of course).

And seeing as it's April 1st maybe a bell for peds who find a cyclist
calling "Good morning/afternoon/evening" offensive.
A h*lmet to save your life.
A pair of b*bshorts so you can build a patio for the summer after cycle
touring Norfolk.

Pete