Buying a new hybrid/road bike, cyclist newbie

Nicker

Hi everyone,

I want to buy a new bike ASAP for weekends and bike trips during the summer just around Ireland. I've been told a hybrid is what I need to get. How much would i be looking at paying for new one? Is €150 too little?

I already have a mountain bike but I dont plan on slogging through Connemara or around the N7 on that for long more...

Thanks for any help you can offer

Lumen

Nicker wrote: »

How much would i be looking at paying for new one? Is €150 too little?

Yes. If you're on a tight budget, buy secondhand. Avoid suspension.

€400 is about entry level for a decent hybrid.

e.g.

Giant Escape 3 Bike 2013
http://www.cyclesuperstore.ie/shop/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=60210

Nicker

Wow I never realised how expensive bikes actually are. Okay well a new one just seems too expensive so, I'm looking at something second hand so. Most of what are available are Gents bikes, does it really make much of a difference? FYI I'm actually a woman!

Lumen

Nicker wrote: »

Wow I never realised how expensive bikes actually are. Okay well a new one just seems too expensive so, I'm looking at something second hand so. Most of what are available are Gents bikes, does it really make much of a difference? FYI I'm actually a woman!

Sorry, I'm not so good at sexing penguins.

It doesn't make much of a difference unless you're particularly short (perhaps under 5'3). Below that height bikes with "normal" road wheels ("700c") have to be designed carefully to prevent toe overlap (your toe hitting the front wheel when you turn aggressively).

Womens saddles are different.

Nicker

Okay thank you so much for your advice, well I'm about 5"10 and I reckon I can always swap it with a saddle I have at home or buy another one. I'm so bad at buying things tho that in the last hour I just bought a pair of wetsuits instead... but operation buy a nice bicycle is still ago!

Maga

Hi there,

I'm a newbie too and I have been looking into buying a hybrid.

A friend of mine said "I'll shoot you if you spend 400 euro on a bike" and dragged me to Halford's over the weekend to prove his point that I could buy a women's hybrid with less than 200 euro.

Indeed they had several hybrid bikes there that would be <200 euro, with standard 18 gears (Raleigh etc).

Now I'm sure there must be a world of difference between those and the ones the guys in this forum are suggesting/the ones sold in dedicated bike shops (quality of parts, design etc?). But just in case you are on a tight budget and not sure yet whether it will be a summer fad or something more permanent I thought I should add my 2 cents

Nicker

Maga wrote: »

just in case you are on a tight budget and not sure yet whether it will be a summer fad or something more permanent I thought I should add my 2 cents

Yeah I really don't want to spend more than 200 and tbh i will probably only be using this during the summer and maybe commuting to college in the winter so I will defo take a look. Thanks for the tip

smacl

Nicker wrote: »

Yeah I really don't want to spend more than 200 and tbh i will probably only be using this during the summer and maybe commuting to college in the winter so I will defo take a look. Thanks for the tip

A sub €200 halfords hybrid will be just about ok for 5k or less on the flat in good weather. Going over bumpy roads and taking it out in the wet is liable to leave it falling to bits this side of Christmas, and cheap bikes cost much more to keep on the road than average, reasonably built bikes. Your €200 will be far better spent on a 2nd hand bike. Check out your local bike shop, Rothar, or adverts.ie. I bought a cheapo bike for my daughter a couple of years back and it still lays rotting in the shed, waiting for the next time I can find some space for it in a skip.

Nicker

smacl wrote: »

Check out your local bike shop, Rothar, or adverts.ie.

I'm pretty conscious that a lot of the bikes there may be stolen so now the more I think about it the more I want a new one, although that said I'll still look and if a see anything i'd really like I might just buy...

smacl wrote: »

I bought a cheapo bike for my daughter a couple of years back and it still lays rotting in the shed, waiting for the next time I can find some space for it in a skip.

Well if you don't ever find that skip and it's what I'm looking for then... hint hint :pac::pac:

Tonyandthewhale

If you've got less than 200e then you should buy secondhand unless you want a bike that'll put you off cycling.
There are numerous sites (adverts, gumtree, donedeal as well as the cycling adverts subforum here on boards) and bricks and mortar shops such as rothar (a community based enterprise) in Dublin.
It's true that some bikes sold second hand will be stolen but if you want to avoid buying a stolen bike just don't buy off anyone who seems at all shady or scummy. Also, I don't think many of the bikes that go up on sites such as adverts are stolen as that tends to be the first place people look when their bike get stolen to see if they can get it back so it's very easy for bike thieves to be caught out.

If you already have a crappy mountain bike then you already have one crappy cheapo bike so why buy another one? Either stick with what you have, save up and buy something decent new that constitutes a realistic upgrade or grab something second hand.

robertxxx

Cheap halford bikes will weigh a ton And you will start to hate cycling it because it will be tiring.

Nicker

Tonyandthewhale wrote: »

There are numerous sites (adverts, gumtree, donedeal as well as the cycling adverts subforum here on boards) and bricks and mortar shops such as rothar (a community based enterprise) in Dublin..

Oh god I dont even know where to start with that sub-forum, all that cycling jargon is pretty scary

But I am definitely going to get a second hand one, looked at few adverts and sent out some emails there today so all going well I should be on the roads within a week.

I know I will love cycling too so hopefully I'll get something decent.:pac::pac:

interestedman

Hello,

Great thread so far, please excuse me if I seem a little un-knowledgable on boards.ie or cycling -new to both of them.

I want to buy a bike through the bike to work scheme. So I have 1000 euro to spend. (I would be happy to spend a little above it as I recieved a 250 euro reward at work and so I could put it toward that) as long as I know I'm getting the best option for me. What some of you pointed out about getting a good quality model which will let you enjoy cycling has really made sense to me.

I'm told by experienced cyclists that I need a hybrid. I live in an urban area during the week, but intent to do older roads (possibly with some gravel)and National Park's roads on weekneds. Maybe some "grass in the middle of it roads" too. So a hybrid seems to be the best way to go for me. I have found one that I think suits and I need some cyclists opinions on it. It's a Trek DS 8.4.

If anyone of you can give me an honest opinion on this bike I would be delighted with ye.

All in, with a 10% discount, and including safety gear, car rack, locks, clothes, water bottle, rear rack for a bag, lights, I'm being quoted 1124 euro. (860 for the bike itself including the 10% discount).

If anyone can offer any advice I will appreciate it,

Brian

http://www.trekbikes.com/ca/en/bikes/town/dual_sport/ds_series/8_4_ds/#

slideshow bob

interestedman wrote: »

I'm told by experienced cyclists that I need a hybrid. I live in an urban area during the week, but intent to do older roads (possibly with some gravel)and National Park's roads on weekneds. Maybe some "grass in the middle of it roads" too. So a hybrid seems to be the best way to go for me. I have found one that I think suits and I need some cyclists opinions on it. It's a Trek DS 8.4.

Look here for a discussion on hybrid vs. cyclocross (=CX). If you're spending that kind of money seriously consider the CX bike.

interestedman wrote: »

http://www.trekbikes.com/ca/en/bikes/town/dual_sport/ds_series/8_4_ds/#

Will do fine for what you're intending, but I hope it looks better in the flesh.

interestedman

Thank you slideshow bob, I appreciate the advice. Will go do some research on the CX. Thanks for heads up.

Brian?

interestedman wrote: »

Hello,

Great thread so far, please excuse me if I seem a little un-knowledgable on boards.ie or cycling -new to both of them.

I want to buy a bike through the bike to work scheme. So I have 1000 euro to spend. (I would be happy to spend a little above it as I recieved a 250 euro reward at work and so I could put it toward that) as long as I know I'm getting the best option for me. What some of you pointed out about getting a good quality model which will let you enjoy cycling has really made sense to me.

I'm told by experienced cyclists that I need a hybrid. I live in an urban area during the week, but intent to do older roads (possibly with some gravel)and National Park's roads on weekneds. Maybe some "grass in the middle of it roads" too. So a hybrid seems to be the best way to go for me. I have found one that I think suits and I need some cyclists opinions on it. It's a Trek DS 8.4.

If anyone of you can give me an honest opinion on this bike I would be delighted with ye.

All in, with a 10% discount, and including safety gear, car rack, locks, clothes, water bottle, rear rack for a bag, lights, I'm being quoted 1124 euro. (860 for the bike itself including the 10% discount).

If anyone can offer any advice I will appreciate it,

Brian

http://www.trekbikes.com/ca/en/bikes/town/dual_sport/ds_series/8_4_ds/#

If you're doing 90% of your cycling on roads, don't get suspension.

I'd go with a CX bike.

endacl

Nicker wrote: »

I'm pretty conscious that a lot of the bikes there may be stolen

Careful now...

interestedman

Brian? wrote: »

If you're doing 90% of your cycling on roads, don't get suspension.

I'd go with a CX bike.

Thanks for the input Brian?, can I ask one question of your point, I can turn on/off the suspension while cycling (using a nice little rotating knob), what do you think of that? if you have any CX bike in mind that you would consider equal to the DS 8.4, and can post a link to it, that would be greatly appreciated, I am hoping to look at a few options on Friday/Saturday and make the final decision then.

nilhg

interestedman wrote: »

Thanks for the input Brian?, can I ask one question of your point, I can turn on/off the suspension while cycling (using a nice little rotating knob), what do you think of that? if you have any CX bike in mind that you would consider equal to the DS 8.4, and can post a link to it, that would be greatly appreciated, I am hoping to look at a few options on Friday/Saturday and make the final decision then.

The problem is the extra weight, is having the suspension the few times you're off road worth the effort of dragging all that extra mass about most of the time?

slideshow bob

interestedman wrote: »

I can turn on/off the suspension while cycling (using a nice little rotating knob), what do you think of that?

You don't need to drag that kind of weight around with you for the few times it would be useful.

Might be worth thinking about buying a 2nd hand hybrid and see how it goes for a while? There's plenty of "2 years old, only used 4 times" bikes on the advert sites from people who thought they'd enjoy biking but in fact was just something else stuck in the back of the shed.

If it works out OK, you can sell it again. At this point you'll be able to focus your buying choices and get good value out of the bike-to-work scheme.

interestedman

Thanks to nilhg and slideshow bob,

You guys are good! Plenty of food for though. The weight is something I had considered, but not in the context of the suspension question. That's clarity of mind on your part. Really appreciate the advice.