Bike stolen ;-( excuse to buy a new one ;-)

[fossyant]

Cable Locks are rubbish unfortunately....

Yes the scheme covers accessories, so spec it all up....

 

[Sittingduck]

Hi therams

I posted last week asking for opinions on the website in your bottom link and somebody replied to say about a delay in an order they had placed with this shop. I have also read a fair few posts from people saying how Dawes are not all that (at the lower end of the scale anyway) compared to years gone by. So I decided againsts a Giro 300. That said I thought the prices looked very good on that site but there was just something about a place that sells furniture and trampolines too... dunno what it was that put me off about it really.

Have you thought about a Hybrid? Once you get used to it you can pick up good speeds on a commute. I am fatter than most here but have really started to get quicker now after my first 4 months commuting. Regularly keep up with or sometimes go past road bikes (quite funny to see the look on the faces of the lean looking guys on them when I pass or am keeping up. Noticed the real difference in the past couple of weeks since I have fitted clipless SPD's.

Having said that I am also considering a road bike but am scared that the tiny thin tyres will burst under my not insignificant weight

Let us know how you get on and good luck!

 

[HF2300]

I am lucky enough to run my own small company so had just started to look at the Cycle 2 Work scheme. I seems that we can put it in place quite quickly, and its a good incentive to other employees. Looks like you can easily save 40% of the price of the bike and the company benefits from reduced NI payment. Seem too good to be true.

You can, and it isn't too good to be true. You have to be careful though; you'll get savings of that order if your company's limited and you're a PAYE employee, but if you're a sole trader, partner or similar the savings may be less.

It is, however, a doddle to set up and run, particularly for someone in your position who's not reliant on a manager to OK it - the most difficult bit is checking you've got the PAYE right, which you've got to do anyway even if you do it through Cyclescheme or whoever.

 

[therams]

Thanks for everybody’s replies; this is a fantastic and friendly forum.

Anyway, I was chatting to my wife about this last night and she reminded me that we shill have her “old” bike in the shed. I remembered that we bought it for her about 4 years ago and I think she only used it once or twice. Anyway, go it out dusted it down and well, take a look for your self…

A Trek 4300 MTB, as new, the tires still have the little molding spikes! We bought it just before she got pregnant and it’s hardly ever been used. Rode it to work this morning, was very impressed.Anyway I am going to go down to the Edibrough Cycle cooperative this lunch time and get some road ties for it and this can be my winter bike.

I have then set myself a target, weighed myself this morning 100 kg (6 Foot Tall) so could do with losing a stone (and the rest). So if I can get down to 92 kg, then I will treat myself to the road bike. I will keep you informed

 

[Plax]

That was handy! Tidy looking bike.
I have a Dawes Ultra Galaxy which I love. It is a steel frame and handles well on the bad road surfaces on my commute. I do around 36-40mph downhill on an extremely bad bit of road and the bike & wheels are fine. The various accessories that have fallen off due to the vibrations aren't though............ Very handy having a rack and panniers. Pretty fast too. Obviously not as fast as a road bike, but for a regular commute some kind of steel tourer would be ideal, especially if you can pick up a decent one off ebay.

 

[swee'pea99]

Damn that's a nice beastie to find lurking in the shed! Good idea to get some road tyres. Get the narrowest & slickest (ie treadless) the bike shop guys say it will take, and spoil yourself (since you've saved the price of a bike) to a track pump. Then keep your tyres pumped up to the maximum shown on the sidewall (look for BAR or PSI followed by numbers), checking every weekend and topping up as necessary. You're going to have a lot of fun on that!

 

[bonj2]

Personally I would only consider a bike without mudguards for commuting.

 

[therams]

Yes I cant believe my luck, in the back of my mind I always knew it was in the shed, but I thought we had got a ladies bike for Mrs Ram. I should have known that it was a decent bike as she has expensive tastes

Lucky in a way, because if I had known it was there I would have been riding that not my old bike and that would have been the one that got stolen.

Got some 26 x 1.5 Slick Nimbus Armadillos at lunch time yesterday and pumped them to 80 psi, all I can say is wow.... The normal ride home is about 4 miles, took the long cut last night about 10 miles! Felt great when I got home. Had my first run in with a car this morning, got carried away overtaking, I need to start being more careful. If I wasn't playing golf tomorrow I would probable have gone for a ride over the weekend as well

 

[Sittingduck]

A love story is born