Any advice on buying a bike for a beginner?

Tobyglen

I'm looking for a road bike, budget circa 350 yoyo's. Unsure whether I should look for a hybrid or a racer. Willing to buy 2nd hand aswell, would appreciate advice as I'm only a novice in need of getting fit. Thanks

Lumen

Hybrids are cheaper and easier to ride.
Racers are faster and more fun.
Buying second hand takes longer.
€350 is barely enough even for a cheap new hybrid.

brownbeard

I'm in a similar position myself, with a similarly restrictive budget. I've been looking at this; http://www.halfords.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_11101_catalogId_15551_productId_786805_langId_-1_categoryId_212536 which seems to fit the bill, components are ok, not great, but much better than anything else you'd find at that price. Has anyone else ridden one of these before?

I'm usually inclined to stay away from shiney new frames though because they're usually the first ones to be stolen in the cities.

Tobyglen

Lumen wrote: »

Hybrids are cheaper and easier to ride.
Racers are faster and more fun.
Buying second hand takes longer.
€350 is barely enough even for a cheap new hybrid.

Could stretch to 500 if It was a good deal.

A Neurotic

So is it safe to assume that these are cheap and rubbish and to be avoided:

http://www.eurocycles.ie/Hybrid_Bike_Gents/Raleigh/Raleigh_Oakland_Mens/170_p.aspx
http://www.eurocycles.ie/Hybrid_Bike_Gents/Raleigh/Raleigh_Detour/4069_p.aspx
http://www.eurocycles.ie/Hybrid_Bike_Gents/Raleigh/Raleigh_Venture/4076_p.aspx#
http://www.eurocycles.ie/Hybrid_Bike_Gents/Raleigh/Raleigh_City_Limits_Mens/4068_p.aspx

?

I'm just a casual cyclist, gonna be using it for getting to college and around town, etc.

smacl

They only put the weight on one, which at 16kgs is heavy. This is also one of the ones without mudguards or back carrier, so the others are liable to be heavier. Ok for short jaunts, but you wouldn't want to go up to many hills.

€350 should get you a reasonable second hand hybrid, which I personally would far prefer to the cheaper new bikes. Checkout rothar.ie and ask around the local bike shops to see what they've got second hand for your budget. There's often good value to be had here, as people upgrade to newer shinier models. If you're cycling around the town, also look to get puncture resistant tyres. Shop around!

mce2010

Hi
I'm too am looking to buy my first bike in years on the bike to work scheme. I haven't cycled in years, school days, my last bike was a Raleigh Maverick, so that'll give you an idea of how long it's been since I was up on a bike!

Therefore, I am totally clueless, so am wondering if this bike would be ok for what I want. It's mainly for city centre cycling, a little bit of exercise in the evenings, and the cycling the odd day to work which is around 6 miles.

My budget is fairly limited, so I'm looking around the €400 mark, at a stretch €500. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Anyway, this is the bike Im looking at.

http://www.eurocycles.ie/Commuter_Bikes/Felt_QX65_Mens_2011/4361_p.aspx

Cheers!

clonmahon

A Neurotic wrote: »

So is it safe to assume that these are cheap and rubbish and to be avoided:

http://www.eurocycles.ie/Hybrid_Bike_Gents/Raleigh/Raleigh_Oakland_Mens/170_p.aspx

I'm just a casual cyclist, gonna be using it for getting to college and around town, etc.

I bought the Raleigh Oakland almost a month ago, paid a good bit more than Eurocycles are asking for it. It's heavy, about 15.5 kgs and the front chainwheels are poor quality. I have put over 600 miles, on it on rough Irish backroads, had it up to 33 mph on downhills and given it a bloody good testing. If you take care with the gear changing the front chainwheels will give you reasonable service and when they wear out can be replaced with quality components. Apart from that so far I have no complaints about this machine.

For small money this is a very good bike, for the casual cyclist I would recommend it. I'm intending to do some touring and camping next month in Mayo and Galway, so the weight don't really matter to me and the 700 x 28 wheels should be ok. I will service my Oakland before I go and have every confidence it's up to the job.

For 230 euros this bike is great value

mce2010

I see people talking about light and heavy bikes. What is considered a light bike? How many kg?

clonmahon

Heavy is something like the Chinese Flying Pigeon, 20kgs and one gear. Or the Pashley Roadster at 21.5 kgs with I think 3 gears. Some one may correct me on this but I think the bottom end on bike weight is as low as 7kgs. The Raleigh Oakland is upper mid range in weight. It’s a question of horses for courses. If you want to cover a lot of ground quickly a 7kg road bike with a range of high gears is the thing. If you want to tour with full camping, cooking, and repair kit, or bring a load of groceries home, then a 15kg trecking bike with a wide range of gears (like the Raleigh Oakland) is essential.