Best type of bike for on-road and off-road cycling?

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Wardy940

Regular
Hi,

I'm looking to get into cycling both as a weekend activity and a way to get to work during the week. I'm interested in trying my hand at some off-road routes, woodland trails, that kind of thing. I just don't have the first clue on what the best type of bike would be to cover me for both. I don't even know which site is the best, they all seem to have different brands.

I'm not looking to spend loads of money as I'm pretty much a beginner. I can ride a bike, obviously haha. I just don't have much experience in off road riding. I'm not really interested in the extreme downhill kind of stuff so feel like I probably don't need to shell out a lot for an enjoyable ride. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks
 

vickster

Legendary Member
What’s your budget?
Sounds like a hard tail mountain bike or 29er might work for you unless off road is going to be a minimal part in which case a rigid fork hybrid might be better. You’ll get a better bike second hand but even these are relatively costly currently
 
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Wardy940

Regular
My budget is around £500-600. Maybe a bit more if there's a good deal going. I don't drive, the majority of my riding would be on the road but I would like option to be able to go off-road. Some of my favorite local places are up in the moors so it would be a handy option.

Can you recommend a good brand for a hard tail? I was looking at these gravel bikes. I'd never heard of them but they seemed like a good fit for me, but they're a little expensive for my pocket. Been keeping an eye out on Facebook for good deals on bikes but no luck so far.
 

vickster

Legendary Member
Go outdoors and Decathlon have good specs for MTBs but stocks are low.

there’s a 29er in the Classifieds for someone around 6ft for £450 in Sussex, as a new member not sure if you can see though?
 
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Wardy940

Regular
I can access the classifieds but Sussex is the quite the distance for me. I live near Middlesbrough. I'll have to keep an eye out for a more local 2nd one on the forum.

Everywhere I look online it seems is out of stock. The industry must be suffering with covid 19. Either that or a lot people are taking up biking all of a sudden.
 
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Wardy940

Regular
Yeah that's the kind of the size I'm looking for I think, thanks for the link. I'm 5ft 10. I was actually looking at a Cannondale. I think it was the trail 7. It was out of stock though. Are they a decent starter bike then, would you say?
 
How far away is work ? Do you need to take stuff with you ? Are there showers or can you work in your bike hear etc..
 

Pale Rider

Legendary Member
Your budget takes you well into decent bike territory for a flat bar, but I take your point about most drop bar gravel bikes being closer to a grand or more.

Can you get to the MetroCentre at Gateshead?

Cycle Republic (slightly posh Halfords) and Evans are next to each other.

Both are large shops, so there's plenty of bikes to look at.

One of the Pinnacle Lithiums from Evans might suit.

Put small knob knobbly tyres on it and you would have a flat bar gravel bike.

https://www.evanscycles.com/pinnacle-lithium-3-2020-hybrid-bike-EV339938
 

SkipdiverJohn

Deplorable Brexiteer
Location
London
Most people's idea of off road riding can be done using pretty much any sort of bike, if the rider has a bit of common sense, so long as the tyres aren't too fragile & prone to punctures.
What's optimal depends on the mix of terrain. If there's a fair bit of road mileage involved then a hybrid is going to be less effort than a MTB, and marginally quicker. However if a hybrid equipped for commuting with regular mudguards and rack is used for a lot of rough unsurfaced riding, the vibration tends to shake things loose and can even cause chromoplastic or alloy mudguards to crack as a result of fatigue. In this case a rigid MTB would make more sense, equipped with the "unbreakable" and cheap type of MTB plastic mudguards that do not have stays fixed at the dropouts. Reasonably effective as mudguards, but will not get mangled by picking up sticks, as there are no stays to jam in.
 

vickster

Legendary Member
Your budget takes you well into decent bike territory for a flat bar, but I take your point about most drop bar gravel bikes being closer to a grand or more.

Can you get to the MetroCentre at Gateshead?

Cycle Republic (slightly posh Halfords) and Evans are next to each other.

Both are large shops, so there's plenty of bikes to look at.

One of the Pinnacle Lithiums from Evans might suit.

Put small knob knobbly tyres on it and you would have a flat bar gravel bike.

https://www.evanscycles.com/pinnacle-lithium-3-2020-hybrid-bike-EV339938
Cycle Republic shops have all closed down no?
 

vickster

Legendary Member
Yeah that's the kind of the size I'm looking for I think, thanks for the link. I'm 5ft 10. I was actually looking at a Cannondale. I think it was the trail 7. It was out of stock though. Are they a decent starter bike then, would you say?
Yep that bike would be good as a starter. Try out for size though as 29ers can feel large and a large may be on the big size for 5’10.
Middlesbrough to Bishop Auckland only looks to be around a half hour drive so closeby :smile:
 
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