Nimbus

My wife and I want to get some bikes for the summer. We need something that good on the road, but also able to handle a bit of off-road trail work too (not Mountains!!). Also I want to fit a seat for my 2.5 year old to ride on too.

Any suggestions or places to look to research this?

I fancy one with disk brakes because they look cool, but not bothered about suspension. Like I said, it will maily be for road..

Ideas?

yoza

If you can wait until April Raleigh are bringing out a re-run of the Chopper. An excellent all rounder, and the kid can get on the back. Dont worry about that white strap on the seat that reads 'no passengers' it actually for holding on too.

Crapaud62

Simply go to a good specialist bike dealer and they will sort you out. Tell them roughly what you want to spend and they will spend time to get you the right bikes. Avoid the supermarkets/Halfords as they are just shifting numbers.

AvalancheS8

Disc brakes that work better than rim brakes cost at least £60 per wheel, and as such aren't seen on bikes costing under about £700. Anything cheaper than that with discs, you'd be better off with rime brakes. Same goes with rear suspension, but the threshold is about about £800 - £1000 for a bike with rear suspension worth having. Go to a proper bike shop (i.e not Halfords, or the local raleigh dealer), tell the what you will want to use it for and unless you are prepared to pay big money buy the one with the least bells and whistles, it'll be better made, more reliable and nicer to ride than one where they've tried to make it look cool but only had £50 quid to spend on things that cost £500.

Nimbus

Thanks for the advice. I've tried to look on the net but to be honest I can't really tell what they are like. I guess a visit to a decent shop is in order then!.

Is "Julies Cycles" still open in Leicester? They were my first port of call in my younger days when I did a lot of cycle touring...