Stueyb

Hi everyone.

A while back I asked about cycling to work. now the summer is over, ive gotten the enthusiasm bacK

I have a mountain bike donated by next door and I took it for a short ride and to conclude, its pretty f*cked I think. It needs at least a major overhaul and 2 new tyres.

How much would this cost ?

I also spoke to a proper bike shop and they said they have basic mountain bikes starting at about £150, with proper suspension forks and aluminium rather than steel tubes. Basic £99 are **** as I suspected. Bloke seemed genuinly helpful etc and im going on saturday to buy one. what do I want to look for when I buy ? The root to work is through mostly tarmaced country lanes and a bit of off road forrest. Also would I be cheaky asking for part ex on this old one ?

Also I cant help wondering if it will last when the winter nights and rain come.

floatindolphin

it'll be pretty crap for £150. The shocks will be dirt cheap plop and will fall apart.

You'd be better off going for one with no shocks.

Maybe even a steel frame over a cheaper alu one?

the moose

How much, realistically, can you afford? How much will you use it? If you're genuinely going to be riding to work through the winter (as I do), then factor in the need to buy decent lights (think £150 upwards for something you'd be happy to cycle offroad with at night) plus a good waterproof (£100), as well as a decent waterproof backpack (another £50).

Not cheap initially, but if you're going to that much effort and bother, get a decent bike. If you want new, you really can't do better than Merlin Cycles http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/acatal...lin_Bikes.html, who will do you an excellent bike for £450, which is, in my opinion, as low as you should go for something you'll want to ride for more than a few yards.

There are some Trek, Marin, Specialized at this price point, but they're not as good, to be honest, and anything less than £300 will be scrap in a few months if actually used for mountain biking.

The alternative is to go secondhand - £250 should see you with something good. I got an On-One Inbred (micro-brand British bike, steel-framed) with decent Marzocchi front suspension and reasonable wheels for this amount. I've done 2000 miles on it since January and it's been brilliant, and I've managed to successfully avoid my usual trick of upgrading everything bar the frame.

Stueyb

Well I am cycling partly because I intend to minimise the amount of car I use, I figure this based on the fact that:

The route to work really is a nice one and even in the car you just have to smile at the scenary, through country lanes and woodland.

Im bored of paying £00s for car parts and service every month. As well as paying to park, IF you find a parking space etc etc. I could realistically stretch to £500 but its money I had set aside for other purposes.


It will get me fitter than the gym membership that i dont use because it takes up time that I could be doing other things.

Also for the first month or so I would want to do with a normal bike to make sure I didnt waste money by the "oh **** it, ill do it tommorow" routine.

I reckon I would be doing approx 400 miles a month based on a weekly figure of:

10 * 5.2 Mil journeys to work (52 Miles)
20 Miles to friends houses
20 Miles just round and about (town and back etc)

I wouldnt mind second hand as long as it was in good nick but I have no idea re: bikes, computers yes, bikes no

Any advice appreciated