Purchasing me a new hybrid bike, priced between 200-400 euros

ozt9vdujny3srf

So far whats caught my eye are two bikes i saw in peenny farthing cycles on camden street.

The first one was a 300 euro "cross" bike that looked passable or at least would once the horrible stciers were gone .

Parts wise it had an aluminium frame, 20 spoke wheels, those gears that you push the top to change up and the bottom to change down, and normal non "encapuslated" pedals.
http://www.bigbillsbikes.co.uk/pictures/bikes/crosarow.jpg


The other one was 400 and was a claud butler hybrid, it had all the same stuff minus the wheels and it has "encapsulated" pedals, and it looked the business. The pedals are far more solid according to the shopkeep.
http://www.falconcycles.co.uk/2005/HYBRID/urban100.html

Basically I'm wondering is brand name that big an issue and do those 20 spoke slick lookin wheels make much of a difference?

If any of ye who would know more about bikes then meself could recommend a good road to go down (whether it be one of the above or a different bile altogether) i'd appreciate it. My absolute max is 400 euros as i'm worried about it getting nicked .


I'm gonna get detailed specs / pictures off the web if i can (seems unlikely for the cross one, as its a pretty obscure brand)

rubadub

I commute to work and my mate who is big into bikes recommended a hybrid. I saw none I liked (in my price range) and went for a mtb for €330 in the place on parnell street. I got 1.3" slick tyres and it goes like a rocket, it is very light and so is pretty much a hybrid with those tyres, but with suspension. The suspension is very worthwhile, I had a puncture once and had to borrow a racer, you could feel every bump. Dont know how comfy a hybrid is, but cycle tracks are not a smooth ride. I am up and down curbs all the time too on it.

If it was nicked I would go for the same again but ask them to change for slicks and smaller tubes (should be a free straight swop as they are all new)

Trojan

What he said. I've got a Trek 4300, Continental Sports Contact slicks - ~375 in Cyclelogical.

gzoladz

Of course you will feel the bumps if you are used to suspension.
I think suspension is absolutely worthless for town. Remember that some of the force you make is lost with the suspension.
I would rather get a seat post with suspension instead.

ozt9vdujny3srf

http://www.cyclesuperstore.ie/shop/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=0&idproduct=515 - that one trojan? is that not a full on mountain bike? Speed is quite important. Wont be doing anything off road other then up a few small curbs now and again like.

What are your opinions on the bikes in my original post then?

Trojan

Bjorn Agreeable Hook wrote:

that one trojan? is that not a full on mountain bike? Speed is quite important. Wont be doing anything off road other then up a few small curbs now and again like.

Technically, yes, it's a mountain bike. But...

Johnny Jukebox

gzoladz wrote:

Of course you will feel the bumps if you are used to suspension.
I think suspension is absolutely worthless for town. Remember that some of the force you make is lost with the suspension.
I would rather get a seat post with suspension instead.

Er, wrong. Suspension is great for town - potholes, curbs, driveway rodeo and so on. Efficiency of the suspension is purely down to how much you want to pay - look at the Specialized Epic brain and the Giant NRS for example. Seat post suspension is like having the duracell bunny up your bottom, no fun.

ozt9vdujny3srf

Nice one, gonna head to dalys bikes in dundrum today to check out their pricing then hopefully i'll be able to chose my bike by monday.

Trojan

Truckle: for a commuting bike the most suspension you want is front only - you don't want rear or saddle post, they're too much.

dalk

Have to agree with gzoladz that suspension is unneccessary for town cycling imo...

Just uses up (your) energy and adds weight... The odd unavoidable bump i can live with, and i just take it a bit easier when curb hoping...

Switched from a hard-tail mountain bike to a hybrid road bike about 2months ago and wouldnt go back (had slicks etc on it). One of the main reason for me switching was that the smaller wheels and lower gear ratios on my mountain bike ment that i used to run out of gears on downhills... And the skinny light wheels of my road bike are much easier to push... All in all the bike is much faster than any mountain bike (roadified or not) i've used...

ozt9vdujny3srf

Sounds good, what kind of road bike is it? How much did you pay for it?

Metrobest

If your commute involves a short trip on flat ground just in and out of town, I'd recommend an old bike with a comfortable saddle and curved handlebars. Much less likely to be stolen, cheaper, and verrry comfortable - no wonder everybody in the Netherlands uses them

ozt9vdujny3srf

Well a new bike has come into the picture, the 7100 trek at http://www.cyclesuperstore.ie

dalk

Hi Trickle,

The bike i ended up buying was a Dawes Discovery 701...(mint condition second hand). The lower value models seem to be good value too... Worth checking out anyway

The point i was making, i suppose, was that I would be more inclined to buy a road bike (with flat bars), rather than 'converting' a mountain bike to road use..

The Trek 7100 would fall into the road bike category btw

blorg

The Trek 7100 isn't really a road bike type hybrid, it is more closely related to a mountain bike. Trek don't make any flat bar road bikes IIRC, all the way up to the 7700 they are all more mountain-bikey types. This isn't to say that they are bad bikes; I had a 7200 and then two 7300s (all stolen) before my current mix of a Dawes Discovery 201 for commuting (and possible getting stolen) and a Specialized Sirrus Elite for leisure cycling / touring.

The Dawes Discovery series below either the 601 or the 701 are all mountain-bike related while the 701 certainly is more of a road bike, I tried this out when deciding between it and the Specialized and it seemed a very nice bike indeed.

Certainly concur that you don't need suspension for city commuting and are better off without it, none of these hybrids even without suspension will be giving you quite as hard a ride as a drop-handlebar road bike in any case.

ozt9vdujny3srf

Just had a look on cycleways, the "specialized" road bikes look nice form there, then I'm gonna either buy a specialized bike there or buy the urban100 from pennyfarthing.

blorg

Are these the drop-handlebar road bikes or the 'flat bar road' hybrids, e.g. the Sirrus line? Can heartily endorse the Specialized Sirrus line, I'm very happy with mine, and there wasn't a lot else like it when I was looking.

ozt9vdujny3srf

http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=9608&bikeTab=techspec

bought it, cycled home, secks.

ozt9vdujny3srf

http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?minisite=10082&spid=9608&bikeTab=techspec