Would like advice for a new bike please! :)

[Gilval]

Hi all!

been reading through some of the posts and you guys semm like a nice helpful bunch so I thought I'd see what you thought.

I went to my LBS (Ilove technical terms! ) and was shown a few differente bikes but I know nothing about bikes at all. I'm looking to get a bike in teh Cycle to work scheme and I've seen the bikes in store mentioned on a couple of threads.

The ones I'm looking at initially are the Kona Dew, Kona Smoke, Trek 7.2 and there was a Claud Butler that I was shown but can't for the life of me remember which one! Price wise I'm looking at the £300 to £400 range with the preference being the lower end of the scale, and the CB that I was shown was £260.

From what I've seen the Trek and Kona's have got some love on here, so is there anything to pick between them other than what feels 'right' as the Trek was £50 more than the Kona Dew, and other than the Smoke being steel and the Dew being an aluminium frame is there much between these two?

All opinions most welcome, and if you have a suggestion of other biles to consider I would be very interested to hear what you think!

Thank you very much in advance for any responses!

 

[Norm]

Depending on how much riding you do, you may find a world of difference between a steel and an aluminium frame.

What sort of commute? What sort of roads? Traffic volumes? Geography? What other riding are you wanting to do?

Took me ages to figure out what LBS meant.

 

[Matty]

Kona Dew Drop on offer at Wiggle. Doesn't help your LBS much!

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Kona_Dew_Drop_2009/5360039059/

 

[Gilval]

To start with its gonna be weekend cycling around my local area (Bath and Bristol area) and see if I get into it. The area is fairly hilly but I'll be aiming for cycle paths and roads predominantly so hopefully won't hit too much traffic

For the sort of cycling I'm looking to do am I likely to find much benefit with drop bars? Or as I'm just starting out is it something that I might consider upgrading to?

Thanks for the replies

 

[andyfromotley]

Go for drops and if youre just starting i would advise making sure its a triple (has 3 chain rings at the front).

In general most most bikes at similar price points, unsurprisingly, are all about similar!

Test ride all of your choices and one of the will speak to you. Trust me.

 

[on the road]

I agree, go for drops. You can still more or less ride in an upright position on a drop bar bike by riding on the hoods.

 

[normgow]

I would recommend a cyclo-cross bike, the lower end of the market models are usually equipped with bottle cage,mudguard and even carrier fixing points.
A triple chainset for a beginner is probably a good idea.
Make sure the brake levers are fitted well up on the bars to give a fairly upright position when riding on the hoods, also better when riding out of the saddle.
Later on a second pair of wheels fitted with road tyres might be a good idea.

 

[Banjo]

I have had a Trek Valencia for a few months and really like it.

If you intend riding cycle paths a lot dont get a bike with skinny tyres. You want 32c tyres minimum even 40c are ok.The skinny tyres such as 23 or 25 s are primarilly for going fast on the road at the expense of a harsher ride on any surface thats less than perfect.

Personally I like flat bars for general riding.You rarely see cyclists using the drops around town or on paths ,only when going fast on the open road,some people find it easier to look around with the more upright position of flat bars.I did a 100 mile ride yesterday on my trek with flat bars so they are capable of more than a trip to the shops :-)

Re Kona versus Trek go for a test ride and pick the one that feels right for you.Make sure they sell you the correct size bike,its not unknown for beginners to end up with an incorrect size which will never be fully comfortable to ride.Bike shops are usually open to a bit of bargaining,if they wont haggle on price try to get a deal on the helmet pump tyre repair kit and lock etc that you will need.

Good Luck, there are some great cycle routes in and around Brizzle/Bath :-)

 

[Gilval]

Wow, thanks all for the input, its much appreciated! Gonna head into the shop just up the road and see if I can test a couple. I popped in briefly today and they said that they had no stock of the Kona Dew as the 2009 stock is sold out and the 2010 stock wasn't in yet apparently so I guess it might be worth waiting a bit until there is generally more stock about.

On a lovely day like this I want my bike already to take it for a spin!

 

[Gilval]

Oh and another bike that my local shop showed me was the Claud Butler Urban 100. Apparently it's one of their best selling bikes and is available for £260, which is quite a bit less than the Kona and Trek. I realise it won't be quite as good but thinking it might be a good option to get me started at a reasonable price and then if I really get into the swing of it I can look at upgrading in a years time maybe.

A few people at work seem to think the Claud Butlers are good bikes...

 

[andyfromotley]

Oh and another bike that my local shop showed me was the Claud Butler Urban 100. Apparently it's one of their best selling bikes and is available for £260, which is quite a bit less than the Kona and Trek. I realise it won't be quite as good but thinking it might be a good option to get me started at a reasonable price and then if I really get into the swing of it I can look at upgrading in a years time maybe.

A few people at work seem to think the Claud Butlers are good bikes...

Be a very good starting bike. i have four good bikes in the garage some costing over £1k but i still do at least half my mileage on a 10 year old cheap Raliegh. I love that bike!

 

[Gilval]

Yeah after looking at them all and thinking about it I decided to go for the CB as the price difference is a fair amount and I figured I might as well save the money for my first bike and then I can look into upgrading to a swanky bike in the future!

Thank you everyone for your input, its much appreciated!