General advice please (UK)

Hi,

I'm thinking of buying a new bike, and would like some general buying
advice. I currently have an ancient moutain bike with 21 gears - basic. My
riding is probably 50 miles a week at most, with a mixture of 50% off road
and 50% on road.

I've been looking at off roaders with suspension. I'm looking to spend a
minimum for something decent - maximum budget is probably £150ish.

OK, the assistant in Halfords (who was about 10) basically suggested all the
bikes with a big price tag. I accept that the really cheap ones are probably
best avoided, but would something around the £120 mark be suitable for the
miles/terrain I plan on doing?

Any advice appreciated - thanks,

David

For more UK-specific advice, try uk.rec.cycling

Consider going to your local (non-Halfords) cycle shop. From what I
saw, Halfords bikes will be awfully heavy, and you can probably get
something better at the local bike shop. Even the Evans Cycles chain
will serve awfully well (but then, I used to live around the corner
from their main shop in The Cut in SE1)

A hundred and twenty squid might not be enough; figure two hundred
pounds for a good-quality cycle, and look from there.

What precisely is wrong with your present bike, anyway?

-Luigi

OK, the assistant in Halfords (who was about 10) basically suggested all the
bikes with a big price tag. I accept that the really cheap ones are probably
best avoided, but would something around the £120 mark be suitable for the
miles/terrain I plan on doing?

Posted and emailed...

Please avoid buying a bike from H*lf*rds if possible. Honestly, experience
shows they can too often be more hassle than they are worth due to naff quality
control.

Have a pop over to uk.rec.cycling and post there - you'll get mucho inofrmatin
from a UK-specific cycling newsgroup.

Consider also

http://www.edinburgh-bicycle.co.uk/

Edinburgh Bicycle consistently gets good write-ups for budget bikes.

Don't consider suspension on a bike for anything less than about £500 - if you
spend less & get suspension what you'll get is cheap, nasty and not likely to
last. Honest. And if you are doing on-road, you really, really, really don't
require suspension on road. And for your budget, any suspension for off-road
will be cr*p. Honest.

If you think you really must have suspension, your budget means that you'll
only be able to get anything decent if you go the second-hand route.

Also - what's wrong with your current bike? Old does not necessarily mean crap
if the bike has been well-maintained. Indeed an old well-maintained bike can be
of better quality than a new, cheapo cr*p MTB with cr*p suspension. Have you
thought about the possibility of upgrading your current bike with newer, better
quality components?

Another consideration, how about a hybrid?

Just my £0.02 to hopefullyu give you something to think about.




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On Thu, 24 Jun 2004 12:37:15 -0400, Luigi de Guzman
wrote:



For more UK-specific advice, try uk.rec.cycling

Consider going to your local (non-Halfords) cycle shop. From what I
saw, Halfords bikes will be awfully heavy, and you can probably get
something better at the local bike shop. Even the Evans Cycles chain
will serve awfully well (but then, I used to live around the corner
from their main shop in The Cut in SE1)

A hundred and twenty squid might not be enough; figure two hundred
pounds for a good-quality cycle, and look from there.

yah, but only if the seller was a sea-food lover, eh?

-B



What precisely is wrong with your present bike, anyway?

-Luigi

Thanks all - I have posted to uk.rec.cycling too.

Consider going to your local (non-Halfords) cycle shop. From what I
saw, Halfords bikes will be awfully heavy, and you can probably get
something better at the local bike shop.

I will certainly have a look at the "proper" shops

What precisely is wrong with your present bike, anyway?

I haven't ridden for at least two decades, then when the kids started
getting bikes/scooters I needed a means of rounding 'em up as they will go
off in separate directions all the time. I didn't want to spend a fortune,
so picked up one from free-ads for £30, and I found myself really enjoying
cycling. So, as it's pretty battered, and to be honest the frame is
slightly too big for me then I decided that a new bike would cheer me up, as
I've just been made redundant.

David

"David" wrote in message
...

What precisely is wrong with your present bike, anyway?

I haven't ridden for at least two decades, then when the kids started
getting bikes/scooters I needed a means of rounding 'em up as they will go
off in separate directions all the time. I didn't want to spend a fortune,
so picked up one from free-ads for £30, and I found myself really enjoying
cycling. So, as it's pretty battered, and to be honest the frame is
slightly too big for me then I decided that a new bike would cheer me up,
as
I've just been made redundant.

I'm not from the U.K. and so I have no specific advice to give, but those
sound like pretty darned good reasons. Good luck.

--
---
Mike Kruger
Blog: http://journals.aol.com/mikekr/ZbicyclistsZlog/