What new bike? mountain/hybrid?

[272BHP]

My wife took my 4yr old Felt ~£300 new mountain bike to the station on Friday and as mine had a £5 lock it was no real surprise that it was not there when she got back.

So I am on the lookout for a new bike now and as I am not a bike enthusiast but like buying quality gear I am deciding what to buy next.

I only cycle around town on cycling routes - I cross quite a few roads and green space and towpaths. As a family we ride around local forests a few times a year but always on tracks and only in the dry. I am thinking that a suspension fork is not required. I know I sound like a gentle cyclist but I do like to power up hills when I am on my own and test my fitness.

My 5yr old has an Isla bikes CNOC 16 and it is a fantastic little thing and I notice they do an adults bike BEINN 29 that sounds perfect at first glance - it has an eight speed twist shift which I like the idea of, I never changed the front cog on my old bike, I just left it in 2 and pedalled harder up hills!


http://www.islabikes.co.uk/bike_pages/beinn29.html

I tried on a Trek 7.5 in the local cycling shop and was really impressed but at £700 that is pushing my budget to be honest.

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/trek/75-fx-201...

Anybody any other suggestions?

[pembo]

I've never really got on with grip shift, they feel a little clumsy and get in the way a bit but that's only my opinion.

If I were in your boat I'd be looking at this, I'd never heard of Commencal before but having owned mine for the last year I really like it and this looks like a decent deal:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?Mod...

[272BHP]

Good find!

We know about Commencal actually, my wife had one for 2 years before that was stolen from another train station. I used to use it for short journeys to the corner shop but as it was an xs size so it was pretty uncomfortable! seemed like a really good bike. I will have a closer look at the link you sent - thanks.

[Justin Cyder]

I'm using a Boardman comp for commuting & it's better spec & value than either of those bikes. It's Halfords only for those & if you hang on, they often discount them. Mine was £450 & comes with cable disk brakes & Sram X5.

[272BHP]

I keep hearing that the Boardman bikes are good value I might have to investigate a store near me.

My Wife cannot understand my decision to get a hybrid rather than an out and out mountain bike, she is adamant that they would not be able to handle forest trails - I find this funny and exasperating at the same time as we have never gone over anything more demanding than a bit of dried mud! she is determined to get another mountain bike even though 90% of her riding is a hilly road commute!

[Justin Cyder]

The Boardman is a bit of a bone shaker on the roads if I'm honest. No suspension & it's on 700's - there's not a lot of give in it. It might just be me. I spent two years on a comfy Rockhopper before swapping over. That thing is like a two wheeled sofa by comparison.

[mfmman]

I have ridden a Specialized Hybrid for the last twelve months. Ridden on bumpy cycle routes and a few forest trails. I changed the tyres for something more road suitable (Schwalbe Marathon Plus) as that was the direction I preferred but the bike itself has been comfortable enough to do a few 50+ mile club runs as well.

Mine is the previous version of this

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/cr...

[Mr2Mike]

I've just swapped from a Specialized Hardrock to a hybrid, and even though the mountain bike had fairly road friendly tyres on it, the hybrid feels much faster and nicer to use on road.

If you want a decent quality bike at a reasonable price, then the Merida Crossway series is hard to beat IMO.

[Cupramax]

mfmman said:

I have ridden a Specialized Hybrid for the last twelve months. Ridden on bumpy cycle routes and a few forest trails. I changed the tyres for something more road suitable (Schwalbe Marathon Plus) as that was the direction I preferred but the bike itself has been comfortable enough to do a few 50+ mile club runs as well.

Mine is the previous version of this

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/cr...

Ive got one of these, excellent apart from the forks which broke (cracked across the brace due to a casting fault) but were replaced without question.

[mfmman]

Cupramax said:

mfmman said:

I have ridden a Specialized Hybrid for the last twelve months. Ridden on bumpy cycle routes and a few forest trails. I changed the tyres for something more road suitable (Schwalbe Marathon Plus) as that was the direction I preferred but the bike itself has been comfortable enough to do a few 50+ mile club runs as well.

Mine is the previous version of this

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/cr...

Ive got one of these, excellent apart from the forks which broke (cracked across the brace due to a casting fault) but were replaced without question.

Mine went rusty on the chrome, much to-ing and fro-ing with the shop. "up to Specialized, not us" wrong!, "you must have not cleaned them" wrong, as only one leg is rusty not both, "you must have cleaned them with something too agressive" wrong, see previous answer. Gave up in the end but guess where this years grands worth of C2W voucher won't be going