The GF wants a new bike!

Steffano2002

Hey guys!

I've just recently started cycling again and the GF is thinking of getting a bike for herself to join me!

We went to a bike shop earlier to drop my bike in for a service and she saw a GIANT bike fairly similar to mine in spec but I couldn't tell you which one it was exactly...

My bike is a BH "Venice" with a "Hard Tail" I believe it's called and front (spring) forks. It has 28" wheels IIRC and is pretty handy to go around on with the thin tyres (I had mountain bikes for years before that and it's hell to get them moving with these fat tyres!).

Anyway, the GIANT bike the GF was looking at had pretty much the same spec as above and it was priced at €349.

Questions:

1) Seen as we don't know much about bikes we're not sure if this is a reasonable asking price?

2) Could you recommend stores in Dublin selling reasonably-priced bikes such as the bikes detailed above? I think the GF wants a red bike (:rolleyes:) and the shop in Finglas only had gray/silver...

Anyway, enough babbling! Thank you in advance for your help/advice!

Lumen

What's a spring fork?

It's not easy to advise. You're asking about whether an unnamed Giant bike with an unknown specification is good value and appropriate for uses you haven't described.

Basic questions:

- Budget
- Intended use (road, off-road, commuting, weekend rides...)
- Size (how tall is she?)
- Cycling experience/confidence
- Priorities (speed, comfort, lightness)
- Theft issues (will it be regularly left somewhere where it can be nicked)

ruprect

Lumen wrote: »

will it be regularly left somewhere where it can be nicked)

i.e. anywhere outside of a bank vault!

Also you might consider waiting till next year to avail of the bike scheme.

The spring forks also zap your efficiency too, similar to your fat MTB tyres. And in that price range the forks will not be decent ones. It probably was 27"/700c wheels.

Probably listed here http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/category/762/Giant_Hybrid_Bikes

Steffano2002

Lumen wrote: »

What's a spring fork?

It's not easy to advise. You're asking about whether an unnamed Giant bike with an unknown specification is good value and appropriate for uses you haven't described.

Basic questions:

- Budget
- Intended use (road, off-road, commuting, weekend rides...)
- Size (how tall is she?)
- Cycling experience/confidence
- Priorities (speed, comfort, lightness)
- Theft issues (will it be regularly left somewhere where it can be nicked)

OK, I'll try and be more specific:

- Budget: would like her to spend less than €300 EUR
- Intended use: road / week-end rides (nothing too serious)
- Size: she is about 1m75
- Cycling experience/confidence: Enough of both!
- Priorities (speed, comfort, lightness): Well, all 3 you mentioned actually! She'll need to keep up with me or I'll get bored and I believe speed, comfort and lightness all work hand in hand.
- Theft issues (will it be regularly left somewhere where it can be nicked): No issues. Will never be left outside.

So based on the above, what sort of bike would you recommend in that €300 EUR price range?

Steffano2002

ruprect wrote: »

Also you might consider waiting till next year to avail of the bike scheme.

The spring forks also zap your efficiency too, similar to your fat MTB tyres. And in that price range the forks will not be decent ones. It probably was 27"/700c wheels.

Probably listed here http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/category/762/Giant_Hybrid_Bikes

Interesting this bike scheme. I heard about it but not sure what it entails. When will it kick in exactly? Is it worth waiting for it financially? By that I mean if we're waiting 3 months to save €20 EUR there's no point in waiting if you see what I mean...

I agree about the spring forks having a negative impact on efficiency, however, than can come in fairly handy on these Irish roads we have!

Chips Lovell

Steffano2002 wrote: »

Interesting this bike scheme. I heard about it but not sure what it entails. When will it kick in exactly? Is it worth waiting for it financially? By that I mean if we're waiting 3 months to save €20 EUR there's no point in waiting if you see what I mean...

Starts January 1. You won't have to pay income tax on any purchase of up to €1,000 on a bike or associated safety equipment. How much you save depends on what rate of tax you're on, but you're likely to be saving a lot more than €20. Bike needs to be bought through your employer though, so they have to agree to do it.

Steffano2002

el tonto wrote: »

Starts January 1. You won't have to pay income tax on any purchase of up to €1,000 on a bike or associated safety equipment. How much you save depends on what rate of tax you're on, but you're likely to be saving a lot more than €20. Bike needs to be bought through your employer though, so they have to agree to do it.

But if you get a bike via this scheme you must use the bike to cycle to work which will not be something she will be doing and we don't want problems with our employer... Mnhhhh... We'll have to give it some thought!

Lumen

How about this?

They have a 50cm in stock, which might fit (best to measure her properly though).

blorg

Steffano2002 wrote: »

But if you get a bike via this scheme you must use the bike to cycle to work which will not be something she will be doing

Every indication is that there will be no effort to check on this in any way. +1 you don't need a suspension fork for on road use, even with Irish roads (wider tyres would be a better bet.)