Recommendations for good leisure / commuting bike.

Wibbler

Hi folks,

I'm looking for recommendations for a bike suitable for leisure and possibly commuting use. I'd expect to keep to country roads and urban areas and I don't forsee any trips offroad. For leisure use, I'd mostly be planning trips of a few hours to a half a day duration and, if I do decide to use the bike for work, I would have a 16km trip each way on mostly country roads. It's been about ten years since I've been on a bike, so the commute may be out of the question initially

I've done some web research and there's huge choice both in terms of bike style and budget. Although there appears to be no shortage of bikes for a few hundred quid, I'd prefer to spend a bit of money (between €600 and €900) for something that will last, while being a pleasure to use.

I've seen a few hybrids during my research and they seem to strike a balance between efficiency and comfort, but I'd like to hear what others make of them and whether for general use bike type matters. The range of options for hybrids appears more restricted than that of mountain bikes or racers, so I don't want to limit my choices if bike type isn't going to be an issue.

Are there particular manufacturers that I should focus on and any that I should avoid?

Many thanks in advance for any advice that you can give. My current bike is over twenty years old and languishes in the shed at my parent's house. It's a steel framed mountain bike that weighes a ton. I'd expect things have moved on considerably since it was made.

Civilian_Target

If you're looking for something really good, I have a second hand one of these:
http://www.bicycledoctor.co.uk/p_orbitorion.html
and it's a sweet machine. Hub gears means you change down effortlessly at lights, mud & chain guards mean you can just wear your normal clothes if you like, its reasonably light, the dynamo front light means you can always see (although I hear the new version comes with an on/off switch and capacitor which mine sorely lacks) and overall it's just a really nice setup for urban cycling.

Wibbler

To follow up my own question. I looked back through the archive for this board and found that my query is pretty much a FAQ. I also got some tips on brands, bike styles and suppliers.

Looking at Halfords (which is convenient to where I work), I note that they have a bike called a "Carrera Subway 2":

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10001&langId=-1&catalogId=10151&productId=201199&categoryId=31319

Anyone have any experience of this bike? Online reviews have been positive and it has disk brakes which I like the sound of.

Wibbler

Civilian_Target wrote:

If you're looking for something really good, I have a second hand one of these:
http://www.bicycledoctor.co.uk/p_orbitorion.html
cycling.

Thanks CT!

I spent some time reading the archives last night and noted that you had good things to say about this bike! I can see myself and the girlfriend doing more country biking with very little by way of town use, so I'm probably looking for something less well adapted for urban use. Although maybe I'm shallow and can't see past the carrier and mud guards . It does look like a quality machine though. Are those hub gears the biz? When I hear 'hub gears', I think 3-Speed Triumph 20.

Out of curiousity CT, are you upgrading to something better?

dalk

From what i've read, the new hub gears have come a long way since my childhood... the old 3 speeds and back pedal brakes. Great for skidding though.:D

You can get 7, 8 and 14 speed hub gears now. Seem to be negligably less efficient than derailer and block. They require much less maintainence and as Civilian_Target mentioned you can change gears when you are stationary, which is a big plus with all the stopping and starting of city cycling. Cannondale even sell a hybrid with hub gears.

Anyway i cycle a second hand Dawes Discovery 701 and its great. And it has eyes for 'proper' mudguards, which in my opinion are essential. Those clip on yokes are crap... It might sound silly but when i was looking for a new bike a year ago, lack of mudguard points was an instant fail.:rolleyes:

To be honest, your budget almost ensures a nice bike...

Wibbler

dalk wrote:

Anyway i cycle a second hand Dawes Discovery 701 and its great. And it has eyes for 'proper' mudguards, which in my opinion are essential. Those clip on yokes are crap... It might sound silly but when i was looking for a new bike a year ago, lack of mudguard points was an instant fail.:rolleyes:

That's one nice bike, dalk!

Where's best for purchasing hybrid bikes in the Dublin region? Each retailer seems to have their own selection of brands.

Civilian_Target

Wibbler wrote:

Out of curiousity CT, are you upgrading to something better?

LOL, no, I just upgraded.
Its not a great country bike, to be honest, but I can't imagine any girlfriend I've ever had going cycling in the country regularly with me!

Hub gears are great for in town use, although I've heard bad things about the Shimano ones. You can change up or down and any time, gears change down instantly and up whenever you release pressure on the pedals, which is incredibly handy for in town use. Since the gears are sealed, they're extremely low maintainance, which is pretty good too. Mine are 7 speed, and its unlikely that you'd use many more gears than that even on a deraileur.

Cheap hub-geared bikes are a waste of time though, the flimsy back wheels bend costing you half the price of the bike to repair.

And contrary to what dalk has said, i had no problem with my set of long clip-on mudguards on my old MTB, worked just great.

Wibbler

Civilian_Target wrote:

LOL, no, I just upgraded.

Yeah, sorry! I misread your post and thought you were offering it for sale.

Civilian_Target wrote:

Its not a great country bike, to be honest, but I can't imagine any girlfriend I've ever had going cycling in the country regularly with me!

Well buying bikes is part of our grand scheme for making better use of the good weather when it arrives. Like my gym membership there's a risk, albeit a smaller one, that the idea will fizzle. It's been years since I've actually been on a real bike - the ones at the gym don't count - and I just can't get over the value for money that bikes represent.

Civilian_Target wrote:

Hub gears are great for in town use, although I've heard bad things about the Shimano ones. You can change up or down and any time, gears change down instantly and up whenever you release pressure on the pedals, which is incredibly handy for in town use. Since the gears are sealed, they're extremely low maintainance, which is pretty good too. Mine are 7 speed, and its unlikely that you'd use many more gears than that even on a deraileur.

They certainly sound like an entirely different beast to what I knew as a kid. They seem to be harder to find than other types. What are my chances of being able to walk into a shop and and find bikes equipped with them?

Civilian_Target wrote:

And contrary to what dalk has said, i had no problem with my set of long clip-on mudguards on my old MTB, worked just great.

I like the idea of a light bike. Although mudguards probably weigh very little, the idea of being able to remove them during spells of dry weather appeals.

Thanks guys for all of your advice so far. I'm going to nip into Halfords in Blanchardstown at lunch to see what they have. I won't make any hasty purchases though. From what I've read they may not be the best place to go for advice and for range.

dalk

[QUOTE="Civilian_Target
"]And contrary to what dalk has said, i had no problem with my set of long clip-on mudguards on my old MTB, worked just great.[/QUOTE]

I should clarify. Or course most of the clip on guards work to some extent. Some better than others. A lot of them only go three quarters of the way of the rear wheel, so you still get muck thrown up. And for the front wheel, the panel things that attach to the down tube are useless... Or the ones that attach to the seat post allow the back of your legs to get mucky. Plus i had one clip-on stolen off a bike a few years ago... So not to keen on them.

With a lot of bikes there isn't much choice and they are certainly better than nothing.

Simply put, full length mudguards that attach to eyelets on the bike, are better than any clip-on guard i've used. Bit of thread lock and you dont have to worry about them again.

Civilian_Target

Wibbler wrote:

They certainly sound like an entirely different beast to what I knew as a kid. They seem to be harder to find than other types. What are my chances of being able to walk into a shop and and find bikes equipped with them?

Not that great in Ireland, you probably won't find more than 3 or 4 bikes in any shop with hub gears. Deraileurs are lighter, so if you're mainly going for country recreational cycling you're probably better getting deraileurs and just cleaning and oiling them as you go.

daymobrew

Wibbler wrote:

I'm going to nip into Halfords in Blanchardstown at lunch to see what they have. I won't make any hasty purchases though. From what I've read they may not be the best place to go for advice and for range.

I like Cycle SuperStore in Tallaght. Nice big shop and easy to get to. The website is good too. I bought my road bike there and have purchased a good few accessories from them too.

Wibbler

daymobrew wrote:

I like Cycle SuperStore in Tallaght. Nice big shop and easy to get to. The website is good too. I bought my road bike there and have purchased a good few accessories from them too.

Yeah, I like their site. I think I'll take a trip over there this weekend. Thanks.

HusseinSarhan

If you are planning on doing 32km a day ten you really will want a road bike. A specialised tri-cross (or something) would be your best bet as you say that you have to commute on country roads. It'd also be good for your leisure cycles although it'd probably go faster than you'd ever need it to really on those type of spins. It's a pricier bike but it'd make the commute a lot nicer.

Another alternative is to get a more buget orientated road bike and stick a set of 'cross tyres on them if you need something with more volume and grip for roads that are not so good.

To be honest, 32km a day on something that is not designed to go fast will get really annoying.

Wibbler

HusseinSarhan wrote:

If you are planning on doing 32km a day ten you really will want a road bike. A specialised tri-cross (or something) would be your best bet as you say that you have to commute on country roads. It'd also be good for your leisure cycles although it'd probably go faster than you'd ever need it to really on those type of spins. It's a pricier bike but it'd make the commute a lot nicer.

Thanks.

Is this the one? http://www.bikemagic.com/news/article/mps/UAN/4603/

HusseinSarhan wrote:

To be honest, 32km a day on something that is not designed to go fast will get really annoying.

I'll keep that in mind. To be honest, I may be dreaming if I think I can manage 32km per day after so long off a bike. Using the bike for my commute is a secondary concern for now. However, I would kick myself if a poor purchasing decision turned it from a 'challenging' to 'impossible' task.

I've never like drop style handlebars probably because I have never owned a racer. I think I'd like to retain a more upright posture, even if it means a slower ride. I understand that the drop bars give an aerodynamic posture, but can those bars be changed to something straigther without completely ruining the efficiency of the bike?

My trip to Halfords today proved not very useful. Their range is pretty limited.
I'm going to try to get to the superstore in Tallaght this weekend to see first hand what they have. Am interested in seeing the Trek 7.5 FX '06 and the Lapierre Cruiser Lite '06.

HusseinSarhan

Hmmm, Lots of people assume they won't like drops. I'm not sure why it's the case. If you get a bike that fits it shouldn't be uncomfortable. You'll thank yourself for them if you are facing a headwind half way home and it's about to rain! You could of course swap them for flats but then your going to have to change your brake levers. There are bikes out there that are basically road bikes but with flats. These are still pretty fast, but don't dismiss drops. It takes a little while to get used to them but they are what you need for long distance. I actually began to find flats weird after a month or so of daily commuting with drops. It was only 16km a day so I'd imagine you'd get used to them in very little time. THe important thing is to get a bike that fits your size.

In terms of speed it won't slow you down as much as things like your trye surface/pressure etc. Still I'd go for drops, you have a vairety of hand positions to stop yourself getting fatigued like you would on flats.

daymobrew

Wibbler wrote:

I've never like drop style handlebars probably because I have never owned a racer. I think I'd like to retain a more upright posture, even if it means a slower ride. I understand that the drop bars give an aerodynamic posture, but can those bars be changed to something straigther without completely ruining the efficiency of the bike?

There are 3 hand positions with drop handlebars.
1) the lower part of the handlebars: most aerodynamic position though not comfortable for a decent distance. Access to brakes and gears could be a stretch.
2) the horizontal part near the middle: upright riding position, similar hand/arm angle to flat handlbars, though a narrow grip which might make for less stable steering. No quick access to gears or brakes
3) hands perpendicular to position 2, over brake/gear levers: quite upright position, no arm rotation, wide grip so stable steering, immediate access to brakes and gears.

I use position 3 the most. The brake/gear covers are rubber and so are a bit padded. The combined brake/gear levers are excellent - you can change up and down *really* easily.

On my road bike, the guy at Cycle Superstore rotated the handlebars upwards so I am even more upright. He also turned the bracket between crossbar and handlebars (correct name escapes me) to raise them even further. Something to do with my torso and legs being different lengths, I can't remember.

In summary - don't change the handlebars until you've given them a good try. A little bit of adjustment might make a huge difference. A good bike shop will help you on this.

Wibbler

Thanks for all the advice folks. You have all been very helpful.

I took a trip into Cycleways this afternoon and spoke with one of their knowledgeable staff. I have more or less settled on a Specialized Sirrus and may push the budget a bit in order to purchase a Sport or Sport with Disk brakes.

I am looking forward to a long fine summer.

Civilian_Target

Disc brakes? Why? V-Brakes are very reliable and easy to fix, and a whole lot cheaper. I know they're not perfect but they're not bad...

HusseinSarhan

I'd say canti's are the man for the job to be honest.

Wibbler

Civilian_Target wrote:

Disc brakes? Why? V-Brakes are very reliable and easy to fix, and a whole lot cheaper. I know they're not perfect but they're not bad...

LOL. I bought the disk brakes sales blurb, so?

I do like the idea of disk brakes (more uniform performance and no wear on rims), but maybe the money would be better spent on other components of the bike?

BTW, what's the difference between V-Brakes and Cantis in terms of action and performance?

HusseinSarhan

Hydraulic Disk brakes are the best in general. Great stopping power and modulation if set up right, and can work with slightly unture wheels and in the wet too. Just for weight and cost you may not need this on a roadie.

Anyway, cantis are different from V's mainly in feel. They offer greater modulation but overall less stopping power. This is just from what I've noticed and there are probably a load of excpetions. I think it does apply to most brakes though.

Anyway, not important now. Just ride the bike I suppose.

daymobrew

Wibbler wrote:

I am looking forward to a long fine summer.

I hope you're not going to wait until then to take your lovely bike out?
Take care with those disc brakes - they might be more powerful than you think.

Wibbler

daymobrew wrote:

I hope you're not going to wait until then to take your lovely bike out?
Take care with those disc brakes - they might be more powerful than you think.

Well I haven't actually made the purchase yet, but plan to in the next two weeks. I'll be up on the bike pretty quickly, I'd say.

Civilian_Target

Well, at your price point you're not going to get hubs and disc brakes, it'd be one of the other.

I'd take hubs, but you can have disc brakes if you like. I've never used them myself to be honest, but they sound a touch excessive to me...