New Bike and accessories

[Winston]

Hello everyone.

I am shortly going to buy a bike through the Cycle to Work scheme which has to be through Halfords. Looking to buy a bike for some road and light off road (cycle path) and likely going to buy a Boardman Hybrid. After browsing this site and a few others, the Boardman Hybrid gets a good write up and when I saw it in Halfords it looked the part - if its not, can someone let me know before I blow any cash on it.

Looking for a few other bits of advice:

• I am going to put my bike in my shed at night. The shed itself is pretty flimsy so there is nothing solid to fix the bike to. Any tips on what I should buy for security for it?
• My bike will be kept in the underground car park at work so will probably get a D-Lock (?) when its there. Any recommend a good one or alternatively, is this the best kind of security?
• What of basic accessories should I buy - lights/mudguards/pump - anything else?

I have a budget of £900 for the bike and accessories.

All help / advice gladly welcomed.

Winston

 

[Tynan]

Do a ground anchor for the hsed, bolt into concrete or if it's earth you can get one the screws into the soa monster chain and padloch from a hardware store for the shed, same again for the car park, leave them both where they're used, something lightweight if you locj anywhere else

mudgurads are good if yo;re going to ride year round, rack is good if you want to carry a pannier for clothes, lunch etc, some use rucksacks

a good pump and a tube and a repari kit and a multitool

depends on your mileage but proper cycle clothing will make you more comfortable riding

a lightweight showerproof top for rain, helmet, some gloves

£900 should be enough to get good kit all over

some decent bike shops will accept Halford type vouchers, ring them and ask them, they'll give you better advice and kit than Halfords

 

[Sittingduck]

20% off Carerra bikes in Halfords - starting Today!

Just a thought The Boardmans are meant to be v good bikes though. By the way hi and welcome to CC

 

[Winston]

Thanks for the replies.

Winston

 

[HJ]

If you are getting a pump to carry on the bike from Halfrods get this one. A lot of mini pumps claim to be able to pump to 110psi + but is practice you won't get much above 40 psi (which is ok for mountain bikes but useless for all others) as you have to be able to hold the pump in place above the valve with nothing to brace against. Whereas this style of mini pump which doubles as a track pump you brace against the ground, there are other version available in other shops as well, ie the Topeak Morph Turbo Mini Pump.

 

[Llama]

for the shed - if a ground anchor is not viable a big builders bucket filled with concrete - bury a d lock and chain your bike to that is much better than nothing.

Lights - wiggle smart lights on offer at £15 good deal at the mo- get a spare rear light - smart super flash about £12 - run one flashing one constant.
pump and puncture repair kit

locks wise- if your near decathlon get a trelock bs 510 for £30 if not its a kryptonite or abus £50 ish. a cable extender for the front wheel is also a good idea

 

[punkypossum]

If you are getting a pump to carry on the bike from Halfrods get this one. [/URL].

Hi HJ,

Can you tell me how long this pump is?

 

[simon_brooke]

If you are getting a pump to carry on the bike from Halfrods get this one. A lot of mini pumps claim to be able to pump to 110psi + but is practice you won't get much above 40 psi (which is ok for mountain bikes but useless for all others) as you have to be able to hold the pump in place above the valve with nothing to brace against. Whereas this style of mini pump which doubles as a track pump you brace against the ground, there are other version available in other shops as well, ie the Topeak Morph Turbo Mini Pump.

I've just got myself a Blackburn Airstick SL. It's ridiculously tiny and light, but it does a good 120psi without difficulty. In general I agree that the Topeak Morphs are good pumps, but it definitely is not true that mini pumps don't cut it!

 

[HJ]

Hi HJ,

Can you tell me how long this pump is?

I can't tell you exactly how long it is, but I had a look at one in a shop as I past the other day and it was the same size as the other mini pump they were selling (only I don't remember which one that was). It was defiantly mini pump size, ie a wee bit longer than a bottle cage. Sorry I am not being much help...

I've just got myself a Blackburn Airstick SL. It's ridiculously tiny and light, but it does a good 120psi without difficulty. In general I agree that the Topeak Morphs are good pumps, but it definitely is not true that mini pumps don't cut it!

I would be surprised if you can genuinely pump a tyre to 120psi holding it against the rim. I am not saying that the pumps aren't capable of getting to that pressure, but in my experience the problem is in holding the pump as you try to get to higher pressures while standing at the side of the road. Also I see that the Airstick SL doesn't have a gauge, so how do you know you have got to 120psi? Once the tyre gets above 40pis (or so) you can tell how much harder it is by pressing your thumb against.

This is which I would suggest that a pump with a hose which you can rest against the ground while you get to the higher pressure is better. Also having a gauge is also useful, OK so it might only be accurate to + or - 5psi, but at the side of the road what you need to know is the difference between 60psi and 90psi, something you can't tell by thumb alone...

A mini pump is never going to be a replacement for a good track pump at home.

 

[Mr Pig]

Alternative to the ground bucket things...

Make two holes in the side of the shed either side of one of the main vertical wooden straps. Put the chain through the holes, around the strap. Now they could cut the strap, if they have a saw. So you bolt a strip of steel bar to the outside of the shed, running down the strap!

Thruth is that they could get past anything you use, if they have the tools and the time. The trick is to make it such a pain in the butt that they'll give up. And you don't need to spend a fortune. For the shed door you can use window bolts mounted at the top and bottom.

Make sure you get long ones. You mount them onto blocks of wood on the inside of the door with the key going through a hole on the front of the door. Now obviously they could open them, if they had a window bolt key, and knew they were there. But in the dark of night neither are likely.

Another option is to run two steel rods through holes in the side of the shed into the sides of the door. Put a bolt on the end of the rod so that it dosn't go in too far and it looks like it's just a bolt holding the shed together. To open the door you just pull the bolt out a few inches. Again, if they knew the bolts were there they could just pull them out, but they won't. They will never think of looking on the side of the shed for the thing that's holding the door shut.

Just think about how you would get into the shed if you had to. Oh and don't forget the hinge side! And the walls! Why bother with the door if the walls fall off?

 

[Winston]

Thanks for the further replies.

Winston