Will £150 get a better bike than £100?

[Comstock]

Hi guys. First up, I'm brand new on the forum, so I may well have posted this in the wrong place. Apologies if that is the case.

I'm perhaps one notch up from a total newbie. I ride a bike because I can't afford a car, journies of between 1 and 5 miles max. My Raleigh Raven is finally knackered after 15 years good service, and it's time for a new bike.

I've heard terrible things about sub £100 bikes (BSOs as you call them). Would £150 get me anything better? Or would I be better  keeping the extra 50 quid in my pocket ? (for repairs to my BSO perhaps!?)
regards

Paul

[nuttycyclist]

Welcome to the forum.

Unfortunately that question really is the same as "how long is a piece of string?"



The best place to start is to look at the type of cycling you do (utility/racing/off-road/etc) and then look at the bikes best suited to that. 

There's enough helpful folk on here that will probably help you find the best bike at the best price.

[ScumOfTheRoad]

Paul,
if you are after a value for money bike give Decathlon a thought.
They have some pretty decent 'town bikes' as they describe them, at around that value.
Depends where you live I suppose - if you are nowhere near a branch then they're less interesting!
Here they are:
Decathlon - HYBRID BIKES - Hybrid Bikes - Bikes - Cycle

If you let us know the area you live in maybe you'll get some directions to a decent bike shop, or somewhere that recycles bikes.
I would also suggest joining your local Freecycle list and just asking for a bike.

[teethgrinder]

I doubt it would make much difference. You'll probably just get a few extra gears and add ons.
I'd buy second hand for £150. You could get a nice 20-30 year old bike that's been looked after for that, if you look hard enough and are lucky.
What's the frame like on the Raven and what is knackered? You may be able to fix it and end up with a better bike than you would with a £150 new one.

[eck]

Good advice there from Mr SOTR.
Also, £150 could get you a decent second hand bike - as long as you know what to look out for when buying, or you know someone who does.

And, aye, welcome. 

EDIT: more or less what just TG said.

[urban_biker]

Like other have already said. I reckon a 2nd hand bike would suit you best. It would be hard to get anything new for that price that would last for regular commuting.

Free-Ads or a local bike shop may be able to help. Or alternatively keep an eye on the classified section here. I've seen some real bargains for around £150

[Torslanda]

No but a decent frame can be built into a durable scoot.

Decent components can be scavenged and sourced which improve performance or 'upgrade' your bike.

Its the way I build mine. You've got to use t'intertubes and cycle jumbles, one day sales and stuff like Gumtree.

The only real way to learn what's crap and what isn't is to buy some stuff and make the mistakes. Some stuff works and some stuff is made of CHEEZ. Very little of what you can buy is actually dangerous but its best to avoid stuff that looks too good to be true.

Have a look at the Gallery thread 'Member's Bikes', you'll soon see what's possible.

John

[Comstock]

Paul,
if you are after a value for money bike give Decathlon a thought.
They have some pretty decent 'town bikes' as they describe them, at around that value.

I will take a look at Decathlon, thanks

I'm in Derby so my nearest one is Nottingham, not too far.

Teethgrinder, the frame on my Raven is OK, but it about the only thing that is! Brakes don't brake, gears don't go in properly, 2 broken cables in the last 12 months, tyres are cracked.  It's time to move on. I've no complaints from a bike that cost £120 in 1995!

[Jacomus]

Paul,
if you are after a value for money bike give Decathlon a thought.
They have some pretty decent 'town bikes' as they describe them, at around that value.

I will take a look at Decathlon, thanks

I'm in Derby so my nearest one is Nottingham, not too far.

Teethgrinder, the frame on my Raven is OK, but it about the only thing that is! Brakes don't brake, gears don't go in properly, 2 broken cables in the last 12 months, tyres are cracked.  It's time to move on. I've no complaints from a bike that cost £120 in 1995!

With regards to Decathlon, forget their hybrid range and instead go for their "trekking" range.

I have just bought a commuter from Decathlon and looked at the following range of bikes while I was at it. Decathlon - bikes / bicycles / cycles hybrid bike  B'TWIN - Triban trail 3 B'TWIN - cycle touring (occasional use).

The Triban comes pretty well equipped for £150ish and there are a couple of different models to chose from in the shop. My father-not-quite-in-law has ridden a slightly higher spec Triban 40 odd miles a day for the last couple of years.

[ScumOfTheRoad]

Aha. As you are in Derby then you must feel an inexorable pull towards the emporium of Mercian Cycles.
Seriously, why not go along to the shop and see if they know of any good second hand deals?

[teethgrinder]

Teethgrinder, the frame on my Raven is OK, but it about the only thing that is! Brakes don't brake, gears don't go in properly, 2 broken cables in the last 12 months, tyres are cracked.  It's time to move on. I've no complaints from a bike that cost £120 in 1995!

So, a new set of tyres and brakes. One day sales are good for that kind of thing. Especially brake/gear cables. I got a good pair of wheels with tyres and tubes for £60 at one of those. As well as some brakes which I never use. The brake pads would have cost more than the brakes did, so I bought the brakes just for the brake blocks.
Gears can be gotten cheaply, especially if you buy 8 speed, which will work with down tube shitfters.
You'll need to know what you're buying though. Not everything at these sales is a fantastic bargain, but is still reasonably priced. Some of it is tat, but you get tat anywhere.
The gears might not work because the chain, chainring and sprockets are worn out. The actual changer might be OK.

Maybe put some photos up on the forum so that we can have a good laugh at your expense see what can be done.

[David Martin]

Bikes are a curious mix. You can spend a lot of money for little apparent gain. You can also spend a lot of money now and end up paying less in the long run.

One question is how much you are prepared to do yourself when it comes to maintenance. If you are prepared to do most of the jobs yourself then you can get a long life and good value from the bike and have something that is nice to ride.

In my experience it is not worthwhile buying the cheapest of parts. They don't last and will require constant adjustment.

Tyres are another case in point. The cheap £7-10 tyres may seem like a good deal but they wear rapidly. Spending £15 or thereabouts on a name brand tyre will get you something that lasts 5 times as long and performs better.
Likewise gears. The cheaper rear mechs (£15) tend to not last as long as the more expensive ones due to better materials and construction. My experience is that for regular commuting an XT (almost top of the range) rear mech at £45 will last more than 3 years working flawlessly, wheras the cheapest ones at £15 might last 3 months before they start to misbehave (worst was 1 week for a 'rapid rise' one.)

A good plan would be to look for quality second hand stuff on fora such as this one, and you will be able to put a bike together for relatively little but it will run well for a long time.

..d

[ScumOfTheRoad]

Decathlon also worth a visit for tyres, cables, gears etc.

[Comstock]

With regards to Decathlon, forget their hybrid range and instead go for their "trekking" range.

I have just bought a commuter from Decathlon and looked at the following range of bikes while I was at it. Decathlon - bikes / bicycles / cycles hybrid bike  B'TWIN - Triban trail 3 B'TWIN - cycle touring (occasional use).

The Triban comes pretty well equipped for £150ish and there are a couple of different models to chose from in the shop.

OK I'm really going to show my newbie-ness here.


How good are the tyres on something like that?
As in, how puncture resistant?
Obviously the odd puncture is unavoidable, but I want as few as possible..

[ScumOfTheRoad]

Comstock, you have now opened a can of worms!

Tyres which are puncture-resistant generally have a kevlar band in them - others will be along to recomemnd types!
However, the best advice I can give is to keep the tyres pumped up hard - harder than you think.
On your visit to my favourite store (yeah I know, change the record) buy a track pump.
These are the pumps which look like a stirrup pump - it makes it a lot easier to get the tyres pumped up than using a hand pump.
If a tyre is hard it is less likely to puncture, and also easier to ride the bike.

[Comstock]

Tyres which are puncture-resistant generally have a kevlar band in them - others will be along to recomemnd types!
However, the best advice I can give is to keep the tyres pumped up hard - harder than you think.
On your visit to my favourite store (yeah I know, change the record) buy a track pump.
These are the pumps which look like a stirrup pump - it makes it a lot easier to get the tyres pumped up than using a hand pump.

Thanks. I always use a car footpump for my tyres, which gets them pretty damn hard.

The odd puncture is a fact of life I guess, but I've a mild co-ordination problem that makes fiddly tasks like changing an inner tube tricky, but has no impact on my ability to ride (difficult to explain why in words, but my reactions and balance are fine)

So for me, a puncture often means a trip to the repair shop and so puncture avoidance is an issue

[Zoidburg]

Try Ebay and look for a rigid steel MTB something late 80s or early 90s, they make good commuters. You can get some very suitable little used bikes for less that £150.

Another option, buy a second hand one from Beeston tip, they normaly let you take one for a fiver and I have seen some very usuable stuff, I was gutted when I saw a high end trek hi-brid in effing crusher, they do need work though.

Bunnies in Nottingham sell refurbs as well, next to the train station, one of the few legit second hand places. Avoid the second hand bike shop in Beeston town center, I have seen them buy bikes off kids who have no ID.

[oncemore]

"Try Ebay and look for a rigid steel MTB something late 80s or early 90s, they make good commuters. You can get some very suitable little used bikes for less that £150."

Seconded. If you were a bit nearer to Nottingham then I could probably "find" you one. Anyone in Derby who can help?

Derby has I think a relatively larger used bikes supply than Nottingham: I spend far too much time browsing ebay. Given your size/style/type requirements I'd happily mail you ebay listings in your area that might be of interest if you feel too "new" to "choose".

[tonycollinet]

Watcha - and like t'others have said - welcome

Second the second hand advice. You are likely to get a much better bike that way.

[jogler]

Welcome to the forum Comstock.
Get along to.....
Samway's
20/22 Ashbourne Rd
Derby

seeing as how you live in town.They are very helpfull particularly if you avoid a busy retailing period such as Saturday mid-morning.
The CTC have a very active branch in Derby with some extremely knowledgeable & helpfull folk
Derby CTC Section Home
For yourbudget,second hand may get you most value for £

[Zoidburg]

Derby has I think a relatively larger used bikes supply than Nottingham: I spend far too much time browsing ebay. Given your size/style/type requirements I'd happily mail you ebay listings in your area that might be of interest if you feel too "new" to "choose".

I would show a little bit of caution on that front, Derby has a higher than average amount of heroin users than cities of similar size.

Just be sure anything on the Bay is not nicked.

[oncemore]

Guess I just ain't that suspicious! Tho' I doubt many serious junkies can get ebaying together - 7 days plus payment etc when need a hit? Doubt it. I could never wait that long for a drink!

[Zoidburg]

Oh junkies make very little from them,

There are certain individuals who make a living out of selling on stuff that junkies nick and sell.

[grayo59]

In answer to the original Q.

Yes. Don't be fooled by price snobbery. Especially if like me you just use a bike to keep the flab away and get some exercise.

For general use - fitness - commuting without getting your bike nicked then £150 will get you something usable. Perhaps if seriously commuting then spend a bit more, but unless you have secure bike parking then what's the point?

I have two bikes - one is a five year old "Hybrid" apollo Halford's hack (£150 new) that I have completed over 6000 miles on including a camping trip from Bristol to Devon. All I have ever replaced are the tyres (I went for a smoother kevlar 1.75 filled with slime too - instead of the original more traily 2.25) when the rear one got down to the canvas; and changed the brake blocks for something with a bigger contact area thus improving the braking vastly.

I clean it thoroughly once a year, spray the chain with WD40 every so often and adjust the brakes and gears occasionally. The gears are sweet and it does more than I could ever have hoped for for the £150 I paid. (The extra £50 got me an ali frame and a seven speed back sprocket instead of six and the gears felt much better than the £99 bottom of the range.)

This bike would have many on this forum giving it "I'd rather walk" or puking with disgust or laughing in dismay, but it does 90% of what I want on road and trail and street and with a rack, a frame mudguard and a 3 litre ice cream carton on the back I can carry showerproofs (Aldi or Army surplus of course) and enough tools and grub for a 50 mile run which is about the most I do anyway.

My other bike is a Specialized Allez "double" which at £500 is nice enough on the road after a change of tyres (with rubbish brakes) and is just about "real bike" enough to get the nod of approbation from other roadies who are so serious.   I've done about 2000 miles on this in the two years I've had it which reflects that I generally use the Halfords hack for a mid week one hour blasts on a mixture of surfaces, and weekend rides on railway paths.

Oh and the chain snapped on my Allez (not WD40'd but using some special lube supplied by the bikeshop) at 700 miles and the "you must have worn it out" rubbish I got from the LBS only served to make me more determined to get it replaced under warranty, which I eventually did.

Get on it and enjoy it!

[LEE]

I'd spend money on the Raleigh Raven.

1st - New tyres - Schwalbe City Jet 1.5" are £10 at SJSC and perfect for commuting on road.  Pump up to recommended pressure and you'll fly along.

2nd - New brake cables and brake blocks - Asda blocks are perfectly OK and £3 a pair.  

3rd - Gears "not going in properly" is a 5 minute fix for a Bike shop (or you if you check out the many YOUTUBE videos on the subject).  A quick tweak and some oil (maybe new cables) will fix 90% of shifting issues.  Even complete new mechs are dirt cheap at the low end.

I reckon £50 will cover the above and the tyres especially will transform the bike (I assume it's a mountain bike with 'knobbly' tyres).

£150 can get you a decent 2nd hand bike if you know exactly what you are looking for, it can also get you a pile of junk if you don't.


Post a photo of it on the forum so we can see a before and after