£80 or £280 range - does it really matter?

[Flying Dodo]

Only up to a point; a lot of Apollos are indeed heavy, cheap & nasty - principally the ones built with low quality suspension forks or even worse, full suspension. The ones without any suspension - rigids, can make a perfectly acceptable low-budget bike. I use an old Apollo rigid MTB as a local hack. It must be about 25 years old, and I've spent less than £10 on it in total. Everything works and it gets me from A to B. It is fairly heavy at about 34 lbs, but then it's a cheap steel bike not something exotic made with Reynolds tubing - so I don't expect it to be light. It's best attribute is that it's not really worth stealing, and if some junkie did nick it I've only lost ten quid. It's not true to say that a £100 bike will not last, as mine clearly has lasted, so that is too simplistic a statement. It depends entirely on what sort of £100 bike it is. Some are utter junk, some are just budget quality but entirely useable bikes. The trick is to ignore the blingy looking junk with cheap chrome and flashy paint and go for the unexciting but solid type of budget bike without suspension.

£100 spent 25 years ago would have got a far better bike than £100 now. Modern Apollo bikes are rubbish, unlike your older model and a new bike at that price point won't last, especially when you look at the poor quality components that are now used.

 

[RichardB]

I have just bought a Carrera Subway 2 and I can report it is a fine bit of kit. For the money, I would say excellent value. It rides well enough, I love the hydro disc brakes, and with a couple of tweaks it is comfy for me. I have never owned a really expensive bike, so the bar is quite low for any bike I ride, but the Subway seems to tick all the boxes.

I am lucky in that my local Halfords has some great guys working there, and I trust their workmanship and advice. In the past I have been a bit of a snob and assumed that a local independent shop would be better than a chain, but of the last three bikes I have bought (two from 'specialists' and one from Halfords), the Subway was the only one without faults at purchase.

 

[Black Sheep]

Not to mention potentially dangerous. Halfords sell bikes where the brakes are woefully inadequate. How on Earth can any company get away with selling such products beggars belief. One would think there is minimum standards.

One important check to make is that the brakes should provide decent power before the levers touch the bars. If the levers have been pulled as far as they can go and you're still moving, leave the bike and F.O outta there.

I think part of the issue is the staff ability / competence level at Halfords varies from a friend of mine who used to build his own frames for fun (good trials frames apparently, he sold a few) through to able to hold the correct end of a screwdriver. It's not always the kit at fault.

I don't know my ridgeback managed to stop with 30 kg of panniers on it descending the odd alp

Ridgeback turn out decent bikes in my opinion, although I've not looked at their offerings for a while

 

[andyR00]

I'm no expert but weight is an issue although you won't get too much difference between £80-200 .

Cycling up hills especially into a head wind on a tank of a bike not always fun.

Although in the reverse a cheap bike would be fine for building core fitness over a few months. You may want to buy cheap and also buy a turbo trainer.

 

[T4tomo]

Not to mention potentially dangerous. Halfords sell bikes where the brakes are woefully inadequate. How on Earth can any company get away with selling such products beggars belief. One would think there is minimum standards.

One important check to make is that the brakes should provide decent power before the levers touch the bars. If the levers have been pulled as far as they can go and you're still moving, leave the bike and F.O outta there.

Alternatively you can just adjust the brakes so they work!

 

[nickyboy]

Don't forget that the OP is going to use the bike for tootling around with his daughter, not doing heavy, fast miles

For that, any bike will do, cheaper the better. Just buy it second hand off eBay

Why are we even suggesting things like turbo trainers? It's for gentle family rides

 

[andyR00]

I need to start reading whole thread.

 

[cyberknight]

For general pootling bike weight is not that important.
My dropway aka drop bar conversion of a subway is only 2-3 slower over my commute compared to my road bike and a lot of that is lost on the hilly parts, on the flat is not that far behind maybe im topping out at 19-20 rather than 21-22 cruising speed .

 

[Black Sheep]

Don't forget that the OP is going to use the bike for tootling around with his daughter, not doing heavy, fast miles

For that, any bike will do, cheaper the better. Just buy it second hand off eBay

Why are we even suggesting things like turbo trainers? It's for gentle family rides

There's a drop off point where anything cheap isn't great, apolo for example

Generally any 'known brand' from the last 10 years should do the job happily, perhaps with a little tlc and checkover by a friendly forum member / local bike shop to make sure there's no mechanical issues about to pop up.

So anything specialized, ridgeback, scott, trek, giant, raleigh and so on with the factory paint job not looking too dated

on the other hand, a few friends of mine at uni bought cheap Probike branded bikes to get to and from uni for about £80 from the local bike shop, they were basic and one or two bits did wear out other than consumables in the three years (front and rear mechs mainly) but were easily replaced and seemed to do the job well (just avoid the full suspension ones)

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Whatever make of bike you choose - if you buy cheap, buy rigids only and avoid anything with suspension.

 

[Reynard]

There's a drop off point where anything cheap isn't great, apolo for example

Generally any 'known brand' from the last 10 years should do the job happily, perhaps with a little tlc and checkover by a friendly forum member / local bike shop to make sure there's no mechanical issues about to pop up.

So anything specialized, ridgeback, scott, trek, giant, raleigh and so on with the factory paint job not looking too dated

on the other hand, a few friends of mine at uni bought cheap Probike branded bikes to get to and from uni for about £80 from the local bike shop, they were basic and one or two bits did wear out other than consumables in the three years (front and rear mechs mainly) but were easily replaced and seemed to do the job well (just avoid the full suspension ones)

Admittedly that drop-off point isn't at the same place along the scale for everyone. What I might class as a bike that'll do the job rather nicely might be a bike that someone else will turn their nose up at. On the flip side, another person might say "How much!?!?!?! For a bike?!?!?!?! You're having a giraffe!"

I think the question you need to ask is "Is this a bike I'm happy to ride - and will enjoy riding - or is it one that I will simply end up throwing into the bushes in frustration." (If you can lift it, that is...)

 

[nickyboy]

Admittedly that drop-off point isn't at the same place along the scale for everyone. What I might class as a bike that'll do the job rather nicely might be a bike that someone else will turn their nose up at. On the flip side, another person might say "How much!?!?!?! For a bike?!?!?!?! You're having a giraffe!"

I think the question you need to ask is "Is this a bike I'm happy to ride - and will enjoy riding - or is it one that I will simply end up throwing into the bushes in frustration." (If you can lift it, that is...)

Exactly. There are a lot of posters on CC that have been riding bikes for years and have become.conditioned to a certain "minimum standard" for a bike. We are all guilty of this. The longer you ride, the higher these minimum standards

First bike, tootling around with your daughter. I'm struggling to think of any bike that would not be suitable for this. So my advice is to buy something second hand as cheap as possible

 

[gbb]

I apologies for another 'Hi I am a newbie' comment but...

I have not ridden a bike in over 10 years. Now my daughter is now starting to ride I would like to get a bike so we can go for little rides together (along country lanes, grass common land, the odd field/wooded area, and a lot of hills!). I have spent the past few days looking online for a bike. I started with Halfords and their £100 range, but before I know it I was looking at bikes for £280 on the internet. I know for my budget I am not going to get anything pro like - but does it really matter if I get a £80 bike from Halfords or a £280 bike for that I want to do?

Also I have come across a load of brand names I have no idea if they are any good (Python, British Eagle, Claud Butler, Carrera, Apollo, Ridgeback....) Is there any brand of bike I should stay well clear off or someone recommend.

After spending hours looking at different websites my mind is very foggy, some advice would be very much appreciated.

Many thanks

Based on your description of your history and your terrain and expectations, I'd suggest you particually look for the following...
3 chainrings (a triple) up front. This will help you enormously with the hills you mention. One post a few pages up suggested a bike that actually only had a single 38t chainrings which I suspect would be hopelessly innapropriate for you and your terrain.
Preferably a rear gear cluster with something like a 14/32 range. Again, the 32t will help a lot with hills.

An example of vfm would be my wife's hybrid, £150 a couple years ago from a local bike shop selling cheaper stuff.. It's heavy but it's fine, there are some ok bikes out there that don't cost the earth.

 

[Brand X]

Quick tip: Make sure the bike fits. Like a pair of shoes, if it doesn't fit it will never be comfortable. Several good vids on YouTube about fitting a bicycle.

 

[nickAKA]

Pub bore here...

Echoing what many others have said, go to Decathlon.When it comes to value for money in a new bike thay are nigh on impossible to beat, even with Halfords 'discounts' they're still inferior pound-for-pound. Buy a bike that feels 'right', if you're buying on a budget, avoid any type of suspension.

Sub-£300 you just want something dependable & serviceable, Decathlon ace that.