WANTED: Advice on a new bike for practical everyday use.

Only1Rovers

Hi, I'm considering buying a new bike for everyday use to keep my fitness up and get me out and about. I'm hoping I might get some good advice here on what I should get. I don't want a racer style bike and not a mountain bike. So a hybrid is the obvious way to go.

I'm not looking for anything fancy, no suspension, not too many gears, but having said that I want something that looks tidy.

I've been thinking about the Carrera Subway 8 Hybrid, as far as I know it's the one the cop use.

http://short.ie/2a0uqn you can have a look here.

Does anyone know anything about this bike? Is it a decent set of wheels?

sxt

Only1Rovers wrote: »

I'm not looking for anything fancy, no suspension, not too many gears, but having said that I want something that looks tidy.

Lumen

I'm a bit confused about the brakes. The spec says hub brakes (which are a bit crap) but the pic shows what looks like disc brakes.

You might want to talk to a proper bike shop about performance/reliability of Nexus 8 hub gears too. Generally speaking with hub gears, the more gears you have the more "lossy" they are, except in the 1:1 ratio.

Derailleur gears are more efficient but need cleaning from time to time.

niceonetom

Lumen wrote: »

I'm a bit confused about the brakes. The spec says hub brakes (which are a bit crap) but the pic shows what looks like disc brakes.

I think it's a hub gear with roller brake on the back and a disk on the front.

Bluefoam

I have a Charge Tap. Its a very tidy bike - very simple in appearance & build. Is steel framed, so is very durable and tough. It also has a Nexus 8 speed hub, but has standard caliper brakes, which are perfectly adequate for city cycling. I've been using it for 5 mile spins around Dublin, but will be extending this as my fitness improves. Its a perfect city bike. I took a spin up to Three Rock yesterday, which almost killed me, but that is more to do with my lack of fitness than the bike. But having said that, If you are planning big long cycles that include mountains or the word 'Wicklow' I'd suggest a racer is more suitable.

I got mine in Cycleways:
http://www.chargebikes.com/products/bikes/detail.php?id=27

Only1Rovers

Bluefoam wrote: »

I have a Charge Tap. Its a very tidy bike - very simple in appearance & build. Is steel framed, so is very durable and tough. It also has a Nexus 8 speed hub, but has standard caliper brakes, which are perfectly adequate for city cycling. I've been using it for 5 mile spins around Dublin, but will be extending this as my fitness improves. Its a perfect city bike. I took a spin up to Three Rock yesterday, which almost killed me, but that is more to do with my lack of fitness than the bike. But having said that, If you are planning big long cycles that include mountains or the word 'Wicklow' I'd suggest a racer is more suitable.

I got mine in Cycleways:
http://www.chargebikes.com/products/bikes/detail.php?id=27

This looks like just the sort of bike I'm after. What was the cost? The Nexus 8 Speed hub, does that mean that it's an 8 speed? And what's the advantage of this Nexus system?

Bluefoam

Only1Rovers wrote: »

This looks like just the sort of bike I'm after. What was the cost? The Nexus 8 Speed hub, does that mean that it's an 8 speed? And what's the advantage of this Nexus system?

It is 8 speed. The advantages are that it needs little maintenance & the gears are less likely to malfunction. The chain & cogs will wear less, so should not need to be replaced for a long time. You shouldn't need to replace gear cables. It stands up to weather pretty well. You should never have any issues with missing gears or chain slipping & you will never have to spend time with a mini screw driver indexing your gears.

So take it out when you need it & don't worry about maintenance too much. Occasionally you'll need to fix a puncture, need new brake pads etc... but nothing major. I have heard that if you have a malfunction in the hub gear it can be a pain to fix, but that is relatively rare.

Cost me €660, with a Kryptonite lock & first service thrown in.