Recommendation Needed for a cycling newbie

I am looking for what will basically be my first bike (apart from when I was
young - im now coming up to 30!) and am looking for recommendations.

I have been to Halfords and spotted an Apollo Excelle for ladies which
either works out at £149 or £99 depending on which model I would want (or so
i'm told by the very helpful lad working there for a minimum wage.)

I would like a mountain bike as I wouldnt want to be restricted to just road
riding but im not sure whether all the bikes with suspension and stuff are
better than those without - any ideas?

I would like to spend around £150 at most really.

Could anyone here point me in the right direction?

Many thanks

Sandra Luney

"Sandi Luney" wrote in message
...
I am looking for what will basically be my first bike (apart from when I
was
young - im now coming up to 30!) and am looking for recommendations.

I have been to Halfords and spotted an Apollo Excelle for ladies which
either works out at £149 or £99 depending on which model I would want (or
so
i'm told by the very helpful lad working there for a minimum wage.)

I would like a mountain bike as I wouldnt want to be restricted to just
road
riding but im not sure whether all the bikes with suspension and stuff are
better than those without - any ideas?

I would like to spend around £150 at most really.

Could anyone here point me in the right direction?

Many thanks

Sandra Luney


Have a look at Edinburgh Bicycle. A good selection at their online site
and good prices too. Good luck.

Graham

I am looking for what will basically be my first bike (apart from when I was
young - im now coming up to 30!) and am looking for recommendations.

You're a mere babe in arms ;-)

I have been to Halfords and spotted an Apollo Excelle for ladies which
either works out at £149 or £99 depending on which model I would want (or so
i'm told by the very helpful lad working there for a minimum wage.)

Personally, I won't buy a bike from Halfords ever again. Bought the offspring a
basic MTB there and it went back a few times. Even had to point out to the nice
lad on minimum wage why things were wrong (so darned obvious that even this
non-technical bike user could spot it, but nice lad on minimum wage couldn't).

I would like a mountain bike as I wouldnt want to be restricted to just road
riding but im not sure whether all the bikes with suspension and stuff are
better than those without - any ideas?

Have a think about a hybrid. MTBs are not ideal for on road - but you can swap
knobbly tyres for those more suitable for on road.

I would like to spend around £150 at most really.

For that budget don't even consider any suspension bits. Suspension bikes that
are good cost oodles of toonas, a lot more than £150. You'd get more bike for
your money if you go without cheap & nasty suspension bits and for your
budget, sadly that's what you'd get. Sadly, these days £150 isn't going to get
you much by way of a decent new bike.

Think about a second-hand bike - especially if you've got access to someone who
can help you choose wisely.

If you are going to do a mixture of road & light off-road, I'd suggest a hybrid
(cross between a MTB and a road bike).

Have a look at the bikes at

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

Best of luck, helen s



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in message , Sandi Luney
') wrote:

I am looking for what will basically be my first bike (apart from when
I was young - im now coming up to 30!) and am looking for
recommendations.

I have been to Halfords and spotted an Apollo Excelle for ladies which
either works out at £149 or £99 depending on which model I would want
(or so i'm told by the very helpful lad working there for a minimum
wage.)

If this is all you can afford look at what is available second hand
locally - try the free ads in your local paper or the 'customers'
advertisments' board in your local supermarket. New bikes at this price
are usually not worth buying.

I would like a mountain bike as I wouldnt want to be restricted to
just road riding but im not sure whether all the bikes with suspension
and stuff are better than those without - any ideas?

Any bike with front suspension less than about £300, or full suspension
less than about £1,000, is a bit suspect. Good suspension components
are expensive, and cheap ones are both very poor and very heavy. Weight
makes a huge difference to riding a bike, particularly off road and up
hills.

You also don't need suspension to ride off road, although if the track
is very rough it does make things more comfortable.

You don't say where in the country you are, but Edinburgh Bicycle Co-op
do a number of low price own-brand bikes which have a reasonable
reputation. Their 'Coast' model is a womens-geometry bike (shorter top
tube, which reflects the fact that women typically have proportionally
longer legs) for £215, and that's probably about as cheap as you'll get
a new bike that's worth buying.

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

--
(Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

Sandi Luney wrote:
I am looking for what will basically be my first bike (apart from
when I was young - im now coming up to 30!) and am looking for
recommendations.

I have been to Halfords and spotted an Apollo Excelle for ladies which
either works out at £149 or £99 depending on which model I would want
(or so i'm told by the very helpful lad working there for a minimum
wage.)

I've just looked it up. Full suspension for £109 - run a mile. The cheapest
new suspension fork I can find is £100 for something with a brand name, and
a decent mountain bike with front suspension costs about £250 minimum. At
that £100 for the whole bike, the suspension will be useless or worse than
(think bouncing up and down as you pedal, or rock hard). It'll also be very,
very heavy compared to a normal bike.

IME Halfords branches can be good, and others can be bad. My local one has a
bloke who's obviously into his biking and seems to understand the technical
side of these things more than I do. OTOH, I went into a Halfords in Norwich
today and the staff knew less than I did, and I've only been cycling a month
or so. Your local bike shop might have more knowledgeable staff, but they
also tend to be selling more expensive bikes

I would like a mountain bike as I wouldnt want to be restricted to
just road riding but im not sure whether all the bikes with
suspension and stuff are better than those without - any ideas?

Bear in mind that people managed actually riding up and down mountains for a
good few years before they started making suspension bikes, so there's no
need for it on the usual track through the woods type of off road riding
most people do. As other people have said, go for a hybrid (basically looks
similar to a mountain bike but is designed more for the road) or mountain
bike without suspension. If you get a mountain bike, swapping the tyres for
slicks or semi slicks will make a big difference to what road riding is
like, but obviously it reduces your ability on stuff like mud and wet grass.
As long as you don't buy a road race bike (narrow wheels, drop bars and so
on), you should be able to manage most terrain.

I would like to spend around £150 at most really.

Could anyone here point me in the right direction?

In Halfords, something like their "Town and Country" bikes. I'd try your
local bike shops and tell them what sort of riding you'll be doing rather
than just looking at what Halfords have, what I've seen of their stock is
that it's mainly limited to their Apollo bikes. A basic rigid frame bike
will be a lot lighter and the other parts of the bike will be better quality
than a front or full suspension bike at anything like the same price. I
reckon if you buy something with full suspension and knobbly tyres it'll end
up in the back of the garage in a few weeks as it'll just be hard work to
ride.

You'll also probably want to swap the saddle on one of the Halfords bikes if
you start doing any rides of a decent distance. The ones I saw today seemed
to be of the big and squidgy variety, whereas it's pretty universally agreed
that what you want is a fairly hard saddle that presses on your "sit bones"
which are the bits of your pelvis that are meant to take you weight when you
sit down. A hard saddle does take some getting used to though, and cycling
shorts / undies do make a big difference, as does more riding to get used to
it.

In article , Simon
Brooke wrote:
Any bike with front suspension less than about £300, or full
suspension less than about £1,000, is a bit suspect.

Normally but not always - I regularly buy "end of runs" or "last
years model" or *I don't know who picked that paint job" for very
little but I do have to buy them as part of a job lot - I recently
bought 2 alu. mtb frames for a fiver - not each!
However if I am selling these I only put on my normal mark up. I had
some very nice Concept front suspension bikes which I was selling for
£125 - normal trade was nearer £500.

Good suspension components are expensive, and cheap ones are both
very poor and very heavy.

As above - normally but not always - bankrupt or clearance sales can
yield some little gems. I recently bought some bundles of Conti
tyres for a fiver a bundle and a boxful of brake levers - some
hydraulic - for a fiver.

Weight makes a huge difference to riding a bike, particularly off
road and up hills.

Unfortunately very true but in my case it ain't the bike that is the
weight :-((

Go to your LBS and ask for advice which will almost always be freely
given - if you buy your bike locally you will have a return point if
anything goes wrong - you will probably get a discount on anything
else you buy. I don't expect you to come to me but I've only been
selling/hiring bikes for about 40 years so I've still got a lot to
learn.

--
A T (Sandy) Morton
on the Bicycle Island
In the Global Village
http://www.millport.net

In article , Doki
wrote:
I reckon if you buy something with full suspension and knobbly
tyres it'll end up in the back of the garage in a few weeks as
it'll just be hard work to ride.

Almost very OT but speaking to our local doctor today it seems that
the average used life of an exercise bike is TWO hours!

--
A T (Sandy) Morton
on the Bicycle Island
In the Global Village
http://www.millport.net

Sandy Morton wrote:
In article , Doki
wrote:
I reckon if you buy something with full suspension and knobbly
tyres it'll end up in the back of the garage in a few weeks as
it'll just be hard work to ride.

Almost very OT but speaking to our local doctor today it seems that
the average used life of an exercise bike is TWO hours!

I can well believe it. When I was on my bike the other day I thought
something very similar. Riding a bike down hills like a nutcase is exciting,
and riding to places is enjoyable. Riding a bike in your front room is just
boring and knackering...

Hello

I have similarly only just returned to cycling, am a little older tha
you and can recommend it, cycling that is not age

I used this forum for advice and have ended up with a hybrid - Mari
Kentfield - and am very happy with it - (apart from still working o
adjusting the fit/comfort). I am using it on muddy B roads and track
with steep hills mainly for commute but also just because. I haven'
found it wanting and am glad I have not gone down the unneccesary MT
route. If I were to choose again I may just look for something with
bigger top cog but that's all

From what I can work out the average mtb owner you see on the road i
the biking equivalent of the 4WD owner - fully capable of invading Ira
but only goes to Tescos

I was concerned about grip and climbing beforehand but have cornere
fast on gravel and cow pat without coming off on my relatively narro
tyres and have got up my steep hills by spinning in 1st so unless yo
really need the all terrain tires & suspension of an MTB go for sometin
more appropriate. Suspension adds weight, big tyres add resistance s
overall you end up going slower

I reckon finding a proper LBS (hate Halfords and all they stand for) an
seeing what they have in stock and going for test rides should be you
next move. Try before you buy and do distance on your test bike is m
advice & if the bike shop objects stuff 'em

Regards Fat La


-

"Sandy Morton" wrote in message
...

Almost very OT but speaking to our local doctor today it seems that
the average used life of an exercise bike is TWO hours!

A T (Sandy) Morton
on the Bicycle Island
In the Global Village
http://www.millport.net

Maybe. However, it'll feel like two years.
I gave mine to the local charity shop.
Paul.