Bike Buying not made Easy.

[Rubicon]

Vickster, I just find the drop bars and riding position uncomfortable. I chose 60 miles as a max, as I did 52 as stated last week. It's more likely to be 30-40 miles in general, and it won't be every week. I'm 68 and just enjoy a long day out, don't even care if I get off on the steep hills anymore, especially as I had a heart attack 2017. Comfort and ride quality are most important now.

 

[Rubicon]

And Caygills in Richmond bikingdad90. When it's allowable and everywhere is open I'll have a good look round them all. Skinnergate is where I got the FX1 from. They don't have the FX Sport carbon i was looking at, and judging by it's availability anywhere else, probably can't get it. I shall call in and ask at some point.

 

[BoldonLad]

I’m local to Stockton.

Stockton
-You have Paul Curran Cycle Sports, has a bit of everything in.
-Skinnergate Cycles (Trek dealer)
-NRG cycles (one in Thornaby and one in Great Ayton)
-the bike rack Yarm (aka edge sports and mainly Giant and Kinesis dealers)

Middlesbrough
-on yer bike
-blue giraffe cycles
-Godleys cycles (nunthorpe)

Darlington
-wheelbase

Guisbrough
-bikescene (Specialized dealer in the main)

Northallerton
-Cowley cycles (Ridley dealer)

There is a Giant. Dealer outside of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, https://www.giant-newcastle.co.uk/gb don't know if there is anything in their range which may be relevant to you? They are very helpful, I have bought three bicycles there (two for me, one for wife).

On the Halfords topic, my Son-in-law and my youngest daughter recently bought bicycles from Halfords (one from South Shields branch, one from Sunderland branch). Cheaper models than the Boardman (Carrera Subways). Son-in-law opted for "bike build", daughter opted for "delivered in box" (translation - Dad will do it for me). The (supposedly) built bicycle needed gears adjusting before it was rideable, the out of box one just needed assembly, no adjustments. My conclusion from this is that the bicycle "out of the box" is probably fine, just don't let the bike "mechanic" near it.

 

[contadino]

This is their flat bar, says availability from 11 April
https://alpkit.com/products/sonder-santiago-apex1-flat-bar

I ride a Santiago. Great bike.

The thing about Alpkit is I think they'll bend over backwards to find the bike for you to try. I borrowed the bike techs bike for a test run. I think they'll let you borrow the bike for a day. Not sure of the details. Best call Keswick beforehand. Beware that I called hathersage a few weeks back and it was shut due to covid - should be opening up again soon though.

 

[iluvmybike]

If you can get a bike fit this will give you all the measurements you need. You can then look at frame diagrams for the major brands and see how yuor measurements compare. This will get yuo as near as possible to your ideal. No off-the-peg bike is going to fit perfectly but this is a more accurate way than just going and sitting on a bike and only minor tweaks/positioning adjustments would then be needed.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Morning, and thank you for letting me join. I'm getting on a bit, and looking at getting a comfortable hybrid bike, capable of 60 mile rides a day, speed not too important, as my rides tend to be an all day job. I've been looking at the Boardman HYB 8.9 at 1k in cost and the Trek FX Sport Carbon 4 at 1.75k. Yes I realise there's a big cost difference, but up to 2k is within budget.

I would honestly save myself a whole lot of hassle and expense, and just keep riding the Trek you already have. Trek have never been in the business of selling outright junk bikes, so whatever you have will be basically decent and spending north of £1k isn't going to get you a bike that is significantly better than what you already have.
My favourite hybrid that I ride is a 1995 Raleigh Pioneer that I bought secondhand for £10 and had it up and running, fully sorted for about £50. I would not even consider replacing it with a new hybrid, not even if someone offered me the £1.75k carbon framed one for free.

 

[OldShep]

A hybrid style bike never held Jack Eason back. If you don’t remember Jack then Google.
I got my first bike in Mandale Road Thornaby, was it Tilstons?
I'd of thought with your budget and location then Spa Cycles in Harrogate are worthy of consideration.

 

[DRM]

Could be worth ringing Decathlon, the one on the Team Valley Retail Park may have some stock in, but I popped in to get a spare tube just at the end of lockdown 1 and the place looked like it had been burgled in the bike section, there wasn’t a bike to be seen

 

[Ming the Merciless]

60 miles on a hybrid is a long way, especially if it's mostly roads.

I managed 50+ on my cheapo (Trek FX2 disc) hybrid last year in my first few months of cycling but I'm sure if I did that same ride now I have a road bike I would be much quicker.

A lot of people think that but a road hybrid isn’t really much slower (if at all) than a road bike. Very few people ride a road bike in an aero enough position to make a difference.

As for distance hybrids are quite happily ridden on lejog and even round the world. A distance of 60 miles on a hybrid really is no bother.

 

[PaulSB]

A lot of people think that but a road hybrid isn’t really much slower (if at all) than a road bike. Very few people ride a road bike in an aero enough position to make a difference.

As for distance hybrids are quite happily ridden on lejog and even round the world. A distance of 60 miles on a hybrid really is no bother.

Yep, I was going to make this point. I used to happily ride 70-80 miles on a hybrid, sportives and 3-4 day tours.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

A lot of people think that but a road hybrid isn’t really much slower (if at all) than a road bike. Very few people ride a road bike in an aero enough position to make a difference.

As for distance hybrids are quite happily ridden on lejog and even round the world. A distance of 60 miles on a hybrid really is no bother.

I make very little effort to go fast, but If I do one of my regular rides on my Raleigh Royal tourer, I will be at least 1 mph faster over exactly the same route compared to riding one of my hybrids, and 2 mph faster compared to being on an MTB. The MTB to hybrid difference can be accounted for mainly by knobbly tyres as both are flat bars, but the hybrid to tourer difference must be largely aerodynamics as both are on road tyres and the bike weights are not massively different. I have my drop bars set high like a tourist and I hardly ever use the drops either except in strong headwinds, but even so they do make a measurable difference to average speeds

 

[Brooks]

Sometimes I feel the best bike you'll ever have is the one you've already got, your going to compare everything against it in truth.
I'm 60 as well and a hybrid is perfect for me and it's comfortable doing 100 miles a week no problem. I'm not as experienced as the vast majority on here but I believe most bikes would fit your mileage needs no problem.

 

[Midsrider]

There's the question of size to start with. I'm 5ft 8ins, which according to Trek is medium, until you come to my inside leg measurement of 29 inches, which makes it possibly small. There are some really good bike stores around, but the chance of them having what you want or even being able to get it is pretty small if you ask me.

I am not far from your size, I am 5ft 9 and I ended up getting a Trek DS2 and this is not far off the same geometry as the FX2-3 etc and I went in to try Medium frames but large felt so much better for me. I am loving my DS2 - which I have been out on it every day in last 3 weeks for small rides.
I went on my wife's medium trek bike and it was great, but I felt a little cramped. I would stick with medium if i was you - small would be tiny, but then again - try your local bike shop or visit Treks website and see where local have FX's in - its surprising how many local bike shops can get some stock in the next few weeks and some are 8-12 months away. You could do with sitting on one. FX3 I would say is a a perfect hybrid bike if i was buying again.

Good luck !