Bike buying advice

[AM]

The kids have just learnt to ride without stabilisers and the other half already has a bike so she's suggest I get myself one so we can go out for rides at weekends, etc. So what are your recommendations ?

I'm not looking for anything fancy, just comfortable and fairly sturdy. I don't want to be forking out a small fortune either as it'll only be for occassional use (never going to be commuting, etc), so probably around the £100 to £150 mark at most.

[gbbird]

That's not much for a new decent starter bike.

Are you looking at a Mountain Bike? I would suggest stretching to about £250 - £300 mark, then you could be looking at a bottom of the range Specialised, Trek, Giant or Claude Butler - all do decent starter bikes.

g

[AM]

I guess that shows how out of touch I am, the last bike I bought was about 25 years ago

Yes I'm looking for a mountain bike, but I'm not going to be doing anything extreme on it, nor am I likely to take this up as a hobby. I just want something comfy to pootle along behind the kids on. They're only 4 and 6 !

What's wrong with something like this clicky

Note: that's just one I've found with a 5minute search of the local bike web sites

[GHW]

If it's just for pootling around on, then really anything will do. I usually ride an £900 bike with lots of suspension, massive tyres and big brakes, but a fortnight ago borrowed an £80 super-cheap mountain bike for a ride with the OH on a few local bridleways and it was more than competent enough.

If not going to be doing anything at all scary and bouncy bumpy off-roady, then you'll be fine with almost anything. The bits to really look out for if you're looking to get the best for your money are half-decent brakes and gears - if they're Shimano branded then you can't really go wrong!

[AM]

Thanks for that, I'll probably have a nose around Halfords one night this week.

[AM]

Right, had a quick poke around their website and it's obvious a bike is no longer a bike, at least not as I remember it. In my day 10 gears was top of the range, and if you got 12 you were some kind of superhero.

So.

Full suspension, disk brakes, front suspension, 14/16/17/20/22 inch frames, etc, etc, etc. I'm assuming there's no discernable difference between 18 or 21 gears !

So what do I go for, given my original post, and what size frame given I am 6ft ?

I'd rather trust you lot that some spotty school kid

[R.P.M]

AM said:

Right, had a quick poke around their website and it's obvious a bike is no longer a bike, at least not as I remember it. In my day 10 gears was top of the range, and if you got 12 you were some kind of superhero.

So.

Full suspension, disk brakes, front suspension, 14/16/17/20/22 inch frames, etc, etc, etc. I'm assuming there's no discernable difference between 18 or 21 gears !

So what do I go for, given my original post, and what size frame given I am 6ft ?

Forget all that sh*t like suspension, at the budget you have, any suspension set up will probrably be ineffective, troublesome and weigh a tonne. Think cheap vanity rims, They look good to an unemployed youth who wears sports clothing but they perform like a narcoleptic midget on e.

Keep it simple and at 6ft go with a 16"-17" or a medium. why not try ebay?

adios
RPM