In need of some advice

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Mart79

Active Member
Hi guys,
Been looking at getting myself a new bike, I was contemplating buying a GT aggressor 29” 24 speed. But they are now out of stock on Tredz online, I’m sure other shops have something similar or the same. I currently have a budget bike 27.5” 21 speed. Which although is new, needs some attention and repairs........... some of you may remember my indexing post from some months ago.

anyway, after finding tredz have sold out of the bike I was looking at, is a 21+ speed bike a rare breed, as not many places seem to be selling them or is it just down to covid effecting the supply and demand , majority Of alternative bikes I have looked at are 18 speed. Sort of a downgrade from my current 21 speed. Additionally does a bike necessarily need 21 gears, I am more of a casual rider, not much off road, if at all (more of gravel pavement/around the local park). I suppose the idea of 21+ gears is great, but would a causal rider actually need anything more than an 18 speed?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated,
 

vickster

Legendary Member
18 is not necessarily a downgrade...it means it has a double chainset with 9 cogs on the back. While a 21 speed has a triple chainset with 7 cogs on the back.

You get fewer gears but they may be more usable, you need to look at the ratios. You don't need 21, you probably won't even use all 18 if just riding on the flat (indeed one gear may be sufficient!)

There is indeed a massive shortage of new bikes due to Covid

You could just fix up your existing bike?
 
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Mart79

Active Member
Thanks, to be honest when I have used my current 21 speed bike I probably only use the biggest cog when going up hill, and the smallest when on flat ground or downhill. The ratios listed on the specifications don’t mean much to me, I haven’t a clue what I am looking at, just the amount it says under ‘gears’ the bigger the number the more excited I am, like a kid in a sweet shop haha
 
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vickster

Legendary Member
The smallest ring at the front? That's for going up not down surely? One thing not to do is cross chain, ie large at front and large at back or small-small

More is not necessarily better. In fact many of the high end MTBs now only have one chainring at the front and 10-12 on the back. 7 speed is more low end than 9, be it double or triple

What sort of bike do you actually want and what budget?
 
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Mart79

Active Member
I did actually see a article not long ago about the newer MTB are now 1 at the front and x amount at the back, (new technology or something ??)

to be honest I want something that’s going to last, I have a cycle2work voucher for the value of £500, so may only enable a lower end bike??. I have been looking at a lot of the Carrera, Giant, and Trek. So the standard assortment in Halfords and Tredz.
 

Kingfisher101

Über Member
What you have got appears to meet your needs so just ride that and stop worrying about a few extra gears. Your not competing or anything so it wont make any difference. I'd get your current bike fixed and crack on.
 

vickster

Legendary Member
I did actually see a article not long ago about the newer MTB are now 1 at the front and x amount at the back, (new technology or something ??)

to be honest I want something that’s going to last, I have a cycle2work voucher for the value of £500, so may only enable a lower end bike??. I have been looking at a lot of the Carrera, Giant, and Trek. So the standard assortment in Halfords and Tredz.
Other retailers take Halfords vouchers too (not that they’ll have much more stock)
 
Location
España
Hi @Mart79
First of all, what is it about your current bike that you don't like, want to improve?
When you answer that then you'll be a good way along to deciding what bikes will be good for you.

As said above, the quantity of gears is less important than the range of those gears. My 21 speed gets me pretty much anywhere I want to go.

I'd suggest you have a bit of a look at gears etc. to get an understanding of the subject. Google Sheldown Brown for a great site all about bikes, bits and pieces.

I always think it's useful to look at component prices and availability too. A 7 speed cassete or chain may only be available by order or online but are probably significantly cheaper than the latest 1*10 (or whatever). You might "save" on your voucher, but end up paying in the longer term.

Good luck
 
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Mart79

Active Member
The dislikes of the the floppy gripshifters, and poor indexing, lack of suspension and it feels a heavy bike if that makes sense.

when I originally applied for the voucher I didn’t have a bike and wanted 1, in the time between application and being issued the voucher my wife bought me a budget bike from Amazon.........

I completely forgot about the voucher until payments started through my payroll, I attempted to cancel but by all accounts I had passed the 14 day cooling off period even though I hadn’t used the voucher, my own fault for not fully understanding the T’s & C’s

yes I can go out and get my current bike sorted out at a smaller cost than a new bike, maybe an idea to use my voucher to upgrade my gears on the bike, but for less hassle I might be better just to get another bike. Or just buy a random bike and sell it on effectively getting my money back, or paying off the value of the voucher
 

Cycleops

Legendary Member
Location
Accra, Ghana
The dislikes of the the floppy gripshifters, and poor indexing, lack of suspension and it feels a heavy bike if that makes sense.
Agreed they are crap but can be replaced easily by thumb shifters. Suspension is going to make it heavier and won't give much extra comfort or damping as all cheaper types are just a tube with a spring in, or 'air spring' as they are euphemistically called by manufacturers.
I think you'd be better off with a hybrid and for your budget you should be able to a decent one.
 
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Mart79

Active Member
Rather than approach the "problem" from the stand point "I have £500, what should I buy", IMHO, it would be preferable to first decide the TYPE of bike (eg road/gravel/MTB/Hybrid/etc) you want/need for your particular cycling regime. Once having made that decision, you can then examine a subset of the market which meets your budget.
That was probably one of the reasons I posted on the forum, as said in a previous post on this thread, when it comes to ratios, gears etc I don’t really know what I am looking at, what I needs, I don’t really like the look of the hybrid bike, I don’t know what it is about them. Suppose you can say they look a little flimsy, (I am sure they probably arent)

I will take everyone’s comments on board, I am not really in much of a rush to get out and buy a bike, lockdown restricts what we can and can’t do..........

thank you to all who have taken the time to read and contribute to my post
 

vickster

Legendary Member
You can’t just pay off the voucher. And you can’t sell the bike until the end of the hire period. It belongs to your employer and not you for the first year and until you’ve paid any settlement figure after that year
 

vickster

Legendary Member
A £500 MTB is going to be heavy compared to a rigid fork hybrid...suspension fork, heavier wheels and tyres etc all add up
This is £500 at Halfords as an example
https://www.halfords.com/bikes/moun...ntain-bike-2020---s-m-l-xl-frames-439582.html
or https://www.halfords.com/bikes/moun...bike---16in-18in-20in-22in-frames-445828.html

Cheapest 29er is over the £500 and I don't think Halfords allow cash top ups
https://www.halfords.com/bikes/moun...tain-bike---16in-18in-20in-frames-445307.html
 
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T4tomo

Guru
Your already paying for the £500 voucher so its free "cash" to spend. from halfords - Boardman HYB8.6 or Voodoo Marasa will fit the bill from what you say you'll use it for. they have limited stock so its what you can find in your size
 
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