Greetings From Ashton-U-Lyne

[squeeze321]

Hi,
I am new to cycling and I do not own a bike at the moment but looking to purchase one within the next few months. I am still undecided wether to go for a mountain, hybrid or folding bike! Wow, how bikes have changed over the years!

Not looking forward to traffic, oh no staying well away from roads as much as possible as there are too many lunatic drivers out there who are just crazy and I think nerves of steel are what Cyclists need to survive on roads today.

There are a few cycle paths round here too, plenty of canals as well as country parks, so I seem to be living in a pretty good place for cycling, or so I presume. I am very curious to know if other people also feel the same.

 

[Shaun]

Hello, welcome to CC.

Ask away for bike advice, you'll get plenty of pointers, and you might be surprised how quickly you get used to roads / traffic once you've given it a go - but then I suppose that depends on where you are and how fast / busy the roads are, especially if you've not riden on the road in a long time - it might take a little while to build up your confidence.

Bikes have definitely changed and you'll hopefully end up with a comfy, easy-to-use bike that you enjoy riding and you'll soon be looking for n+1

Good luck.

Cheers,
Shaun

 

[I like Skol]

Welcome to the forum Squeeze

Ashton is a great place to cycle and the roads are not too bad at all, 98% of drivers are courteous and considerate.

'What bike?' is a perrenial question that has no definite answer. Choose the best you can afford that is comfortable, fits you well and is suitable for the intended use. The only condition I would add is don't get a bike with suspension, they are just rubbish and hard work.

Good luck and hopefully I will see you around the area

 

[Biker Joe]

Hi and
Have a look round the forum. There's plenty of advice on buying bikes.
Have fun choosing your bike.

 

[squeeze321]

Hello everyone
Thats an interesting point you made Skol about not choosing a bike with suspension, I was under the impression that suspension would make a more comfortable bike ride, prehaps acting as a shock absorber but I suppose some companies could use the suspension feature as an excuse to raise the prices of their bikes.

 

[I like Skol]

I suppose some companies could use the suspension feature as an excuse to raise the prices of their bikes.

Or to try and distract your attention away from the otherwise general crappiness of a nasty bike

 

[fossyant]

Only get front suspension if spending a number of hundreds of pounds, and rear if spending loads more.

If budget under £300 = no suspension, really, it's poo and weighs a tonne !

 

[Shaun]

You want your precious energy to go towards moving the bike forwards, not up and down like a yo-yo.

Well you do at my level of fitness anyway ...

 

[paul04]

Welcome to the website.Riding the bike on the road can be very daunting at first, stick to the quiet roads to start with until you build up your confidence, I do ride on the roads around ashton alot, and like "I like skol" said, ashton is a good place to cycle.

And if you want a challenge you can try some of the hills around oldham

 

[Ern1e]

Hi and welcome to the site and as paul04 says just stick to the quite roads/tracks for a while and just build it up from there, my first few rides out on the main roads I did either at night or very early sunday mornings ! not just as much traffic around so less to worry about, and as to your bike choice I would think a hard frame hybrid would be the best choice for you imo.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Slightly late to the party but; Hi and Squeeze.

You've already had some great advice and all I will add is to say; give some thought to what you want to use the bike for. The bike manufacturers have created models to fill every niche you could want and some you wouldn't have thought of (ElliptiGO anyone?) which in a way is great but for a newbie is just totally confusing.

 

[skudupnorth]

Big hello from me and welcome to the the friendliest cycle site going.As already said,don't do suspension unless you are playing serious off road all the time.If you are doing trails,canal tow paths ect then a good hybrid will do the job perfectly......my poor thing has been hammered everywhere and still keeps asking for more including a ride down to Cornwall fully loaded with camping hear !