Suggestions for new bike

davkav

Was wondering if anyone had any opinions on either of these bikes. was looking to buy a new bike to start cycling to college, not looking at getting a racer as I dont like there style
thanks in advance for anyones help

GT Aggressor 1 for approx €400

or

Trek 6500

Alkers

Well the 2nd bike is overkill and anything with discs will be prone to theft.

Squirrel

Whatever you buy, take it for a long cycle up the mountains, really mucky it up. Then take off transmission parts and other nessecary parts and clean them. Make sure the frame looks horrible. Could prevent it getting nicked

mockerydawg

For the sake of a bike that will be used mainly or only for road, you're wasting money on anything with suspension. It'll add extra weight, it'll require servicing, and as a budget fork, it won't exactly work all that well. You can get better rigid forks for the price of a budget bouncer.

Look out for anything specced with a decent Kona P2 chromoly fork or a Spcecialized chromo fork - 2 rigid forks I would thoroughly reccomend over budget suspension. I have used both on and off road and they have been far more confidence inspiring and responsive than any (and thats alot) low end forks.
For a college bike, try get a steel frame in dark colours - it's far less attractive than a nice fat tubed shiney alloy bike to prospective theiving b******s. A good steel frame will last alot longer than cheap alloy, so look out for the likes of voodoo or kona on ebay or in second hand shops in town.

Good luck and happy cycling

silverside

well i'll politely disagree with mockerydawg,
i have a trek 6500 and it does the job for commuting, it's pretty fast, and the suspension comes in handy for potholes and kerbs. if you can get a decent one for 300 euro go for it. The gt is a good bike too. if you ever want to go offroad (even on canal paths or forest trails) you'll appreciate suspension. It's true that if you're getting anything much cheaper than the trek, the suspension will be pretty cr@p. I don't think the OP wants to be stripping down and building bikes himself.

but i'm not sure if i'd park it outside, particularly if it has disks.

HusseinSarhan

The 6500 looks like a really good hardtail for MTBing but I think I'd be heartbroken if it got nicked from college. Disks just attract thieves. Buy it yeah, but be weary commuting on it. Use it as a nice MTB. It is not a road bike and will be out performed by racers costing hundreds less on the roads.

Eh... also suspension is not really needed for communting. If you think about it you shouldn't be jumping up kerbs all that much! If you are talking about those really little ones then you just have to pull up the handle bars, in fact even on large ones you can get over them no bother as long as you judge it right. Potholes would be a lot smoother butwhat about avoiding them.

For commuting get a real cheap used mtb with some slicker tyres or alternatively, fita set of flat handlebars to a racer... hybridise it. :v: