New to commuting help needed please.

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

warringtonblade

New Member
Hi
I have recently started commuting to work - about 8 miles a day and am desperate for a bike that I don't feel will fall apart at any moment. I have a budget of about £300 and have got lost with so many different options from so many different sites that I have no idea which is best for my money. Can some one help me with the options I have found please?

This one


or this

or maybe

Many thanks for any helpful comments.
 

palinurus

Velo, boulot, dodo
Location
Watford
Are there any among those choices that you can buy locally? it'd give you a chance to test ride, find out which of your local shops are helpful.

Otherwise I wouldn't really know which one to choose, I expect someone else will post with some opinions or experience with one or more of these.
 
OP
OP
W

warringtonblade

New Member
Are there any among those choices that you can buy locally? it'd give you a chance to test ride, find out which of your local shops are helpful.

Otherwise I wouldn't really know which one to choose, I expect someone else will post with some opinions or experience with one or more of these.


I can get to try all three - One thing I was wondering about was the quality of the parts/frames etc. Are they all similar quality or is there one or more that is much better/ worse than the others?
 
Depends on the amount of hills on your ride.
The Edinburgh has 8 gear ratios which is a big consideration if you are in a very hilly area, but it has great brakes and spec for the money.
The Scott looks fastest, but weaker spec. and brakes.
The Carrera is in the middle, but you may suffer the Halfords lottery, some branches can set up new bikes, unfortunately most seem unable to - in which case your own maintenance skills (or those of another bike shop @ cost) will be required.
 
IMO the Ed Co Ops a bit undergeared and only has one chainring so there isn't much option if you want to go faster or are struggling on hills. The Scott looks the nicest but the Hellfrauds one is probably best specced but as 2Loose says its Hellfrauds and its a bit hit or miss (particularly miss) when it comes to service. My inkling would be the Scott but don't rule out any until you've tried a few.
 

battered

Guru
The best is the one you like riding. That's it. £300 bikes are all pretty good. Better a £300 bike you like than a £1000 bike that's not right for you. you'll need to ride them to know.
 
OP
OP
W

warringtonblade

New Member
Thanks everyone - it seems that all will do the job and it is up to me, which is great. I live in a relatively flat part of the world and the Ed co-op seems to be the one that may have less to go wrong on it. I was wondering if I would be paying a bit for the Scott name and Halfords seems to be a bit of a four letter word on here!

Overall I believe that I won't be wasting my money on any of them - which was my main concern.

Thanks again.
 
Halfords aren't that bad in my experience. I bought a boardman mtb a while back and all that was wrong was a slightly out-of-adjustment front mech (easily sorted by the turn of one screw) and the first free service was good enough for me.
£300 is not a lot to 'buy into the Scott brand'...it's a good make and that bike should be reliable. Edinburgh Co-op bikes come well recommended for their price. One other to consider (I'm thinking of asking for royalties) is this:

http://www.rutlandcycling.com/16548...ogle&utm_medium=froogle&utm_campaign=pid16548

Hope this helps

Bill
 
OP
OP
W

warringtonblade

New Member
Halfords aren't that bad in my experience. I bought a boardman mtb a while back and all that was wrong was a slightly out-of-adjustment front mech (easily sorted by the turn of one screw) and the first free service was good enough for me.
£300 is not a lot to 'buy into the Scott brand'...it's a good make and that bike should be reliable. Edinburgh Co-op bikes come well recommended for their price. One other to consider (I'm thinking of asking for royalties) is this:

http://www.rutlandcy...mpaign=pid16548

Hope this helps

Bill

Thanks for that, what I meant by the Scott was that it seems from the other comments that the spec on it was not quite as good as the others. So I wondered if the same bike with different name on it would be cheaper that was all.
 
Top Bottom