Upgrade or New?

[Jezston]

Hi, first post, have done a read around on the forum before posting but apologies if I'm going over well treaded ground!

I currently have a dilemma.

I started riding to work (about 4 miles through city and a-road each way with a train inbetween, a little hilly as in some long inclines - all 'work' but nothing too intense) a few months ago on a bike I inhereted from my dad and I've been thinking about ways my ride could be improved.

So my current bike is a 'BSA Westcoast', a make and model I could find absolutely no info on online and from my limited experience being into mountain biking a bit in my teens (i'm now 31) I would say it is either a cheap hybrid or rubbish mountain bike. Has 15 gears - all too low when going at speed, weighs a ton and has big fat chunky tires all of which I'm sure are totally inappropriate for cycling on roads.

After suffering a puncture (excuse my french) on my way to work last week I had a chat with other cyclists at my work (our offices are out in the county a bit so there's a fair few of us) and I had decided I'd change my tires to more road-suitable ones - specifically Schwalbe Marathon Plus with their anti-puncture stuff. A colleague had done a similar switch and stated he found his commute twice as easy. He also recommended I got them fitted rather than attempting myself as apparently it aint easy. So I took my bike into my local Evans and the chap there said yes it was a good idea, however my bike could do with some serious maintainance (stretched chain, dirty and slightly rusty gears, worn brakes etc) so getting the tyres, fitted, other fixes would overall cost me over £100 (if I do a few of these things myself).

Then I found out about the cycle to work scheme from a member of the admin staff at work, and am now thinking ... why go through all that and still end up with a fairly lousy bike when I could get a good new bike for less? However, not sure what I should be looking at. Don't think I want a proper road/racer bike - going from big chunky grip to thin superspeed would be a bit of a jump, and I like the ride position of a MB so think I'd like to go for a hybrid. Chap in Evans reckons £300-400 (meaning £170-240 to me with the CTW, £15-20 a month over the year) would get me something I'd be more than happy with - would he be right? Would I get something significantly more pleasurable to ride as well as solid and reliable for that money? Or in fact needn't I even spend that much? And could I get anything flogging off my old bike if I was to do so?

Planning on popping down shortly on my bike and having some test rides (assuming they allow that) to see what kind of difference I experience, but thought it would be good to get some thoughts from the more experienced to help me make a decision I don't regret!

Sorry for the slightly epic nature of the post, but I thought I should be as concise as possible

Jez

 

[KevinG]

I would definitely take advantage of the CTW scheme - £300 gets you a decent hybrid which is much more suited to the commute and you won't regret it.

I purchased a Trek FX 7.0 from Evans, £300 quid and its great for an entry level hybrid and covers miles much more easily than my old MTB. Worth trying a few out, I did there's lots in the price bracket.

For a proper commute also consider the additional equipment that may be needed e.g. lights, mudguards, clothing which adds up too.

 

[Jezston]

Cheers for the thoughts - this definitely seems to be the way I'm heading now.

Should add - lights and clothing I already have (although could do with finding some waterproof shoes!) - got some good waterproof/breathable cycling gear for my birthday - currently does feel a bit odd wearing clothes worth more than my bike!

 

[brokenbetty]

If you are doing the Evans scheme you get the discount on any accessories and upgrades you purchase at the same time (except maybe helmets?). Even if you don't need anything now it may be worth buying the replacements you know you're going to need eventually.

The Evans guy told me the scheme would cover upgrades that were compatible with the bike I was buying.

 

[Jezston]

So I tried out a couple of road/hybrid bikes today.

Night. And. Day.

I even felt quite comfortable riding on skinny little slicks which surprised me. Only jarring thing being ... well, the jarring! You can really feel the road on these things - even with suspension! A little worried about RSI!

Nice to ride a bike where even pelting downhill the gears still give plenty to go against rather than just spinning on any kind of downhill incline like on my current bike, and these aluminium/carbon things weigh like half my pig iron piece of crap MB!

So it looks like I'm definitely getting a new bike.

So currently it's a toss up between a Specialised Sirrus at £399 which seemed pretty nice or a Felt QX80 at £449 if I decide to puss out and get one with suspension. Also recommended I check out a Ridgeback Velocity but they didn't have any in so any independent thoughts and opinions are most welcome!

 

[KevinG]

Yes its a stiff ride. I actually like it, feels solid and keeps you focussed! You do get used to it.

My preference would be the Sirrus. Had it on my shortlist and it looks great - which colour would you go for?

Suspension for me only if going off-road on moderate tracks, otherwise wouldn't entertain it.

 

[Arch]

Ok, as you're sold on buying new (what fun!), why not keep the old bike, if you have room. You can strip it down, service it, rebuild it, learn how to do all the stuff that costs at a bike shop. It's a good way to learn it all, and it'll give you an idea how everything works, which is useful in case you ever need to do a quick get-you-home roadside repair. A good book - there's a Haynes manual for bikes - or online sources like Bicycle Tutor will help you through. You'll find out what tools are good to have, and how to use them. You could even have a stab at trueing a wheel or stuff like that.

Also of course, if you keep it, you always have a spare or backup if the 'good bike' needs to go in for anything like a service, or you want to ride in really sh1tty conditions and feel precious about the new bike.

Also, also of course the basic rule is that the ideal number of bikes to own is n+1, where n = the number of bikes you already have.

Anyway, have fun choosing!

 

[TheDoctor]

One easy way of dealing with both the weighs-a-ton issue and the gears-all-wrong issue would be to convert the old one into a singlespeed.
N+1 indeed...

 

[g00se]

New bike shopping - mmmmmmmmm!

Re the front suspension - There are so many rigid bikes out there and I haven't heard of cycling RSI - I don't think it's an issue other than being uncomfortable after being used to the other bike (unless - of course - there are some serious road defects on your commute).

But some padded gloves (fingerless mits for summer, and full warmer ones for winter) to take the buzz out of the hands.

 

[Ivan Ardon]

The prices you've got only apply if you're a 40% tax payer.

You still make a saving with CTW if you're a basic rate tax payer, but not as much as you think.

 

[g00se]

If you look at http://www.cyclescheme.co.uk/employee,calculator.htm - basic rate payers (eg. 20k pa) would make a 40% saving (as NI counts as well as tax). When you're paying to the top whack for tax, the saving increases to 50%-ish.

 

[Jezston]

Thanks again for the comments guys, all well appreciated.

Think I need to man up and get used to the vibration, besides suspension will slow me down and add to the cost - and I'm sure an extra £50 on suspension is either going to give me poor quality suspension or an inferior bike.

And Ivan - g00se is right, I'm not a 40% tax payer (yet) but I'm still looking at around 45% off according to the guys who admin the scheme at work. Although I had better go up and confirm this!

Anyone have any further thoughts on what bike I get? Would I see much benefit from upping my price band a tad?

 

[Jezston]

... and I have confirmed it. A £400 bike will definitely only cost me £240.

 

[Ivan Ardon]

You're right, my mistake.

 

[g00se]

Is it deffo the Evans scheme? If it is, then Evans sales prices are included. If it's cyclescheme.co.uk, then it's only certain shops (usually smaller independents) and it tends to be RRP.

At that price, most bikes will have similar specs and similar components so it'll be a matter of trying them out and picking between the different geometries, sizes etc. For £400 hybrid, the usual suspects are Specialized Sirrus, Trek 7.3FX, Kona Dew (Plus), Giant etc. (I got the Kona).