Advise for a Hybrid in the 300-500 price range

[choffan]

Hi all,
Thanks for the generous comments - lots of useful ideas on the table. Indeed, given the city situation and my accommodation location in the past two years, it made no sense to elude the left tail of the second-hand market. I had a couple of £30 durable professional tourist that served me well until a rather serious accident that left me with a broken shoulder convinced me it was time to move into the primary market, also in light of the fact that I plan to live here for another year or so and I will probably resell the bike in a year. On top of that, I now live in place with monitored bike-shed.

A £400 bike (the FX1 2022 I can access) translates into a (after applying the bike-to-work scheme program I can access) £260 plus £42 yearly insurance. Trek bikes come with life-time warrant. After a quick look at the second-hand market, it seems that by leveraging on the fact that I am the verified first owner, I might get back around £200-250. I guess the line of reasoning would hold if we raise the above value by another £100 (Trek FX2)
This means the bike net cost, at the end of the year, will fall within the interval of £50/100, which does not sound too excessive, considering that a similar computation for a second-hand bike would require, at sell time, a bigger discount. Not to mention all the costs/risks involved with buying in the secondary market...

 

[Reynard]

A rat bike did spring to mind last night when I originally posted, but the OP did specify new. But it's relatively easy to use duck tape to make a bike look mankier than it is, i suppose.

OTOH @Supersuperleeds makes a good suggestion too.

 

[Kingfisher101]

A rat bike did spring to mind last night when I originally posted, but the OP did specify new. But it's relatively easy to use duck tape to make a bike look mankier than it is, i suppose.

OTOH @Supersuperleeds makes a good suggestion too.

Yes but who's going to wrap a £500 bike in duck tape really?
A bike theif will know what to look for irrespective of the frame anyway.

 

[choffan]

I agree with your concerns and for this reason the bike will be insured. This I guess will make me almost neutral to worst-case event?

 

[Reynard]

Yes but who's going to wrap a £500 bike in duck tape really?
A bike theif will know what to look for irrespective of the frame anyway.

It's more about deterring the opportunistic amateur.

As I said upthread, the number of bikes I see left unlocked or secured with just a basic cable lock in Cambridge are easy enough targets. You're never going to deter the pro, but an unassuming albeit decent-ish bike that's locked both front and rear won't be as appealing to someone looking for easy pickings and a fast turn-around.

 

[biggs682]

Second hand bikes still get nicked .
It would make more sense to just buy a decent ol' steel MTB from the early days and get it serviced well and stick on a set of slicks job done along with some good locks .
Don't worry about the looks just keep the mechanical side of it right.

 

[Kingfisher101]

Second hand bikes still get nicked .
It would make more sense to just buy a decent ol' steel MTB from the early days and get it serviced well and stick on a set of slicks job done along with some good locks .
Don't worry about the looks just keep the mechanical side of it right.

That would still be £200-£300.
The days of old steel mountain bikes going cheap are long gone.

 

[vickster]

See if there’s a charity or shop that sells low cost bikes (that aren’t stolen). I‘d expect a town like Cambridge that has so many cyclists would have such

 

[Cycleops]

That would still be £200-£300.
The days of old steel mountain bikes going cheap are long gone.

Oh really, not steel but that hardly matters:

Or if you insist:

 

[chris667]

The days of old steel mountain bikes going cheap are long gone

I bought one for £15 a couple of months ago. Needs new tyres, horrible black and gold paint job. But you'd get change from £40 to sort it all out.

There is no need to spend more for a town bike. Cheaper than an insurance policy. Cheaper than a lock for a nice bike!

 

[Kingfisher101]

Adding on locks etc and slicks and a service,= will be £200 plus.

 

[vickster]

For a £50 bike, a lock like this will be perfectly ok as a solid deterrent
https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/1430922635?iid=285070349749
No need to spend £££ on a Fahg or Abus Granit imo

 

[biggs682]

That would still be £200-£300.
The days of old steel mountain bikes going cheap are long gone.

I doubt it would cost 180 to service

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/570819848413823/?ref=facebook_story_share

 

[Kingfisher101]

Theres the bike, slicks, locks and a service etc. It will come to more than buttons. OP also you do realize that if a new bike gets stolen you will have to pay the excess so you wont get the full £500 back?

 

[vickster]

Not all cycle insurance policies have an excess and it can be low on a home contents policy too.
Why do you absolutely need slick tyres, plenty of people ride happily on tyres with tread?
If buy second hand from a bike shop or charity, it will have been serviced