Your thoughts on my choice of bike.

[orbital]

Hi everyone,

First post so be gentle B)

I've been looking at buying a new bike over the last couple of months. I've owned a Raleigh Max Ogre mountain bike for the last nine years and I've pretty much worn it out! I know it's not the best bike in the world, but it really has taken some abuse over the years and has never let me down. I do like the look of some of the hybrid bikes out there, especially the GT Transeo 3.0 (disc). I do quite a bit of cycling on the road, but like to take the odd canal path or trail now and again too and think the Transeo might fit the bill nicely. What do you gentleman (and ladies) think?

My budget is £400 (max) , I'd rather not spend that much if possible so anything cheaper, but still keeping the performance/quality would be good all thoughts and views appreciated.

Cheers

Dave

 

[Crackle]

Welcome Orbital, I'm not well up on Hybrids so won't proffer any suggestions just now. Have you checked out all the offerings from manufacturers like,

Dawes (www.spacycles.co.uk do good offers on Dawes)
Felt
Giant
Raleigh
Ridgeback
Specialized
Trek

I think they are the main ones who will have bikes in that price range. Best bet is to have a look, see what takes your fancy, see what price they are on the web (sometimes last years models are a good deal), post a few links up for comment and then get on and ride a few.

I'm sure someone else will be able to recommend something specific.

 

[Crackle]

Sorry, completely missed you'd asked about one B)

Seems reasonable. Would you need suspension for the kind of tracks you mentioned and not sure if there's any real advantage in disc brakes for the usage outlined. Both add weight and arguably uneccessary maintenance complexity.

Personally I would go more for something like this

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/sirrus-2009-road-bike-ec016920

It will take mudguards and a rack and is a rather elegant design. Slightly more road than the GT but will cope easily with the tracks you mentioned.

 

[Garz]

I suppose I am roughly in the same category as you, fairly new to bikes and upgrading. I go cycling with a friend most of the time and he has a GT MTB type bike, and although we occasionally come to a rough part of a route or kerbing we have now both agreed that we spend virtually all the time on the road.

My hybrid eats his on hilly climbs and open flats, so in a nutshell unless you plan to go fairly off road then I wouldnt persue too much into the 'must do canal path' terrain.

My next purchase im upping the spending into the £500-700 bracket as I found under this you get inferior parts or something unwanted in the setup. Im sticking to the flat bar hybrid style but getting more or less the road bike. My friend is also changing to the hybrid once his cashflow permits. Hope I have been some help!

 

[orbital]

Cheers for the suggestions guy's.



I do genuinely enjoy going on the rough stuff now and again, no downhill you understand J but quite rut ridden in parts. This is why I thought a bit of suspension upfront wouldn’t go a miss. Saying that I do like the look of that Specialized bike, looks very sleek and nimble.

Keep the idea’s coming lads.

Cheers

Dave

 

[Angelfishsolo]

A ridgid bike will handle the rough stuff pretty well but I do agree front suspension is enjoyable. You could save yourself around £50 (and some bike weight) by opting for the 'V Brake' version of your suggested bike.

All in all it looks like a good choice of machine.

Cheers for the suggestions guy's.



I do genuinely enjoy going on the rough stuff now and again, no downhill you understand J but quite rut ridden in parts. This is why I thought a bit of suspension upfront wouldn’t go a miss. Saying that I do like the look of that Specialized bike, looks very sleek and nimble.

Keep the idea’s coming lads.

Cheers

Dave

 

[Crackle]

Cheers for the suggestions guy's.



I do genuinely enjoy going on the rough stuff now and again, no downhill you understand J but quite rut ridden in parts. This is why I thought a bit of suspension upfront wouldn’t go a miss. Saying that I do like the look of that Specialized bike, looks very sleek and nimble.

Keep the idea’s coming lads.

Cheers

Dave

There doesn't seem to be so many with suspension actually. Trek and Marin do equivalents to the Specialized as do Ridgeback and Raleigh. I mean I still use a rigid mtn bike for XC. It does for most trails, drop offs are still doable provided they're not too big, you can do a lot without suspension.

Ones with suspension seem to be labelled comfort or trekking bikes

aka this Giant or this Dawes

 

[Black Sheep]

i do a lot of miles on road and on rougher terrain and my old steel touring bike has stood up to it very well, exploits to date include:

daily ride over bumpy field
jumping speed humps
pot holes
cobbles
up and down kerbs
canal tow paths
those small flights of steps (3 stairs)
set of stairs that is essentially 20 kerbs one after another.

its done rather well to say its 40 years old and I built the wheels. it does indeed have drop bars.

basically, don't get an uber light weight racing bike, most road / touring bikes will stand upto some abuse.

 

[orbital]

When you think about it I reckon there is a fixation around suspension at the moment. I mean I look back at the stuff I used to do on my Raleigh Grifter and Bomber when I was I kid and not a spring in sight there!

I'm still taken by that Specialized Sirrus bike which Crackle posted at the beginning of this thread. It really does look nice. I can feel a trip to the bike shop coming on!


Cheers


Dave

 

[Randochap]

Concur that suspension is only needed for technical riding.

The suspension on cheaper hybrids will not do anything for road buzz; it only comes into play with big hits and even then is not very sophisticated. A good suspension fork -- by itself -- can not be had for your total budget.

So, my advice would be to look for a decent hybrid that can take mudguards and rack with tyres in the 32 - 40mm range.

The perfect answer to this question is found in a bike like my 650b Rivendell Bleriot. Unfortunately, such machines are rare on shop floors. Thse bikes were designed in the '20s, before many roads were paved. They are amazingly fast on Macadam and literally fly over trails and potholes. Too bad so few cyclists are familiar with their virtues.

 

[Crackle]

Trek do an equivalent to the Specialized. As standard it's fitted with slightly larger tyres then the Sirrus.

Also the Sirrus in its various guises gets a lot of mentions, here's just one thread about it.

http://www.cyclechat.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=34282

 

[orbital]

A good suspension fork -- by itself -- can not be had for your total budget.

That's a sad indictment on the bike manufactures of today if they can't make a decent front fork suspension assembly on a £400 bike! I've recently completed building a Lotus 7 kitcar and my four Gaz shocks for that only cost £320! and they have to cope with a 750kg car and driver not a 3kg bike and rider.

Cheers

Dave

 

[Sittingduck]

3Kg?

 

[orbital]

That's too light isn't it. It's hard to actually find bike weights, I've never really tried to look before. None of the big online retailers seem to list the weight of the bike in the spec's. Is 10kg more of an average?

Cheers

Dave

 

[Maz]

Something like a Specialized Globe might be the biz. Like a Sirrus but a bit beefier.
http://shop.devercycles.co.uk/images/prod_2770.jpg