Commuting/Fitness Buying Advice

[university]

Hi guys, firstly a short bit about me. I am a 19 year old male student who will be returning to university in September. I am looking for a bike to use for both commuting (a short 1.5 mile commute) to campus and fitness cycling on the road.

My current bike is branded as a 'kinetika promax' - a bike which my parents received as a free gift when purchasing gym membership (around) 8 years ago. From what I can tell, it is a hybrid or a mountain bike, has basic components and is heavy (14-15kg on the scales). I have been using it for relatively short fitness rides over the summer, cycling in my local area along country lanes. Due to the fact that I have pretty much outgrown it, along with a fair amount of rust, I think it is time to upgrade.

My budget is £200-£320, with a potential to stretch a little bit if it would be worth it in the long run. (Note: With any purchases from Halfords I would use this method to get ~20% off).

I have mainly been looking at hybrids so far, however I am open to a road bike if a good deal presents itself and it would be suitable for a daily commute. So far my (not very short) shortlist is:

Carrera Crossfire 1 2015 - £229.99
Carrera Crossfire 2 2015 - £299.99
Boardman Hybrid Sport - £379.99
Boardman Hybrid Comp - £399.99
B'TWIN Triban 500 Flat Bar - £260.00
Giant Escape 3 2015 - £239.99
Cannondale Quick 6 2015 - £319.99

This is by no means an exhaustive list, just the ones that have stuck out to me in my research so far.

Any help or advice whatsoever would be much appreciated, cheers!

 

[matiz]

Hi and welcome to the forum .I can recommend the Boardman comp I've had one for a year put a lot of miles on it and had no problems its well built handles well and has a good range of gears .I use it more than my road bike now.

 

[marihino]

yeah, the Boardmans look good. The BTwin is a popular choice too, and for good reason. I ride one every day (slightly higher model with carbon fork and Sora groupset) and am very happy with it for my commutes and fitness rides. I would't recommend any suspension, it will be heavy and absorb your pedalling energy, turning it into bouncing up and down rather than moving forward.

 

[Southside Mike]

As your commute is very short, there probably isn't any need to look at specific "commuter" bikes.

Maybe think about what you'll be doing the rest of the time with it. If it's mainly roads then I think you might be best off with a road bike. If you are thinking about some off road stuff then a hybrid. Don't bother with suspension, though, you only need that for proper mountain biking.

 

[Wafer]

If you did want a road bike option the B'TWIN TRIBAN 500 SE is well rated and £300 now http://www.decathlon.co.uk/triban-500-se-road-bike-black-id_8306187.html

Depends what you want though. When I switched from hybrid to road bike it took me some time to get used to having my hands on the hoods and feeling confident braking with them in traffic. I could certainly see why a hybrid is easier to get on with, but now I'm used to the road bike and the drops it's not a problem.

Any of the bikes you've linked would do the job well enough, if I trusted my local Halfords the Boardmans looks pretty good, especially the comp with the bb5 disc brakes.

Might be worth going into a local bike shop too, sounds like the end of bike year deals are getting going and might find a bargain there too.

 

[university]

Hi and welcome to the forum .I can recommend the Boardman comp I've had one for a year put a lot of miles on it and had no problems its well built handles well and has a good range of gears .I use it more than my road bike now.

OK thanks, that's good to know. Is there any specific reason you use it over your road bike (e.g. comfort)?

yeah, the Boardmans look good. The BTwin is a popular choice too, and for good reason. I ride one every day (slightly higher model with carbon fork and Sora groupset) and am very happy with it for my commutes and fitness rides. I would't recommend any suspension, it will be heavy and absorb your pedalling energy, turning it into bouncing up and down rather than moving forward.

Cheers, and yeah I see what you mean regarding suspension, and as I don't plan to do any major offroading it would just be wasted.

As your commute is very short, there probably isn't any need to look at specific "commuter" bikes.

Maybe think about what you'll be doing the rest of the time with it. If it's mainly roads then I think you might be best off with a road bike. If you are thinking about some off road stuff then a hybrid. Don't bother with suspension, though, you only need that for proper mountain biking.

Ok thanks, I think I'll take a look at a few road bikes. My only worry is thst the transition from my current bike to a road bike may be a bit much - though long term I reckon I'll probably end up getting a proper road bike regardless.

If you did want a road bike option the B'TWIN TRIBAN 500 SE is well rated and £300 now http://www.decathlon.co.uk/triban-500-se-road-bike-black-id_8306187.html

Depends what you want though. When I switched from hybrid to road bike it took me some time to get used to having my hands on the hoods and feeling confident braking with them in traffic. I could certainly see why a hybrid is easier to get on with, but now I'm used to the road bike and the drops it's not a problem.

Any of the bikes you've linked would do the job well enough, if I trusted my local Halfords the Boardmans looks pretty good, especially the comp with the bb5 disc brakes.

Might be worth going into a local bike shop too, sounds like the end of bike year deals are getting going and might find a bargain there too.

Thanks for the recommendation , I'll take a look at the SE. Just on a side note, how much better are disc brakes? Is it just personal preference?

 

[w00hoo_kent]

Ok thanks, I think I'll take a look at a few road bikes. My only worry is thst the transition from my current bike to a road bike may be a bit much - though long term I reckon I'll probably end up getting a proper road bike regardless.

I think flat bars still count as proper :-)

The big two bonuses with drop handlebars are a more aerodynamic riding position (you do notice it even if you think you won't) and oddly more options for where to put your hands which can make longer rides more comfortable (providing you are happy with the increased tuck of the riding position).

You don't mention how bumpy the geography around your Uni is, that might matter. And how urban it is too. You could do worse than go to Evans, see what they have on sale and give something with drops a try out.

 

[Wafer]

You'll get very different opinions on disc brakes. Some say they are nice, some say they offer no benefit over well setup rim brakes. It was more that though the BB5s aren't among the best cable operated disc brakes around they are meant to be reasonable and I would think better than those on the crossfire 2.
BB5s on a bike that you might be able to get for about £320 sounds pretty good.
In the same way that getting a carbon fork on the triban 500se road bike at that price is good too, you can buy road & hybrid bikes costing twice that and still only get alu forks.

Personally I like disc brakes, probably not a big deal for your needs but nice if you can get a fairly cheap bike with components you'd normally expect to see on more expensive models.

 

[matiz]

OK thanks, that's good to know. Is there any specific reason you use it over your roadbike.

I prefer the straight bars and disc brakes on the boardman for riding round town dodging daydreaming holidaymakers,but I always use the roadbike for longer distances ,for the extra speed and slightly lighter weight on the hills.

 

[university]

Thanks for all the help guys - currently seriously considering getting the Boardman Comp Hybrid, though I will further check out road bikes before any purchase.

 

[vickster]

Where are you based? If the London area, I'm selling a 2011 Whyte Cambridge for £300. It had an RRP of £900 and the spec reflects that (IMO). Ad in the sale forum

 

[university]

Where are you based? If the London area, I'm selling a 2011 Whyte Cambridge for £300. It had an RRP of £900 and the spec reflects that (IMO). Ad in the sale forum

Thanks for the offer, though unfortunately I'm based in the South-West.

 

[bikingdad90]

Hi,

I would recommend the Boardman Hybrid Comp but hold off until the August bank holiday sale (had one last two years in a row) to get a 10/15% discount reducing the price to £359 and then join British cycling and get a further 10% off bringing it down to £323 and buy the gift card for the 10% saving and you are looking at a total cost of £291. Spend your extra £10 on some innertubes for when the fairly arrives.

 

[university]

Hi,

I would recommend the Boardman Hybrid Comp but hold off until the August bank holiday sale (had one last two years in a row) to get a 10/15% discount reducing the price to £359 and then join British cycling and get a further 10% off bringing it down to £323 and buy the gift card for the 10% saving and you are looking at a total cost of £291. Spend your extra £10 on some innertubes for when the fairly arrives.

Tough decision as there is currently a 10% discount code working on adult bikes at Halfords (see here) - combining this with vouchers and BC I'd get to the same price. Is the bank holiday sale normally 10%? Cheers

 

[bikingdad90]

Ah wasn't aware of that, discount could be anywhere between 10% and 20% on average.

To throw a spanner in the works have you looked at Evan Cycles, if you have a club card you can convert your vouchers into gift cards at Evans.
If you have an NUS student card, can it be used there for further discount?

Tough decision as there is currently a 10% discount code working on adult bikes at Halfords (see here) - combining this with vouchers and BC I'd get to the same price. Is the bank holiday sale normally 10%? Cheers