Claud butler Explorer range

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

cycling_teacher

New Member
Hi all.

Looking to buy a new hybrid, not got a huge amount to spend. My old Discovery will now cost more to repair than it cost to buy and I like the look of the Explorers. Thing is, I don't seem to be able to find local bike shops that sell them and they all immeidately go on about treks and specializeds which I know are grand but out of my budget.

Anyway, anyone have any opinions on these bikes? Should I?
 

shrew

New Member
Location
St Neots , Cambs
Hi , how much do you have to work with? would be easier to help find you a good deal online, some of the top brands do a budget range now that are pretty respectable.

shrew )
 
OP
OP
C

cycling_teacher

New Member
Yes, it's a discovery 301, it needs a new headset, rear wheel (buckled slightly, interfering with brakes), and there's a bad knock on the pedals. I have about £300 to play with. I spoke to Discover cycling (a good deal on the explorer 300 which I quite like). Told them my requirements and budget and they said either the discovery or the explorer.
 

smeg

New Member
Location
Isle of Wight
Who says it'll cost more to repair your Discovery than buying a new bike? ;) How "old" is old? What a load of rubbish - if that was your local bike shop I'd go elsewhere. Your wheel might just need truing and a new headset could cost no more than a tenner online.
 
OP
OP
C

cycling_teacher

New Member
No, reckon it is new wheel in all honesty, buckled outwards at one point, like I said, makes using the rear brake awkward (catches and snatches). The bike's about 8 years old. If you can't tell, I'm fairly novice when itcomes to this sort of repair job, tyres and brakes are my limits pretty much. The bottom bracket is fairly worn as well I think, hence the noise and movement in the pedals.
 

smeg

New Member
Location
Isle of Wight
A new wheel can cost as little as £25 on ebay. I spent less than that on a new rear wheel for my mountain bike. I had to get my bottom bracket replaced recently on my Discovery 201 it was knackered & rusty, water had got in there somehow. I took it into the bike shop in the end because I couldn't get the drive-side cup off, to my surprise they only charged me £25 for doing that I couldn't have done that any cheaper myself. Actually I like doing repairs on my bikes, it's an opportunity to replace any crap parts with better ones, like my nice new Shimano v-brake mechs.
 

Rob3rt

Man or Moose!
Location
Manchester
I'd get a 2nd opinion. Headsets cost next to nothing. Wheels needent cost a bomb either.

Guessing at your repairs, you could fix it up for under £150 including paying a LBS to put it together for you.
 
OP
OP
C

cycling_teacher

New Member
Thanks for all the replies. I spoke to my other local bike shop and they seemed more positive about the fixes and pricing.

That said, I still want to keep my options open. In my budget, the sort of bikes that seem available to me are the Explorer 300, a new discovery, or something like the metro GLX (Raleigh). Any thoughts on what these are like?
 
Top Bottom