Spec me a bike, bitches!

[Joose]

I've been meaning to get a new bike for a sodding age, and it looks like I *might* be able to afford actually doing that this month if I can keep my spending under control. My old bike completely fell to pieces a long time ago, and has been gotten rid of now.

I'm looking to spend maybe £200 ish, and was looking at one of those Hybrid ones, as although I'm highly unlikely to go down a mountain on it there is a good chance I would take it on tracks and the like, so a full on road bike isn't really an option. I'd like to go new rather than the ebay route, just so I know I'm not getting something that looks fine but is actually all fucked up.

Trouble is, beyond that I am utterly clueless. I haven't looked properly at bicycles for about 15 years. Halp.

[Sheriff Fatman]

The blunt truth is that a £200 hybrid will be next to useless. I'm not a fan of hybrids anyway, but trying to get a cheaper one is the road to failure. If you think you will be using it off-road, buy a mountain bike; if you don't plan to use it off-road, buy a road bike. If you aren't sure, buy a mountain bike and adapt it for road use. Don't make the mistake of pretending to be a road biker, or an off-road biker; ask yourself what you are going to use it for, and purchase accordingly. Hybrids are fucking shite.

Have a look at Evans Cycles. They aren't the best company, but they have a huge range which will let you have a poke about and see which bike suits you best. From there, get down to your local bike shop and see which grod fits you best.

[Dr. kitteny berk]

I'd honestly avoid a hybrid thing, they usually have very slack geometry and ride a little like a ferry, they're okay for pottering, but if you actually like to go about 10mph, they're a bit unsuitable for everything.

I'm personally not the clued up on road bikes, that and I'm too hard on bikes to bother looking at them, so I'd go with an mtb, as they can handle a little more abuse, and around mountsorrel there's a lot of decent off road fun for little effort.

At £200 or so, I'd go for a hardtail (only front suspension) expect a steel frame and nothing too special, also look for a 1 1/8th headset, rather than a threaded headset. (Quill stem bad, threadless good). additionally, at this price disc brakes are a waste of money, as they'll not be great and reduce the quality of other components to pay for em.

If you're buying new, your selection will be pretty limited.

This doesn't look bad, even if the frame design is a little kooky (i'd expect it to crack on the seattube brace if you abuse it)

As much as I hate myself for suggesting it, This doesn't look awful as a starter bike, it'll do A-B the fun ways if you want, nowt amazing, but as good as anything.

Saying that, I'd stretch my budget to This, as it's a nicely designed frame, is specced sensibly (nicer gears rather than shit disc brakes)

[Dr. kitteny berk]

If you aren't sure, buy a mountain bike and adapt it for road use. Don't make the mistake of pretending to be a road biker, or an off-road biker; ask yourself what you are going to use it for, and purchase accordingly. Hybrids are fucking shite.

This.

A pair of slicks will run you less than £30, and make bikes fly on tarmac. I personally used to use a fill slick on the back and a Semi slick on the front, as it stops the bike going from under you when you're going too fast in standing water.


Oh yeah, and there's a bike recycling shop in Leicester, you might get an alright deal there, I wouldn't even touch julies. pedal power in loughborough, up near sainsburys (I think) used to be really good, might give you a bit of wiggle room if you pay cash, and will certainly let you have a test ride.

[Dog Pants]

I had a GT once. I loved it, then my dad swapped it for a Kona. Which was also good, but it wasn't my GT.

[FatherJack]

I don't know anything about bikes, but it strikes me that a mountain bike works on mountains and roads, where the same isn't true for a road bike. I looked at some bikes in Halfords with disc brakes and they looked a bit shoddy - like circular pieces of tin foil that wouldn't stand up to much, the bikes in the Tour De France all seemed to have normal rim brakes.

[Joose]

That budget stretcher Berk suggests looks nice, I may go for that if money allows.

MOAR KWESHCUNS!

Have a look at Evans Cycles. They aren't the best company.

Any particular reason why? Are they just dicks to deal with, or is it that there might be problems with the bike? They are close to the cheapest option for that bike according to google, and they do free delivery (and I'm lazy).

With the road/mountain bike, slicks/not slicks thing: I'm probably going to spend 90% of my time on roads, but I'm absolutely certain that it wont be 100%, or I would just go for a road bike. Mountain bike with slicks sounds like a sensible bet, but for those times when I'm not on the road, would I definitely need to take the slicks off? When I say off road I'm talking fairly smooth dirt path for the most part, not rock-strewn hillside. If I do need to swap em, how easy is that to do?

Finally, any extra bits I'll need? Stuff for maintenance, etc? Beyond a bike-lock I have no idea what else I might need.

[Dr. kitteny berk]

If you wanna avoid effort, get some semi slick tyres, they'll be faster than knobby tyres on the road, but will still handle some off road type behaviour.

Tyres are simple to swap, but can be reluctant, only a 5 minute job though.


Tools wise, I'd go with a good (park tools) folding allen key set, a small pump (for when you're out) a set of plastic Tyre levers, an 8mm allen key and not much else. puncture repair kit is handy, but it's so much easier to carry a spare tube.

Oh yeah, and a helmet can't hurt, they make you less likely to die if a Volvo pounces on you.

[fabyak]

The blunt truth is that a £200 hybrid will be next to useless. I'm not a fan of hybrids anyway, but trying to get a cheaper one is the road to failure. If you think you will be using it off-road, buy a mountain bike; if you don't plan to use it off-road, buy a road bike. If you aren't sure, buy a mountain bike and adapt it for road use. Don't make the mistake of pretending to be a road biker, or an off-road biker; ask yourself what you are going to use it for, and purchase accordingly. Hybrids are fucking shite.

Have a look at Evans Cycles. They aren't the best company, but they have a huge range which will let you have a poke about and see which bike suits you best. From there, get down to your local bike shop and see which grod fits you best.

All of this

I've bought shitloads of stuff from www.wiggle.co.uk in the past (accessories and the like, never an actual bike) and they've been really good. My bike came from Evans but I went to the shop in London to pick it up as I don't think they did delivery then (or it would have cost far more than getting to London at the time)

[Sheriff Fatman]

Evans are perfectly reputable and, to be honest, they will probably suit your needs very well. My reasons for not being their biggest fan is simply that I would prefer a smaller, more specialised shop where you can actually get on the bike and see how it feels.