Complete newbie looking at dipping a toe in...
Discussion
Hi all,
Given that it would appear that running is destroying my knees I am looking into taking up cycling. A bit of research has shown me that a Hybrid is what I'm after - mostly road riding with maybe a bit of recreational towpath/off-road things with the family, and possibly some commuting. On a purely aesthetic basis, something not too mumsy.
My dad has a Claud Butler Urban 200 which looked the sort of thing but they seem to be unavailable now.
Budget is £250 (already had a little budget creep!).
I am happy to go second hand, but the issue seems to be finding something in the right size that's not on the other side of the country. If it takes half a day and £50 in fuel to collect I might as well spend that on the bike.
Doing a bit of looking around I have seen:
Claud Butler Urban (200) - unavailable
Pinnacle Neon 1 - seen one nearby secondhand that looked ok, don't know anything about them.
Trek FX1 - look nice but out of budget at £350 and no second hand ones I can see.
Carrera Subway 1 - mostly decent reviews and I like the look, current model has disc brakes. It's Halfords though which rings alarm bells, but £240 seems good.
Reid Blacktop - looks OK, hub gears but only 3 speeds.
Ultimately will probably add mudguards/rack but not needed now..
Looking for a bit of guidance. Will Carrera Subway 1 ultimately be crap and I will regret not finding the extra £110 for the Trek FX1? Keen to avoid too much budget creep as I have no idea if I will stick with it.
FWIW I am about 6'1" so I think a 20" frame is about right.
Thanks in advance!
Given that it would appear that running is destroying my knees I am looking into taking up cycling. A bit of research has shown me that a Hybrid is what I'm after - mostly road riding with maybe a bit of recreational towpath/off-road things with the family, and possibly some commuting. On a purely aesthetic basis, something not too mumsy.
My dad has a Claud Butler Urban 200 which looked the sort of thing but they seem to be unavailable now.
Budget is £250 (already had a little budget creep!).
I am happy to go second hand, but the issue seems to be finding something in the right size that's not on the other side of the country. If it takes half a day and £50 in fuel to collect I might as well spend that on the bike.
Doing a bit of looking around I have seen:
Claud Butler Urban (200) - unavailable
Pinnacle Neon 1 - seen one nearby secondhand that looked ok, don't know anything about them.
Trek FX1 - look nice but out of budget at £350 and no second hand ones I can see.
Carrera Subway 1 - mostly decent reviews and I like the look, current model has disc brakes. It's Halfords though which rings alarm bells, but £240 seems good.
Reid Blacktop - looks OK, hub gears but only 3 speeds.
Ultimately will probably add mudguards/rack but not needed now..
Looking for a bit of guidance. Will Carrera Subway 1 ultimately be crap and I will regret not finding the extra £110 for the Trek FX1? Keen to avoid too much budget creep as I have no idea if I will stick with it.
FWIW I am about 6'1" so I think a 20" frame is about right.
Thanks in advance!
Edited by NiceCupOfTea on Saturday 11th August 15:31
The Pinnacles and the Carrera Subway are the sort of 'best bets' for a £250 hybrid, but there are plenty of others.
If you have a Decathlon near you they have a stack of hybrids as do Evans. (I ended up with a Decathlon Riverside.)
Halfords set-up is a bit hit and miss as some of their bike mechanics are not over-trained but the Subway is a nice ride.
In any case all bikes need stuff like gear cables adjusted in the first month, brakes fettled and so on, but we have YouTube now so nothing is really tricky for DIY.
Hybrids are kind of do-it-all bikes. The trend for 700c wheels and larger fork clearances for fat tyres raises the stand-over height, so some hybrids might seem taller than you'd think from the frame size - especially if you're used to 26" MTB's. Ride whatever you shortlist around the store first.
If you fancy chucking the bike in the back of the car, something with a Quick Release (QR) wheel on the front is a bonus. Add in a spare tube, pump, three tyre levers and a rear light so them pesky car-drivers can see you. :-)
There will be a lot of online - sale bikes coming up in September/Oct as the 2019 models are released.
If you have a Decathlon near you they have a stack of hybrids as do Evans. (I ended up with a Decathlon Riverside.)
Halfords set-up is a bit hit and miss as some of their bike mechanics are not over-trained but the Subway is a nice ride.
In any case all bikes need stuff like gear cables adjusted in the first month, brakes fettled and so on, but we have YouTube now so nothing is really tricky for DIY.
Hybrids are kind of do-it-all bikes. The trend for 700c wheels and larger fork clearances for fat tyres raises the stand-over height, so some hybrids might seem taller than you'd think from the frame size - especially if you're used to 26" MTB's. Ride whatever you shortlist around the store first.
If you fancy chucking the bike in the back of the car, something with a Quick Release (QR) wheel on the front is a bonus. Add in a spare tube, pump, three tyre levers and a rear light so them pesky car-drivers can see you. :-)
There will be a lot of online - sale bikes coming up in September/Oct as the 2019 models are released.
Edited by Slushbox on Saturday 11th August 16:09
Thanks guys. Appreciate the advice. Really want to buy now before weather turns and get a few family rides done during the summer...
Been doing exhaustive research. Halfords, Evans, Cycle Republic, seem to have a good range but get poo-pooed in general for variable setup. Local bike shops seem to deal with a smaller range and locally to me they are more high end. Also inevitably more expensive.for similar things. Decathlon seems to be B'Twin only as far as I can see.
I'm thinking 21 speeds ish rather than 7 (and single front sprocket). Disc brakes might be nice. Fitting holes for mudguards a necessity.
Think the next step is a wander around Halfords and possibly Cycle Republic, and a vistlit to my local shop, Bromley Cycle Company. Sit on a few.
Current list under consideration:
Claud Butler Urban 200 (discontinued I think)
Pinnacle Neon 1
Pinnacle Lithium 2
Trek FX1 (other models?)
Carrera Subway 1 / 2
Carrera Gryphon (still made new?)
Voodoo Marasa
Specialized Sirrus
Giant Escape 3
Been doing exhaustive research. Halfords, Evans, Cycle Republic, seem to have a good range but get poo-pooed in general for variable setup. Local bike shops seem to deal with a smaller range and locally to me they are more high end. Also inevitably more expensive.for similar things. Decathlon seems to be B'Twin only as far as I can see.
I'm thinking 21 speeds ish rather than 7 (and single front sprocket). Disc brakes might be nice. Fitting holes for mudguards a necessity.
Think the next step is a wander around Halfords and possibly Cycle Republic, and a vistlit to my local shop, Bromley Cycle Company. Sit on a few.
Current list under consideration:
Claud Butler Urban 200 (discontinued I think)
Pinnacle Neon 1
Pinnacle Lithium 2
Trek FX1 (other models?)
Carrera Subway 1 / 2
Carrera Gryphon (still made new?)
Voodoo Marasa
Specialized Sirrus
Giant Escape 3
I have a Voodoobut no idea of the model. It’s sitting in the garage rarely going anywhere because I have replaced it with a cyclo cross.
If your cycling is going to be road and the occasional canal path or cinder track you probably need something more cyclo cross orientated. You want to be avoiding big fat tyres and probably having road gearing rather than mountain bike gearing.
You can of course change the tyres easily for ones designed more for the road, changing gearing is more difficult.
If your cycling is going to be road and the occasional canal path or cinder track you probably need something more cyclo cross orientated. You want to be avoiding big fat tyres and probably having road gearing rather than mountain bike gearing.
You can of course change the tyres easily for ones designed more for the road, changing gearing is more difficult.
BoRED S2upid said:
Delete carerra off your list I made that mistake through the cycle to work it was in the skip within 2 years you can do better.
Why's that, out of interest?I had a Carrera Fury for 10k miles and it was a brilliant bike (apart from the headsets being made of cheese).
Chrisgr31 said:
I have a Voodoobut no idea of the model. It’s sitting in the garage rarely going anywhere because I have replaced it with a cyclo cross.
If your cycling is going to be road and the occasional canal path or cinder track you probably need something more cyclo cross orientated. You want to be avoiding big fat tyres and probably having road gearing rather than mountain bike gearing.
You can of course change the tyres easily for ones designed more for the road, changing gearing is more difficult.
Not sure I'll find anything that specialised in my price range, but thanks. I am conscious that I need a long ratio for speed...If your cycling is going to be road and the occasional canal path or cinder track you probably need something more cyclo cross orientated. You want to be avoiding big fat tyres and probably having road gearing rather than mountain bike gearing.
You can of course change the tyres easily for ones designed more for the road, changing gearing is more difficult.
I think at this stage I need to establish if I'm going to do it properly or use it a handful of times.
Ride some and see what takes your fancy. At that money, there are a few go-to stores (Halfords, Decathlon, Go Outdoors) so pick something you like the look and feel of from one of those. The best bike is the one you want to go out for a ride on!
For what it’s worth I’d stretch the budget a little and have a Triban Flat Bar 520 from Decathlon. It’s 4kg lighter than the Carrera...
For what it’s worth I’d stretch the budget a little and have a Triban Flat Bar 520 from Decathlon. It’s 4kg lighter than the Carrera...
Donbot said:
BoRED S2upid said:
Delete carerra off your list I made that mistake through the cycle to work it was in the skip within 2 years you can do better.
Why's that, out of interest?I had a Carrera Fury for 10k miles and it was a brilliant bike (apart from the headsets being made of cheese).
BoRED S2upid said:
Donbot said:
BoRED S2upid said:
Delete carerra off your list I made that mistake through the cycle to work it was in the skip within 2 years you can do better.
Why's that, out of interest?I had a Carrera Fury for 10k miles and it was a brilliant bike (apart from the headsets being made of cheese).
NiceCupOfTea said:
Lots of foolish stuff about only needing one bike
Give it a few months and you'll be back on here either debating what sort of time trial bike you need, or whether you need a downhill bike alongside your enduro bike, depending on which side of the sport bites first! 
If you can up your budget to £270, this Boardman hybrid within 5 miles of Bromley might be worth a look.
God only knows how he's managed to chip it so much in such a relatively short time, but so long as you're not having to immediately replace stuff, Boardman bikes are cracking value for money and well built. That one would've been around £700 new in 2017.
Obviously you'd need to make sure it's the right size before buying!
NiceCupOfTea said:
I'm thinking 21 speeds ish rather than 7 (and single front sprocket).
You need a decent range of gears rather than a quantity of them. A single front sprocket makes for far easier maintenance and will be marginally lighter too.Disk brakes should only be considered if they are hydraulic and not cable-pulled. The latter never line-up properly and every single variant I've ever encountered lack decent mechanical leverage.
I am slightly bias but I would also have suggested Specialized, maybe a Tricross if going second hand. I am 5'10 and ride a 56cm so would probably recommend a 58cm / XL But depends on inside leg length.
Have you looked on 'Pauls Cycles', I would be gobsmacked if you can't find something suitable on there! Mail order, you'll be riding to the pub on Saturday afternoon.
PS: No affiliation, just a previously satisfied customer.
PPS: That was for a Cannondale CAADX which may suit your needs.
Have you looked on 'Pauls Cycles', I would be gobsmacked if you can't find something suitable on there! Mail order, you'll be riding to the pub on Saturday afternoon.
PS: No affiliation, just a previously satisfied customer.
PPS: That was for a Cannondale CAADX which may suit your needs.
I am slightly bias but I would also have suggested Specialized, maybe a Tricross if going second hand. I am 5'10 and ride a 56cm so would probably recommend a 58cm / XL But depends on inside leg length.
Have you looked on 'Pauls Cycles', I would be gobsmacked if you can't find something suitable on there! Mail order, you'll be riding to the pub on Saturday afternoon.
PS: No affiliation, just a previously satisfied customer.
PPS: That was for a Cannondale CAADX which may suit your needs.
Have you looked on 'Pauls Cycles', I would be gobsmacked if you can't find something suitable on there! Mail order, you'll be riding to the pub on Saturday afternoon.
PS: No affiliation, just a previously satisfied customer.
PPS: That was for a Cannondale CAADX which may suit your needs.
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