Abandoning Car

johnnyrotten

Hi all,

I am thinking of abandoning the car and buying a bike to get to work. The distance is about 5 miles . I was looking at this :

Giant Expression '07

Any comments?

Itsfixed

johnnyrotten wrote:

Hi all,

I am thinking of abandoning the car and buying a bike to get to work. The distance is about 5 miles . I was looking at this :

Giant Expression '07

Any comments?

Great. Good make, good value, has everything (rack, guards, chainguards). A good choice for the returning cyclist. Probably one i would recommend to others in your situation. 5 miles is an almost perfect cycling commute distance, not too long, not too short. You'll wonder why you ever used the car.

Get a good lock would be my other piece of advice - at least €35-40. And lights too.

good luck

Morgan

johnnyrotten wrote:

Hi all,

I am thinking of abandoning the car and buying a bike to get to work. The distance is about 5 miles . I was looking at this :

Giant Expression '07

Any comments?

The forest car parks in the Dublin mountains are a popular option. It's customary to set fire to the car before you leave.

milod

johnnyrotten wrote:

Hi all,

I am thinking of abandoning the car and buying a bike to get to work. The distance is about 5 miles . I was looking at this :

Giant Expression '07

Any comments?

I did the same about 4 years ago - haven't looked back (except when turning right...).

The bike is good value, i.e. not a bad spec for the money but if you're cycling 80km per week, you'll soon want to upgrade. I made the same mistake and upgraded within a year. As your fitness level increases, you'll want higher ratios, gears that don't need constant adjustment, etc etc.

I'd go for this one...

http://www.cyclesuperstore.ie/shop/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=38&idproduct=11339

it's still a lot cheaper than a car!

Itsfixed

Morgan wrote:

The forest car parks in the Dublin mountains are a popular option. It's customary to set fire to the car before you leave.

Thomas_S_Hunterson

Morgan wrote:

The forest car parks in the Dublin mountains are a popular option. It's customary to set fire to the car before you leave.

I thought the exact same thing when i read the title

Membrane

johnnyrotten wrote:

Hi all,

I am thinking of abandoning the car and buying a bike to get to work. The distance is about 5 miles . I was looking at this :

Giant Expression '07

Any comments?

The rack, mudguards and chain guard make it a good choice as a commuting bike. It would be ideal if in addition to this you could get a bike with hub gears, hub brakes, hub dynamo and integrated lights. These bikes exists, but hard to source here in Ireland.

I'd recommend checking out some other suppliers, cyclesuperstore are expensive.

ruprect

This place have last years model of the same bike, but with 35% off. It seems to be a better spec (original RRP was higher that the 2007 bike). Has hub gears. This place charge about £23 for delivery to Ireland. So will be £173 (about €250)

http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/index.html?pageTitle=Giant_Expression_3_Gents_Bike_2006&pageDesc=The_Expression_range_comes_packed_with_conventional_practicalities_for_both_the_Commuter_and_Leisure&action=detail&maincatID=0&catID=&prodID=6848&brandID=

Itsfixed

ruprect wrote:

This place have last years model of the same bike, but with 35% off. It seems to be a better spec (original RRP was higher that the 2007 bike). Has hub gears. This place charge about £23 for delivery to Ireland. So will be £173 (about €250)

http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/index.html?pageTitle=Giant_Expression_3_Gents_Bike_2006&pageDesc=The_Expression_range_comes_packed_with_conventional_practicalities_for_both_the_Commuter_and_Leisure&action=detail&maincatID=0&catID=&prodID=6848&brandID=

That's a great deal, i must say, hub gears and hub brakes. About as maintenance-free as you can get. Only downside is that it might be a good bit heavier than the one with derailleur gears and V brakes.

DirkVoodoo

I just ditched the car too (confession: i drove today cuz im still getting used to the cycling, my quads and back are a bit tight). Having a pannier is dead handy too. I got the carrera subway 1, could use some higher ratio gears but its a great bike for the short commute.