I want to ride your bicycle...........
Discussion
I'm thinking of buying a pedal bike as I seem to be doing quite a lot of short journeys these days which are not good for the car.
Has anyone locally got a men's bike I can borrow for a few days to check out if I am really still capable of negotiating the hills of Market harborough before I splash out and buy one?
Has anyone locally got a men's bike I can borrow for a few days to check out if I am really still capable of negotiating the hills of Market harborough before I splash out and buy one?
justinbaker said:
Alan - Glovers has a full supension outfit second hand for £25. Come and ride round Pitsford, the bikes can be thrown in the back of the van! Good fun too. Dead easy. you will be fine honestly. You will feel bettr after riding it the once. - JB
Cheap full suspension bike? That'll break the van!Get on ebay and buy a decent brand without full suspension, forks if you must but for road riding suspension is bad news unless very expensive.
The_Burg said:
justinbaker said:
Alan - Glovers has a full supension outfit second hand for £25. Come and ride round Pitsford, the bikes can be thrown in the back of the van! Good fun too. Dead easy. you will be fine honestly. You will feel bettr after riding it the once. - JB
Cheap full suspension bike? That'll break the van!Get on ebay and buy a decent brand without full suspension, forks if you must but for road riding suspension is bad news unless very expensive.
tyre_tread said:
The_Burg said:
justinbaker said:
Alan - Glovers has a full supension outfit second hand for £25. Come and ride round Pitsford, the bikes can be thrown in the back of the van! Good fun too. Dead easy. you will be fine honestly. You will feel bettr after riding it the once. - JB
Cheap full suspension bike? That'll break the van!Get on ebay and buy a decent brand without full suspension, forks if you must but for road riding suspension is bad news unless very expensive.
tyre_tread said:
central said:
Alan, have you seen the pedal powered forum?
Can't say that i have - we can chat about it at the TP in a few mins - see you there!Edited by tyre_tread on Thursday 2nd August 12:46
Anyway, thanks for the comments and I'll def steer clear of cheapo full suspension bikes.
If you 'must' have suspension, then front only (personally, on a budget bike, I'd rather have a decentish groupset in preference as that will work nicer/last longer and the bike will weigh less, which is important), and think long and hard about whether you 'really' need an MTB... there are some good 'hybrids' about (upright road bikes with narrower but still chunky tyres etc) that for everyday use, including reservoir bashing, will be more pleasurable to use. If you 'must' go down the MTB route, stick 1" tyres on it anyway as the rolling resistance will be way less. Oh, and make sure you have the saddle high enough... no-one ever does and it makes a huge difference to pedalling efficiency/comfort etc
Seriously think about investing in an SPD (or similar) clipless pedal/shoe system and get used to using it... with decent technique, will double your efficiency on its own.
On a budget, I'd go for a tig-welded steel (cro-mo) frame over ally every time, avoid disc brakes, go for rapid-fire (rather than grip-shift) gear actuators, and go for a known brand (Specialized always did some good stuff at the lower end, but Giant, GT etc are worth a look too. Look out for reasonable alloy components (hubs, mechs, levers etc) as opposed to nasty pressed steel poo
The shop on Rockingham Road, Corby is well worth a squint (used to be Bob Mitchell), where the flats are, ask for Adam or Craig and say I sent you
Tell them I'm training again if that helps (I'm not!)
Seriously think about investing in an SPD (or similar) clipless pedal/shoe system and get used to using it... with decent technique, will double your efficiency on its own.
On a budget, I'd go for a tig-welded steel (cro-mo) frame over ally every time, avoid disc brakes, go for rapid-fire (rather than grip-shift) gear actuators, and go for a known brand (Specialized always did some good stuff at the lower end, but Giant, GT etc are worth a look too. Look out for reasonable alloy components (hubs, mechs, levers etc) as opposed to nasty pressed steel poo
The shop on Rockingham Road, Corby is well worth a squint (used to be Bob Mitchell), where the flats are, ask for Adam or Craig and say I sent you
Tell them I'm training again if that helps (I'm not!)
I didn't realis ether was so much to buying a push iron these days. When i were a lad you just bought a bike and rode it. 10 gears was a luxury!
Matt172, I sort of had about £100 in my head as a ball park figure as I don't know how much I'll use it. Once I'm sure I can enjoy it a bit then i might trade up.
Pupp - As always there's a hell of a lot of info in that post and all makes sense.
Sensa, I'd love to borrow it for a day or so as I just want to try before i buy as it were. I can always leave you my Tiv as security - well, maybe not but we can organise something. I'll PM you.
Matt172, I sort of had about £100 in my head as a ball park figure as I don't know how much I'll use it. Once I'm sure I can enjoy it a bit then i might trade up.
Pupp - As always there's a hell of a lot of info in that post and all makes sense.
Sensa, I'd love to borrow it for a day or so as I just want to try before i buy as it were. I can always leave you my Tiv as security - well, maybe not but we can organise something. I'll PM you.
GLOVERS!tyre_tread said:
Sensa, I'd love to borrow it for a day or so as I just want to try before i buy as it were. I can always leave you my Tiv as security - well, maybe not but we can organise something. I'll PM you.
Ok no worries. I work funny hours so I may not reply immediately. Also, how does one know when one has recieved a PM?
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