Which bike?

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BenScoobert

Senior Member
Location
Halifax
Hi
My 1st post on the forum, firstly a little background and why I'm posting. I've had many bikes during my childhood, up to about 17 years old, then last month I was givien a ridgeback mx4 mountain bike by a friend, I started following my brother on his hybrid, I say following rather than riding with as he is fitter and on a hybrid so he always got there much earlier than me. I took a bit of a fall off it a couple of weeks ago, I'd forgotten how much that hurt since I was a kid, landed on rough ground and took a heavy hit in my kidneys and ribs. No long term damage done anyways. So after that little escapade offroad I though better to stick to the tacmac and ride WITH my brother.
Then by some magical coinsidence my workplace offered the cycle to work scheme. Which brings us to today, after a 16 year gap from cycling there are many new things I have to learn. Also to choose the right bike.

The deal they offer is for a bike with value of £1000 or less, which they claim costs me £661 after the benefits etc.
There are so many bikes to choose from, I could just pick a £1000 bike and hope for the best but that would be silly. So I came here to ask for a little advice and guidance.

http://www.cyclesolu...s%20or%20Unisex
Here is link to a narrowed down list

I've filtered out the womens, offroad, cheaper bikes, but it still leaves me with 53 choices.

So I guess thats as far as I got, any help from here needs to be from people more knowledgable than myself, any help is greatly appreciated.

The other issue is that I'd wondered if they inflate the starting price and I may actually be better off shopping elsewhere.
Thanks
Ben
 

rusky

CC Addict
Location
Hove
Hi & welcome to the forum.

Not used the C2W scheme so I'll leave that for others to comment on! I do know that you lease the bike from your employer & it's up to you to maintain & insure it.

WRT to the bike, go to a local bike shop & get yourself fitted so you get the correct size.
 
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BenScoobert

BenScoobert

Senior Member
Location
Halifax
I didn't even realise they did single speed.

I'm looking at it as a hire purchase, we get the option to buy the end, a work colleage had a final payment of £45 on his from the scheme 2 years ago.
 

Soltydog

Legendary Member
Location
near Hornsea
It really depends what kind of riding your going to be doing.
You need to decide if flat bars, or drops are for you.
If the bike is to be used for commuting & all year round, get something that you can easily fit a rack & mudguards to.

I bought a bike through the same scheme about 3 years ago, the price through wheelies is just the rrp & the savings are through reduced tax & NI .
Who do you work for? Sometimes wheelies will do a 'roadshow' at employers & you may be able to try out a few bikes :dry:
 
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BenScoobert

BenScoobert

Senior Member
Location
Halifax
It will be road riding, I'm going to go to the local cycle shop today and have a look and a measure. I think drop handle is my preference right now, but lets see by the end of the day.

It will be mostly fine weather cycling, commuting, but we have showers at work if it all goes wrong.
Mostly it is for excecise, my weight has crept up steadily and I need to do something rather than sitting on my backside all day.

There's no mention of a roadshow but I'll dig a little deeper, maybe they forgot to mention it.
 

Gerry Attrick

Lincolnshire Mountain Rescue Consultant
Before deciding on any bike, go around some local bike shops (LBS) and test ride as many as you can. If you intend to use the bike for leisure/fitness riding in addition to commuting, then you will need something comfortable. Maybe for example, an out and out racing type bike is not for you.

It looks as though you are in the first stages of a serious affliction suffered by most on here. There are many names for it but I call it Spontaneous Bike Acquisition Syndrome. In the final stages it causes you to move to a larger house to garage all those bikes you've collected.
 

Soltydog

Legendary Member
Location
near Hornsea
Before deciding on any bike, go around some local bike shops (LBS) and test ride as many as you can. If you intend to use the bike for leisure/fitness riding in addition to commuting, then you will need something comfortable. Maybe for example, an out and out racing type bike is not for you.

It looks as though you are in the first stages of a serious affliction suffered by most on here. There are many names for it but I call it Spontaneous Bike Acquisition Syndrome. In the final stages it causes you to move to a larger house to garage all those bikes you've collected.

I suffered from SBAS when my employer did the C2W scheme. I bought a Spesh Allez Elite :dry: After a while a realised I needed something with rack & guards, so ended up buying a hybrid too, but then did a bit of touring on the hybrid & realised it wasn't really upto the job, so bought a tricross for touring. You need a crystal ball to see where your path is going to take you, then you can buy the right bike :rolleyes:
 

JtB

Prepare a way for the Lord
Location
North Hampshire
People here can advise on things to look for in a bike and things to try and avoid based on your intended usage, however it seems you already know what type of bike you want. My guess is there's lots of good bikes in your price bracket and at the end of the day distinguishing between them is going to boil down to personal choice. I'm not sure this personal choice is always rational, sometimes I think it's driven more by emotional preferences. For example, I have emotional preferences towards Bianchi and Cube bikes, while Giant, Specialized and Dawes bikes don't do much for me (a bit like not liking Skoda irrespective of whether or not they are good cars). Anyway, if you're interested in seeing which are the most popular bikes on this forum, here's an old thread to check out:
http://www.cyclechat.net/index.php?/topic/55973-list-of-ccers-bikes/
When you finally buy your bike, don't forget to add it to the above thread to help other newbies.
 

lanternerouge

Veteran
Location
Leafy Cheshire
Before deciding on any bike, go around some local bike shops (LBS) and test ride as many as you can. If you intend to use the bike for leisure/fitness riding in addition to commuting, then you will need something comfortable. Maybe for example, an out and out racing type bike is not for you.

It looks as though you are in the first stages of a serious affliction suffered by most on here. There are many names for it but I call it Spontaneous Bike Acquisition Syndrome. In the final stages it causes you to move to a larger house to garage all those bikes you've collected.

I think I've got that. Where can I get help??
 

Cyclist33

Guest
Location
Warrington
I'd have the £999 Cinelli myself but you sound like the Tricross Sport or Sirrus Comp would suit you very well, just need to check the fit (size, position, comfort) of the bikes really.


Stu
 

MacB

Lover of things that come in 3's
If you want a compromise between road bike and carrying ability, especially if you want a rack and all weather commuting then there're a few that catch my eye. For this sort of thing I'm swinging more to the idea of disc brakes and we should see a wider variety coming available now that they are legal for all cross racing. A couple that spring to mind are:-

Genesis Criox De Fere - this leans more to the cross side

Kona Honky Inc 2010 - this is more road orientated

steel frames, rack and guard mounts, STI shifters, the Genesis has Shimano cable disc brakes but the Kona comes with Avid BB7 mechanicals, these seem rated the best of the bunch.

One bike is always a compromise somewhere, if you want it to do a multitude of things. If you get really keen I'd say something like one of these for your general stuff and then a nice roadie for weekends may be the ultimate.
 
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BenScoobert

BenScoobert

Senior Member
Location
Halifax
Well its been an informative 90 mins at the shop, I've ridden 3 bikes, Geneis Aether 10 and 20 and a hybrid I've forgotten the name of, the Genesis vapour may be a better option and compromise.

I now know I need a 56cm frame, I though tI needed a 54cm before I left the house, but I have a long body and short legs for a 5' 9" guy. The shop didn't have much outside the genesis range but I'm favouring the 20 right now.
Sadly the cycle to work scheme doesn't have my size, my brother got his on the ctw scheme and they let him choose the supplier, I'm going to call and ask if I can do that as I'd prefer a local store.

I have no preference for a particular brand as I don't even know what brands are available.
I don't think I need a carrying ability as such, a light rucksack on my back would be enough for what I need.

Genesis Criox De Fere looks nice too but there wasn't one in the shop
 

potsy

Rambler
Location
My Armchair
If you want a compromise between road bike and carrying ability, especially if you want a rack and all weather commuting then there're a few that catch my eye. For this sort of thing I'm swinging more to the idea of disc brakes and we should see a wider variety coming available now that they are legal for all cross racing. A couple that spring to mind are:-

Genesis Criox De Fere - this leans more to the cross side

Kona Honky Inc 2010 - this is more road orientated


steel frames, rack and guard mounts, STI shifters, the Genesis has Shimano cable disc brakes but the Kona comes with Avid BB7 mechanicals, these seem rated the best of the bunch.

One bike is always a compromise somewhere, if you want it to do a multitude of things. If you get really keen I'd say something like one of these for your general stuff and then a nice roadie for weekends may be the ultimate.

Looked at the Croix the other week in EBC,assistant in there put me off it a bit tbh,wasn't exactly 'selling ' the bike.
Like the look of that Kona though Mac,will have to add that to my ever growing short-list for my winter/load carrying next bike :dry:
 
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