I won £200...

[scottri]

Actually, it wasn't me that won, it was my Mum, but since its me that rides bikes i've been given the prize - whoop!

The prize is a bike worth up to £200, or £200 off any bike in a LBS. It can't be spent on accessories or i'd have put it towards a Garmin Edge 800.

I've not been in the shop before and their website doesn't list specific bikes in stock but it does tell me which brands they sell - Orbea, Dawes, GT, Charge, NS Bikes, DMR, & Mongoose bikes.

I have a Orange P7 MTB and a old Raleigh for pub/station trips. I'm happy to add, say £100-£150 to the budget to get something a bit better, but i'm still a long way off the bikes i'd been looking at buying a few weeks ago. Those were £1k but then sense kicked in and the purchase was delayed...

Given the limited budget what do you guys suggest? Happy to consider anything, Road, Single speed, cruiser type things...

Thanks!

[P-Jay]

Hmmm, £350 might get you onto one of the more basic GT Hardtails, they're pretty good, my OH loves hers!

Worth hanging on until you can spare another £300? £500 is where the HT bikes start getting into their stride.

[scottri]

P-Jay said:

Hmmm, £350 might get you onto one of the more basic GT Hardtails, they're pretty good, my OH loves hers!

Worth hanging on until you can spare another £300? £500 is where the HT bikes start getting into their stride.

Yeah, this is the dilemma, I know I need to spend more to get something good and can't see much point in getting a average hardtail when I have my P7, although its old, I have put some nice XT stuff on it over the years.

I don't really want to get something from the shop for £200 and sell it, just doesn't seem in the spirit of his competition (2 years in business). I'd never heard of Charge, NS Bikes or DMR before today - i've had a look online and the range does seem to offer some 'different' stuff - single speed etc so maybe i'll find something which interests me within the budget.

I guess I could put some more cash into it, however, i'd decided not to buy anything for the next 5-6 months and 'winning' this £200 seems to be costing me £200-£300

[P-Jay]

Charge are a pretty cool UK company, they make 'faddy' stuff like you say, steel frames, single speeds, hub gears etc. NS I don't know much about, DMR are a BMX company really.

P7 is a pretty cool bike, could you drop the £200 on some sort of upgrade, would some new brakes or fork work?

[scottri]

Yeah, i'd like some new forks or a front disc set up - I'll have a chat with the owner about upgraded components for my Orange. He did say no to accessories but i'm not sure how he'd feel about components... i suspect he'll say no to that.

I'll check out the Charge range when I get over to have a look - or maybe i should get a BMX for a laugh!