Which Bike?

Annatar

Hi,
just wondering which of the following would you recommend as a good entry level bike...
1) Shockwave SUS 550
2) Apollo XC.26
or 3)Apollo FS.26
from Halfords?

Thanks

kenmc

entry level for what?
I think red bikes are always good to start with, for what it's worth. That's about as much help as we can give without more information.

edit:
ok so that answer is probably a bit smart-alecky, but you've really given us nothing to play with here.
just had a look at those bikes on the halfords site, damn they're cheap. Put it this way - people on here spend more on a pair of cycling shorts than those bikes cost.
If you are happy to cycle to and from the shops on one of those, you will certainly get a good workout - they will weigh about the same as a family car. I'd think twice about going over a pothole or kerb on one of them though, for fear it will crumble apart.

Kona - over to you

Annatar

Pretty much a bike that would cover a range of surfaces.
Road, Off road and even Donegal roads...

I was looking at Town and Trail bikes, but Im not convinced they would handle some places we would be cycling.

I have just been told shockwave bikes are terrible.... Apollo any better?

kenmc

I'd be reluctant to even take it _on-road_ never mind off road! The most offroad I'd take it would be the lawn in front of the house.
Never heard of apollo, but for that money they can't really be up to much TBH

Annatar

You get what you pay for basically...

Thanks for the advice, will do some pondering

kenmc

exactly.

kona

kenmc wrote: »

entry level for what?
I think red bikes are always good to start with, for what it's worth. That's about as much help as we can give without more information.

edit:
ok so that answer is probably a bit smart-alecky, but you've really given us nothing to play with here.
just had a look at those bikes on the halfords site, damn they're cheap. Put it this way - people on here spend more on a pair of cycling shorts than those bikes cost.
If you are happy to cycle to and from the shops on one of those, you will certainly get a good workout - they will weigh about the same as a family car. I'd think twice about going over a pothole or kerb on one of them though, for fear it will crumble apart.

Kona - over to you

thanks ken,

personally id rather crawl then cycle any of those bikeshaped objects:D:D

A mtb mag last year took some of these "excuses" out for a off road weekend to review them(kinda a piss take tbh), the longest one bike lasted was 2 hours before it became too dangerous to ride:D
the shortest was 15seconds because the rider went for a berm and the brakes failed and caused a spill.:D:D

the only thing entry about sub e300 bikes off road is your quickley going to gain entry to A&E.

if you are using it alot, save yourself the hassle, grief, pain, and get a decent machine, if you dont like it you will sell it handy.

if its halfords your around, id strongly reccomend for off road
carrera vulcan
gt xc.3

for commuting.
carrera subway 1

ask if they have any last years models as these will have large discounts.

blorg

To add to what others have said- avoid full suspension at lower price points, look for a hardtail instead.

Gavin

Nice specialized hardrock for sale over on adverts.ie. 300 quid, dunno if that's a great price or what.

Gav

Stark

Annatar wrote: »

Pretty much a bike that would cover a range of surfaces.
Road, Off road and even Donegal roads...

I was looking at Town and Trail bikes, but Im not convinced they would handle some places we would be cycling.

I have just been told shockwave bikes are terrible.... Apollo any better?

Apollo are terrible.

What kind of places are you going to be cycling? You don't need a mountain bike just to go on forest trails/bumpy roads, a hybrid will do you just fine and won't leave you exhausted after cycling for 10 minutes.

€300 is the minimum I'd spend on a new bike, you'd get something nice-ish like a Dawes Discovery 201 for that and it'll be fine for most purposes. Anything less would be a false economy as you'd be throwing it out within a year.

At the lower end of the price range, avoid suspension. All cheap suspension does is divert your pedal power from forward motion to up and down bouncing motion and add unnecessary weight. Similarly, the thinner your tyres, the better as thinner means less rolling resistance and less effort. Most racing bikes will have 23mm tyres, which might be a little bumpy if you're doing a lot of trails, however the 32mm-35mm on most hybrids are generally more than adequate for grip/comfort in mixed use.

IrishEmperor

Stark wrote: »

€300 is the minimum I'd spend on a new bike, you'd get something nice-ish like a Dawes Discovery 201

I was in penny farthings on camden st today - they had that model tagged at €350.
Where would be a good place to pick up one for closer to the 300 mark, if you please?

I was also in Trek down the road on wexford st near the corner and they had a similar spec'ed (same gears and brakes from what i could tell) bike for 369, would it be much of a much at that level?

[backstory:
i've had my 2 previous nice bikes stolen from city centre
(a merida with some weird oval cog..for hillclimbing?, but it was pretty lightweight
and a sexy claudbutler chinook of which i still have the front wheel if and one needs a spare?)
i've been using a clunky heavy thing that does the job & hasnt attracted any thieves since the last theft
but summers coming and there's a safe monitored carpark in my new job]