First bike in a million years

[Kem]

hello

I am starting a new job which is 11 miles through mostly countryside villages and I was thinking with the price of petrol going up and the thought of sitting behind a desk again getting fat, it may be an idea to start cycling to work.
I am however really skint so looking for a reasonably priced bike. Have come across the Corratec 8 speed bike and thought it looked like a pretty good deal (58% off from Chain Reaction Cycles) at £250.
Is it an ok bike? I am not planning on breaking any land speed records but would like to be able to get to work in a decent time without too much effort. Any advice?

Thanks, Kate x

 

[rollinstok]

Hi
Just had a look at the Corratec and to be honest its very heavy ( 16.4 kg )
Leisure Lakes bikes have a Trek 7.0 fx at £260 which would make your journey much much easier
Try to stay away from bikes with suspension as it will just add unnecessary weight for road work, suspension also saps the energy you put into pedalling

 

[gbb]

TBF, it is a bit heavy, but it looks reasonably well specced at £250. Looks like you get lights on it as well. Ive seen worse bikes thats for sure.
Rollinstok's right in principle, suspension forks do sap your effort, better without them in general. If you can lock out the forks, thatd help, perhaps worth contacting CRC, see if they can tell you ?

 

[jonathanw]

Hi
Just had a look at the Corratec and to be honest its very heavy ( 16.4 kg )
Leisure Lakes bikes have a Trek 7.0 fx at £260 which would make your journey much much easier
Try to stay away from bikes with suspension as it will just add unnecessary weight for road work, suspension also saps the energy you put into pedalling

+1 to that

The trek is a great bike.

Commuting is a means to an end, not a chore. stay away from suspension and knobblies

 

[gbb]

Hi
Just had a look at the Corratec and to be honest its very heavy ( 16.4 kg )
Leisure Lakes bikes have a Trek 7.0 fx at £260 which would make your journey much much easier
Try to stay away from bikes with suspension as it will just add unnecessary weight for road work, suspension also saps the energy you put into pedalling

Just had a look at the Trek. Granted it's only 7 speed, not 8 like the corratec, but i have the 7.1FX and the only thing thats failed was the BB. Good frame, comfortable...not a bad bike.

 

[vickster]

If not the Trek and you are skint (and you'll need to buy a fair amount of kit - lock, padded shorts, lights, a helmet if you want to wear one, all of which will add up to £100+), the halfords Carrera Subways offer good vfm for £200 http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/..._productId_821651_langId_-1_categoryId_165534 (there's a female specific too to look at)

On the Trek front, leisure lakes only have the 17.5" at £260 (which might be spot on if you are 5'6-5'9) ... also is it not still the case that you have to buy Trek in store only? Fine if you live in Cumbria...(although others may have it locally)

 

[Kem]

Thank you all for your advice, that's great. Will check out the Trek - Evans sell them as well and there is a shop down the road from me so will go in next Saturday. Thanks again