Commuting Bike - Hilly Area

[llall]

Hi

I'd like to buy a new bike for travelling around South London. I'm torn between a hybrid and a mountain bike. The former because they seem to be popular commuter bikes, the latter because I live in quite a hilly area and I'm under the impression that they'd be better suited to that kind of terrain. Below are some gradient charts for the routes I'd be planning to travel. I hope they make more sense to you than they do to me:

I don't need to go off-road at any point. It's all tarmac and concrete around here and I've no desire to do any serious off-roading, other than cutting through the occasional park.

I'd just like something reliable.

I've been to a few bike shops and looked around online for second hand bikes over the last couple of weeks. I've decided that I don't know enough about bikes to risk it, I'd rather buy new. However, my budget is quite modest. I'd like to spend no more than £250 but ideally I'd like to spend less than £200. If I really get into cycling then I can always upgrade later.

I've seen this bike recommended in another thread and I'm wondering if it's any good for my needs:

Decathlon - Hybrid Bikes Riverside 1 Men's, Trekking Bike, Black BTWIN

I plan to take a trip to Decathlon to test out a few bikes.

Can you recommend any other bikes that might be suitable for me?

 

[Fuzzball]

I would go for Riverside 3, you will very quickly want to replace the 1. But definitely a hybrid/commute bike not a mountain bike.

 

[llall]

Thanks for the quick response.

I've heard that Decathlon are good for budget bikes which is what attracted me to their B-TWIN range. Are there any other budget ranges worth looking at?

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

Carreras via Halfords (unfortunately) seem to be popular and pretty robust.

Your key concern after the weight of the bike is going to be having a wide enough range of gears to deal with the uphill bits. The Riverside 1 appears to have a 28 tooth ring at the rear and a triple at the front. Which gives you a pretty wide range but the bike is pretty heavy in the first place.

 

[llall]

Thanks for replying.

The R1 is only slightly heavier than the R3 by the looks of things ("14.45 kg size M" vs "13.93 kg in size M, without pedals"). So I don't think weight is going to be the deciding factor.

I had a look at Halford's Carrera range and found this: Carrera Crossfire 1 Hybrid Bike 2011/2012 - Large 19". Aside from being £20 cheaper than the R3 there doesn't seem to be a great deal of difference between the two bikes. So I suppose it comes down to which store you'd prefer to shop with. Having heard a few horror stories about Halfords I think I'd prefer to use Decathlon.

It seems to me the R1 is the cheap and cheerful choice. Having ridden quite a few bikes that fall into this category I think the R1 might be right for me for the time being. But I'm open to further suggestions.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

Thanks for replying.

The R1 is only slightly heavier than the R3 by the looks of things ("14.45 kg size M" vs "13.93 kg in size M, without pedals"). So I don't think weight is going to be the deciding factor.

I had a look at Halford's Carrera range and found this: Carrera Crossfire 1 Hybrid Bike 2011/2012 - Large 19". Aside from being £20 cheaper than the R3 there doesn't seem to be a great deal of difference between the two bikes. So I suppose it comes down to which store you'd prefer to shop with. Having heard a few horror stories about Halfords I think I'd prefer to use Decathlon.

It seems to me the R1 is the cheap and cheerful choice. Having ridden quite a few bikes that fall into this category I think the R1 might be right for me for the time being. But I'm open to further suggestions.

Though I don't know the bike, Decathlon is a far better shop to do business with and they're extremely competitively priced. (I've bought from both.)

 

[cyberknight]

I would go for the carrera subway over the cross fire as you do not really need suspension for road riding and it just adds weight to the bike .
TBH you do not really need a MTB style bike if you live in a hilly area as you can get up hills on a road bike assuming it has the gear range you need so it more down to personal choice with regards to the type of bike you buy.My route has over 400 feet of climbing in the last 5 miles and i manage fine on a road bike.

 

[jowwy]

wish i had that route as my commute - thats pan flat compared to mine

 

[ACS]

wish i had that route as my commute - thats pan flat compared to mine

+1.

 

[Sara_H]

wish i had that route as my commute - thats pan flat compared to mine

+2

I live at the top of a big hill and work at the top of another one, with a valley in between.

I've mostly used a mountain bike with slick tyres, the gears are very helpful. I've never used a road bike, but my ex husband rides a Boardman road bike and he tells me he finds the hill alot more difficult on that than he does on his mountain bike.

 

[BSRU]

Does not look very hilly to me, in fact it looks quite flat.
I'd call 4% a mild drag not a hill, unless it's 20km long.
Get yourself a steel tourer or a CX bike or a road bike(less practical for commuting if you do not like rucksacks).

 

[HLaB]

wish i had that route as my commute - thats pan flat compared to mine

It looks similar to my current commute and Id class it as pan flat too, so I usually take the heavy steel Fixie up Morborne or Haddon Hills bumps.

 

[jowwy]

It looks similar to my current commute and Id class it as pan flat too, so I usually take the heavy steel Fixie up Morborne or Haddon Hills bumps.

i just find it funny that people say they have a hilly commute and the hills are like 200ft high.

my commute is 15miles and i do 1500ft of climbing - it rises from 300ft to 1500ft in between miles 3 and 12

 

[llall]

I guess they must seem steeper to the uninitiated (incredibly unfit)!

This is a map of some of the hills in my local area, but I wouldn't need to hit all of them on any one journey:

These are the bikes in my price range:

Hybrid Riverside 1 - Trekking Bike
Rockrider 5.0 - Mountain Bike
Rockrider 5.1 - Mountain Bike
Original Hybrid 3 - Leisure Bike

The specs don't make a lot of sense to me. I understand that a less weight is generally better but that's about it. Of these bikes which do you think would be best?

If you've seen something better for the same money, or less, feel free to mention it.

 

[vickster]

I'd be looking at a used bike for that budget. And if you are going to be locking it up for anytime in London (like more than 2 minutes) in a non secured cctv and rottweiler guarded underground cavern, you'll need to budget £60-100 for 2 locks if you want to keep the bike