Hello there folks, a recent forum joinee here. I pulled my clunky Marin kentfield out the shed the other day with the intention of making the college commute more fun and frankly to save on train fare. It's not the most comfortable ride to say the least. I'm 6 ft 4, and the frame is 44cm centre to centre. Doesn't half scrunch my knees. I used to have better fitting bikes that were a lot lighter, I forget what brands. Zipped around all over London, was never super fit but could do 30 miles easily.
Not the case any more sadly, but I really want to get back into cycling. The commute is lovely, just enough to get my heart rate up a bit. Cycling as much as I can in my spare time.
I think the bike is something of an issue though and want to get something more suitable.
I don't really have the luxury of doing the many bikes for many purposes thing and also find the idea of building up my fitness to the point of doing some touring very appealing.
My budget is going to be around £350-£500 (depending on how the boot fairs go
)
So I figure that buying second hand is more likely to get me something I can get some years of use from. I know little about bikes, apart from what reading various bike forums and googling furiously has taught me in the last week.
I would like a bike that will handle an unladen commute with reasonable speed, be suitable for slinging some hand tools in panniers when I need to and hopefully one day some distance cycling with the whole camping kit attached.
The mid 90s Dawes Super Galaxy seems a classic choice. Also kind of a predictable one, if there are other options I'm certainly open to them.
I'm also not entirely sure about sizing, the Marin I have at the moment is clearly too small, as I said I'm 6 ft 4, also have kind of large feet - size 15 uk and weigh about 100 kilos.
So if any experienced touring/multi purpose workhorse knowledgeable types would be so kind as to advise me, 'twould be much appreciated.
Not the case any more sadly, but I really want to get back into cycling. The commute is lovely, just enough to get my heart rate up a bit. Cycling as much as I can in my spare time.
I think the bike is something of an issue though and want to get something more suitable.
I don't really have the luxury of doing the many bikes for many purposes thing and also find the idea of building up my fitness to the point of doing some touring very appealing.
My budget is going to be around £350-£500 (depending on how the boot fairs go
)So I figure that buying second hand is more likely to get me something I can get some years of use from. I know little about bikes, apart from what reading various bike forums and googling furiously has taught me in the last week.
I would like a bike that will handle an unladen commute with reasonable speed, be suitable for slinging some hand tools in panniers when I need to and hopefully one day some distance cycling with the whole camping kit attached.
The mid 90s Dawes Super Galaxy seems a classic choice. Also kind of a predictable one, if there are other options I'm certainly open to them.
I'm also not entirely sure about sizing, the Marin I have at the moment is clearly too small, as I said I'm 6 ft 4, also have kind of large feet - size 15 uk and weigh about 100 kilos.
So if any experienced touring/multi purpose workhorse knowledgeable types would be so kind as to advise me, 'twould be much appreciated.
