Sunday cycle bike

Thumpette

Heya,

Have a notion I would like to get a bike for weekend cycling, probably mostly in the park. I have a 16 month old and I reckon he would love going in those seats. Is it hard to balance with a child in one of those?

In terms of bikes I was going to do the bike to work scheme. Would like a bike for my husband too. Ideally 2 bikes plus locks, helmets, lights etc for the 3 of us for the 1k.

Almost all shops I've been to have said they can list the 2 bikes under my btw apart from one.

In terms of bikes my husband just wants one in a plain enough colour that's reasonably light and comfortable.

I love the vintage looking ones with baskets but a couple of shops have said they are heavy. If I'm mostly cycling with a heavy toddler on the back will the weight of the bike really matter? Are there any particular bikes or shops you would recommend?

patrickc

they are not hard to balance , no harder than cycling normally. Functionality is the key, do you want it just to potter about, to do longer spins etc? same goes for your husbands bike.
if it's only for pottering about then the weight won't really matter.

what part of the country are you in so that someone can recommend shops near you?

magicbastarder

Thumpette wrote: »

Almost all shops I've been to have said they can list the 2 bikes under my btw apart from one.

it's tax fraud to claim bikes for non-participants so any discussion on that has to end here.
you can bike a bike for yourself on the scheme, but if your husband wants one, he has to got via the scheme with his own employer (if that's available to him).

Thumpette

magicbastarder wrote: »

it's tax fraud to claim bikes for non-participants so any discussion on that has to end here.
you can bike a bike for yourself on the scheme, but if your husband wants one, he has to got via the scheme with his own employer (if that's available to him).

Yeah fair enough. I was surprised when the first shop suggested putting it all in together but then the 3 others I went to all suggested the same until the one that didn't and when I chatted to them about it t get said they stuck to the rules of the scheme. Totally fine with me. Budget remains the same. Husband is self employed but will just get his directly

Thumpette

patrickc wrote: »

they are not hard to balance , no harder than cycling normally. Functionality is the key, do you want it just to potter about, to do longer spins etc? same goes for your husbands bike.
if it's only for pottering about then the weight won't really matter.

what part of the country are you in so that someone can recommend shops near you?

Thanks, yeah just really pottering around. Only thing I am thinking is that I used to enjoy jogging for fitness but have developed an issue with my hip joints. Physio has recommended me to not jog anymore. Been planning to start properly swimming but also thinking it might be suitable for my dodgy cartilage to go for regular cycles. Again I'd imagine little and often rather than epic.

Live in north county Dublin, work in clonskeagh.

Schrodingercat

For a 16 month old a front seat is a bit more fun. I use a wee ride(https://www.amazon.co.uk/WeeRide-Classic-Front-Mounted-Childrens/dp/B002MCYWHG). You can chat away to them and point things out which you can't do on a rear seat. They do fall asleep on them.
It will fit on most bikes once they don't have drop handle bars (racing bikes). Its a little bit more difficult to cycle because you need to stick your knees out a bit, but you don't do huge speeds with a bike seat anyway.
I use a 10 year old Specialized rockhopper I had and its perfect, but any reasonable bike will do.
If your husband doesn't use the bike to work second hand could be the way to go. If you are getting 50% off a new bike, second hand bikes don't hold their value at all so he will get the same value going second hand.


For yourself go down to the https://dutchbikeshop.ie in clonskeagh and try a bike with a basket.
If its too heavy most bike manufactures do hybrid equivalent to this http://www.fitzcycles.ie/p/3765/cube-sl-road#buy-tab-tab. 650 which will work out at 325 after the bike to work kicks in.


If you are at the lower price range (<900)don't get suspension forks. They add to the weight, and aren't much good. Buy something you like. If you buy crap it will just sit in your shed and you won't use it.

a148pro

Second the wee ride with kids - much more fun and interactive. Of course kids and hopefully the kid in you will also want to go explore off road a bit so recommend something with wider hybrid tyres or even mountain bike. My wife got nice bike with basket and 3 gears. It was utterly useless and never got used.