Low Budget Bike

[edition]

Hi,

Quite fancy getting a bike but haven't had one since i was a kid.

Was thinking of a budget of about £250? not sure if that will buy me anything? I fancy it being a mountain bike that will go up tracks and abit on road.

Is getting a better 2nd hand bike a better idea?


Any tips or advise would be great.

[magpie215]

edition said:

Is getting a better 2nd hand bike a better idea

at that price point

I would be looking at maybe picking up a Carrera Subway great bike at a good price. It punches well above above its weight.

My mate picked up a very little used one in the summer for £150.

[Engineer1]

1. Apollo are generally st,
2. Anything sport branded see 1.

Second hand is good, but get it serviced as it may have been laid up after developing an irritating clunk or slip. Otherwise use you money as a deposit and go for the interest free option on a better new bike, £400ish gets you onto bottom model of reputable brands.

[paranoid airbag]

magpie215 said:

at that price point

I would be looking at maybe picking up a Carrera Subway great bike at a good price. It punches well above above its weight.

My mate picked up a very little used one in the summer for £150.

not sure if you meant a second hand carrera, the lower subway models are available sub £250 new? In general, though, this - although the carrera isn't very mountain biased, but it'll work better than a cheap frame with cheap suspension on it. Second hand mtb ftw

[anonymous-user]

Decahlon sports are as good as anyone if you prefer a new bike, rather than risking Ebay etc.. Decathlon.co.uk

[edition]

Thanks for the help guys!


I think I would prefere a second hand one if that gives me a much better product...... £250 really is top budget as I'm not sure if pedal power is for me.....

[Engineer1]

The problem is buy too cheap and st a bike and you WILL be put off by how it keeps falling apart squeaking groaning and generally eating your energy up and turning it into anything but movement.

Bike Radar is a good place for reviews, Decathlon bikes do get good write ups, I wouldn't touch anything with rear suspension till I had a budget atleast 3 times yours as chances are they will be total st not smooth the ride and just absorb your effort bouncing the spring. I speak from bitter experience buying a £300 reduced to £140 from Halfords full suspension bike and god was it st so st they swapped the first one and gave me a store credit refund for the second, with no argument from me.

[nammynake]

My mate bought one of these for his commute to work:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?Mod...

Very simple, but very sturdy bike. Pretty light too, around 20 lbs IIRC. I had a little ride and it handled really nicely with those wide bars. Stick some semi slicks on for town riding, or some bigger volume tyres for some off-road fun.

For £219 it's seriously good value. Rim brakes are more than adequate for town riding or not-too-hardcore off-roading.

Only available in small now I think.

[Scho]

nammynake said:

My mate bought one of these for his commute to work:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?Mod...

Very simple, but very sturdy bike. Pretty light too, around 20 lbs IIRC. I had a little ride and it handled really nicely with those wide bars. Stick some semi slicks on for town riding, or some bigger volume tyres for some off-road fun.

For £219 it's seriously good value. Rim brakes are more than adequate for town riding or not-too-hardcore off-roading.

Only available in small now I think.

That's sweet. I want one.

[nammynake]

Scho said:

nammynake said:

My mate bought one of these for his commute to work:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?Mod...

Very simple, but very sturdy bike. Pretty light too, around 20 lbs IIRC. I had a little ride and it handled really nicely with those wide bars. Stick some semi slicks on for town riding, or some bigger volume tyres for some off-road fun.

For £219 it's seriously good value. Rim brakes are more than adequate for town riding or not-too-hardcore off-roading.

Only available in small now I think.

That's sweet. I want one.

Me too, but the missus would go ape if I bought a fourth bike

[dougc]

nammynake said:

Scho said:

nammynake said:

My mate bought one of these for his commute to work:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?Mod...

Very simple, but very sturdy bike. Pretty light too, around 20 lbs IIRC. I had a little ride and it handled really nicely with those wide bars. Stick some semi slicks on for town riding, or some bigger volume tyres for some off-road fun.

For £219 it's seriously good value. Rim brakes are more than adequate for town riding or not-too-hardcore off-roading.

Only available in small now I think.

That's sweet. I want one.

Me too, but the missus would go ape if I bought a fourth bike

n+1=s-1

[nammynake]

dougc said:

n+1=s-1

What's this? Bike arithmetic? Please define the terms "n" and "s".

[Pferdestarke]

I have a Marin Eldridge Grade for sale if you want to pm me.

[anonymous-user]

Pretty good for the money.. :-
http://www.decathlon.co.uk/rockrider-52-2011-id_81...

[will_]

Have a look at the Revolution range at the Edinburgh Bicycle Co-operative. They are generally well priced and well specc'd.

[dome]

You can do a lot worse than Carrera, standard Halfords rules apply though, it's a lottery as to whether you get a good shop or a bad one. The subway is cheap at the moment, thats the 26" wheeled Hybrid/mountain bike.

[scubadude]

My local bike shops both have a handful of second hand bikes available, might be worth trying yours?

Some are part exchange's others are selling for customers, all have had a once over from the mechanic amd unlike ebay you've got a much lower chance of them being stolen goods.

Prices (down here anyway) range as low as £80, so £250 should get something reasonable second hand as bikes don't hold their value well.

Alot of cyclist are total snobs (no offense :-) and would'nt consider a second hand bike, frankly I only ever had new bikes when I was a kid, since 16 all my bikes have been second hand, numerous MTB, road, hybrid and recumbents, with a set of tools and alittle knowledge you can make even rather manky old bikes very nice rides

[dougc]

nammynake said:

dougc said:

n+1=s-1

What's this? Bike arithmetic? Please define the terms "n" and "s".

It's arithmetic for the correct number of bikes to own where

n = the number of bikes you already own
s = the number of bikes that would result in a divorce/breakup etc

[Gizmo!]

dougc said:

nammynake said:

dougc said:

n+1=s-1

What's this? Bike arithmetic? Please define the terms "n" and "s".

It's arithmetic for the correct number of bikes to own where

n = the number of bikes you already own
s = the number of bikes that would result in a divorce/breakup etc

Therefore if n+1 = s-1, we can extrapolate that one more bike would still be one less than would result in a breakup.

Ergo, cogito, Stelvio, get it bought.