Good Bicycle Recommendation

G-Money

So I was considering buying a bicycle, but I don't know much about them or what's the best one to get.

I'm a 32 year old male and I currently weight just under 18 stone. I've been going back to the gym for the last 4 weeks or so and have lost about half a stone and being doing cardio so my fitness is a bit better than it was.

The last time I owned a bike I ended up selling it to a friend after barely using it. That was about 3 years ago and the last time I had a bike before that was when I was a teenager and it was a BMX with no gears.

I was thinking about it purely from a fitness point of view. I could possibly cycle to work as I only live 1 mile from the office however I'm iffy about cycling in amongst traffic. There's a bike lane pretty much the whole way but the last part of the journey involves a horrific roundabout, and the journey from the roundabout to the office involves no cycle lane.

So if I was going to buy a bike, I wouldn't want to spend a load of money but I'd want something half decent that would support my weight. It would probably be out of fitness reasons mostly that I'm thinking about getting one.

The last one I bought was from Argos.

So any tips of what type of bike to buy and where? I'm from the north so there's every possibility of me buying one up there if it's cheaper.

Sorry if the post is a bit vague. I'm just looking at additional ways to keep fit and be active and it costs nothing to post on here and get a bit of advice.

Cheers.

droidus

Do you have a budget?

You could probably commute if you found a decent route. I wouldn't be too worried about the lack of cycle lanes - it could be a good thing in some places.

G-Money

droidus wrote: »

Do you have a budget?

Good question. I suppose I'd want a new bike, maybe 150 euro might be the most I'm willing to spend. No point spending a load and then not using it. I guess though I'd need something that would defo support my weight. Although my weight should come down more over the next weeks and months.

There's a bike lane most of the way. It's just the last bit that has none and it's going into a business park so there isn't a lot of room. I know that myself from trying to drive past others who are on bikes, when I'm in my car.

blorg

€150 is not enough to get a bike new. It's just not, you will end up with something utterly rubbish and spend more money fixing it. Secondhand you could manage if you knew what you were looking for.

New, the Carrera Subway from Halfords is probably the cheapest half-decent bike available although Halfords' quality of assembly can be a bit hit and miss from what I hear.

BostonB

Maybe theres a different route you can take even if its longer. Even if its on the road, it might be quieter. From a fitness point of view walking 1 mile would be better exercise than cycling it. That said once you get going on a bike it might encourage to go further just for fun.

Try http://www.rothar.ie/

flickerx

As said, you wont get a decent new bike for 150. You'll get a heavy, badly built bike that wont be fun to ride, and it'll sit in your shed.

Try Rothar for a second hand hybird, or else bump up your budget (I recommend spending a weeks' pay on a bike, for beginners).

Lumen

grandmaster wrote: »

There's a bike lane most of the way. It's just the last bit that has none and it's going into a business park so there isn't a lot of room. I know that myself from trying to drive past others who are on bikes, when I'm in my car.

This is really a whole separate conversation, but you shouldn't avoid using the roads where there is no bike lane. If you do it right it's perfectly safe (and arguably often safer than using a bike lane).

You're not going to lose much weight going up and down a bike lane.

petethedrummer

Don't buy a BSO.
http://www.thecyclingexperts.co.uk/buying-a-bike/the-bicycle-shaped-object/

papac

+1 on the Carrera Subway. Cheapest half decent bike available.I have one for knocking around and I use it more than my expensive bikes atm. Halfords staff can be good or awful-depends who you get.Find a bike mechanic to look it over if you are in doubt.

As others have said don't buy a 150 euro piece of junk-all bikes at this price level are crap-end of story.You may as well burn your money.

You could do a bit of easy forest track/park stuff on a Carrera to build up fitness/confidence for the road.269 euros is a small price to pay for your health and at least it would have some resale value if you lost interest.(And it'll save wear and tear on your car if you have one).

thebouldwhacker

Its quite obvious that this is the bike for you....

niceonetom wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-akkbNyiXE

.

On a more serious note find out your frame size and have a look on the for sale sub forum and adverts.ie too:D

paddyduc

A good sturdy hybrid will fulfill your needs. It will get you miles further than a mountain bike for the same effort.

G-Money

Sorry to resurrect this thread but I have another question or two.

Is it possible to get bikes to support someone of my weight (17.5) stone? I never got around to buying one the last time or decided against it for some reason. However it's come up again due to a bit of a knee injury that I've picked up from jogging which is limiting my cardio.

So I'd need something that would support me and so I won't blow out the tyre's as I'm too heavy

HivemindXX

You can certainly get a bike that will support 17.5 stone. When I restarted cycling about 8 years ago I weighed around 20 stone and the advice I got was to make sure I had strong wheels. Mainly this means they have the maximum number of spokes possible. The bike I bought (Claude Butler Urban 200) supported my weight with no problems.

I'm still using the same bike. I've had to replace my back wheel about three times in those eight years, maybe that's a bit more often than a skinny person might need to but things do wear out. At one point my commute was nearly 100 miles a week. I've certainly put over 10k miles on that bike so I think it's given me great service and value for money.

This bike cost me 500 quid and I saved that much in taxi fares in the first year. I strongly advise buying a bike in that price range if you can possibly afford it rather than a very cheap one. You're much more likely to actually use a bike that feels good to ride.

I didn't change my diet and I mostly just use the bike for commuting. In eight years I lost around 6 stone. This might not seem like a lot but that was literally without trying.

G-Money

Hope the mod's don't mind me resurrecting my own thread but it's been a while. I haven't bought a bike yet but I've started to think about it again. My weight has come down a little but I think having a bike might be a nice way to get some extra exercise.

Are there any new model's out that would be worth checking out?

I probably don't want to spend more than €400 and it would just be for cycling around the suburbs. It wouldn't need to be a racing for triathlons or anything like that.

I had thought about just rocking up to Halfords and getting some recommendations from them but I figure it would be good to go in with some idea of what to buy and what to avoid beforehand.

Thanks!

petethedrummer

One of the Carreras from halfords will do a job. Not an Apollo. They are crap.


Or you could try and negotiate money off one of the lower end hybrid bikes in another shop:
http://www.wheelworx.ie/bikes/hybrid/mens-hybrid?sort=p.price&order=ASC

Kintarō Hattori

Buy a quality used bike from somewhere like Adverts? There was a lovely looking Cannondale Bad Boy for €300 a few weeks back. I'd have snapped it up had I the money free.

My own commuter I bought from Adverts for €250. There's great value to be had.