Sub £100 bike????

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2tyres

New Member
Hi,

I am completly new to this. I havent actually riden a bike for about 8 years and never riden a bike on the road (I was young enough to go out with my parents and only ride a bike in the park last time).

I am a student in Bath and have decided to take my bike instead of my car everyday as it is only a 3 mile (1 way) journy and todays petrol prices it makes sence to cycle....

Okay so this is the situation....Bath has a few hills I will need to go up (particulary going to uni) and I am looking to spend about £100 if possible. I have found a few bikes on the woolworths and halfords websites for £80.

Does anyone have any advice on what type of bike I should get and is it possible to get one for under £100? What should I look for?

Thanks for all the advice

2
 
At this kind of money avoid suspension and if you can possibly stretch to another £49 i'd reccomend the Mongoose Crossway , down from £199 to £149 and all sizes are still available ... our local Police Community Support Officers ride these and they love em

Simon
 

RedBike

New Member
Location
Beside the road
Avoid suspension, disc brakes and any other 'cosmetic' feature designed to tart the bike up.

Unless you're confident building and maintaining a bike I would avoid Woolworths and any other catalogue / none bike retailer. You would be MUCH better off paying a little bit more and getting a bike from a reputable bike shop (and I don't mean Halfords).

On such a tight budget I would probably go for an old road bike.
 

HJ

Cycling in Scotland
Location
Auld Reekie
With that budget I would recommend looking round for something second hand, new bikes at that price are going to be crap and cost more in the long run. Go round a few LBSs and ask if they know where you can get a good second had bike, you might get luck and find an ex-rental bike that has hardly been used. Old roads bike offer the best value as they not so fashionable.
 

Fab Foodie

hanging-on in quiet desperation ...
Location
Kirton, Devon.
Jakes Dad said:
At this kind of money avoid suspension and if you can possibly stretch to another £49 i'd reccomend the Mongoose Crossway , down from £199 to £149 and all sizes are still available ... our local Police Community Support Officers ride these and they love em

Simon
#
Hi 2tyres and Welcome.
Jakes Dad has found a corker,good basic stuff for a sensible price. Otherwise I echo the advice given, Decathlon is good too.
Being a student you don't want anything to flashy unless you have really secure parking. Something basic and second hand, even an old 3-speed hubbed job will be peachy, gt you around, low maintainance, low nickability.
 

bobg

Über Member
Welcome 2tyres. Where are you? If you can get to Merseyside, I have a neighbour with about 30 old but in full working order machines in his back garden. He keeps the bikes of the whole area up and running for the love of cycling. If you just want something to get about on then I know he would make you a gift of one. Ride it for a bit then you'll be in a better position to know what you really want. Good luck
 

simonali

Guru
You're not planning on cycling up Bathwick Hill on a 100 quid clonker, are ya?

Rather you than me!
 

Danny

Legendary Member
Location
York
If you don't know much about bikes I would go for the Mongoose, or a second hand bike from a local bike shop (LBS).

There are also some bargains to be had on eBay if you're careful. If you search this forum you'll find previous threads with lots of advice about buying from eBay, but you really need to know what kind of bike you want and what size you need before you start bidding.

Another option would be to see if the police auction off stolen bikes they've recovered but have never found an owner for. Again there are bargains to be had, but if a bike has been stolen the chances are that it has not been well treated and you are going to have to invest some money in doing it up.
 

pbar

New Member
Buy this, from Decathlon -
http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/rockrider-5-0-m-3964996/
At £69 it's a bargain, or for another £20 there are others you can get.
I know a couple of people who have this, or similar, and they love it.
You don't have to spend much to be able to cycle.
 

wafflycat

New Member
As others have said, avoid anything that has utterly unnecessary bits such as suspension, disc brakes.. Putting it bluntly, the typical sub-£100 bike from the likes of Halfrauds, Woolies and the like are basically heavy piping with components of cheese, often incorrectly put together, and often incapable of adjustment to be working properly: they're cruddy toys *not* a bike to be ridden. IMO they should be banned.

Saying that, Decathlon has some *basic* stuff in that's serviceable.

Plus, try your local press small ads, ebay, local bike shop for second-hand stuff.

Are you at Bath uni? If so, have a word with the students' union/campus security. It may be that there's periodic bike sales of stuff that's been left on campus. This may well tie-in with something like a bike mechanic visit, who would check the things over to make sure they aren't at least dangerous to ride.
 

killiekosmos

Veteran
2tyres, welcome to the forum.

As other have stated avoid bikes with front and rear suspension. You would just be buying extra weight to carry around and more bits to go wrong.

You are right to start off cheap in case you don't like cycling.

There are a few good suggestions here, I'd also suggest trying Tescos and checking local paper ads for s/h bikes.

Good luck
 

wafflycat

New Member
Personally I wouldn't touch a Tesco bike with a bargepole - from the one's I've seen for sale in my local Tesco. No better than the stuff in Woolies. Bicycle Shaped Objects rather than bicycles.
 
pbar said:
You don't have to spend much to be able to cycle.

Agreed. As long as it's safe and does the job, that's all you need. If you find you enjoy it, when you have a bit more to spend you can get yourself a nicer bike later on if you want. If it doesn't work out, you won't have wasted much.

... and as you don't want it to get nicked either, if you can stretch to it, get a couple of different designs of lock and use them! (Not a foolproof strategy, but it can make the would-be thief move on to look for an easier target).
 

Mortiroloboy

New Member
Dannyg said:
If you don't know much about bikes I would go for the Mongoose, or a second hand bike from a local bike shop (LBS).

There are also some bargains to be had on eBay if you're careful. If you search this forum you'll find previous threads with lots of advice about buying from eBay, but you really need to know what kind of bike you want and what size you need before you start bidding.

Another option would be to see if the police auction off stolen bikes they've recovered but have never found an owner for. Again there are bargains to be had, but if a bike has been stolen the chances are that it has not been well treated and you are going to have to invest some money in doing it up.[/QUOTE]


Check out virtual bumblebee it's an online disposal site for stolen goods. A lot of forces now pass bikes onto local charities who auction them to raise much need funds. Worth checking with A&S Pol. to see how they dispose of their found/stolen property. Going second hand is probably the best option as a sub ton new bike will be pretty basic, as others have said avoid any gimmicks like suspension forks and frames, at the price you are looking they will be absolutely awful and ruin the bike, much better off with a basic diamond frame no frills machine. If your journey does take you up Bathwick Hill consider a triple chainset, unless you are a whippet!
 
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