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Bicycle age

T

TimmmV

Member
Does anyone have any opinions on this bike?

I'm looking to start cycling to lose some weight (because running is boring as hell, and I often get shin splints when doing it), and wondered if this will be a good starter bike

I will be mainly going on roads and trails, but tbh don't really know which brands/models are known for being robust/good value for money etc.

From looking around this seems like a good brand, and its price is good for my budget, but I'm still a noob to this so am trying to get the opinion of people who know what they are talking about :)
 
J

jakonovski

Member
As a general point, hybrid bikes are better off with a rigid fork. They're not made for riding in terrain that requires suspension and cheap suspension forks wouldn't be able to handle it well anyway. The price differential can then be invested in quality tyres for example. The tyres that come with bikes are often horrible and made from inferior rubber compared to aftermarket options, even if it's superficially the same.
 
P

Psychotext

Member
Yeah, the suspension fork is a major concern there. The stanchions look so ridiculously thin that it wouldn't be much use other than cushioning you from the odd bump and pothole.
 
T

TimmmV

Member
Max budget I'm quite flexible over, I'll be buying it through cycle to work scheme, so whatever I get will be quite a lot cheaper than at retail (I think their top spend for the level of savings I want is £500, more than that and you save less), my main concern really is going too far and spending a lot of money on a bike that is overkill for my actual use

The kind of trails I mean will be the one in this picture mostly. The goal is to take it around in the countryside/forests near me (I live in north west England, so rain/mud are very likely!), but it wont be anything too extreme.

Thanks for your help btw guys!

edit:
jakonovski said:
Their store branded bike has pretty interesting spec, just like I'd do for a commuter sort of bike that doesn't stray past gravel roads: http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/pro...-15?bct=browse/bicycles/commuter-hybrid-bikes

edit: ok the chainring is maybe a bit excessive.
Click to expand...

My previous bike (which was stolen by some cretins) was one of their cheaper models (an older model of this http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/pro...der?bct=browse/bicycles/commuter-hybrid-bikes), I found the bike to be decent for getting around in town, but the build quality to not be great (particularly the handlebars, which look the same on the picture of the one linked. One time I really messed up my shoulder because nut that holds the height of the handlebars didn't hold very well, and slammed down when I hit a small bump), so ideally I'd be looking to buy another brand, that is slightly more robust
 
P

Psychotext

Member
Well, if you're going to be spending a lot of time in those sorts of areas, I'd consider something along these lines:

http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/mountain-bikes/voodoo-hoodoo-mountain-bike-2013-2014-20

http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/calibre-point-50-alloy-hardtail-mountain-bike-p275620

http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/mountain-bikes/voodoo-bizango-29er-mountain-bike-18

The Bizango is a hell of a bike for the price.

Oh, and you have some incredible trails up there if you get into it.
 
J

jakonovski

Member
T

TimmmV

Member
Psychotext said:
Well, if you're going to be spending a lot of time in those sorts of areas, I'd consider something along these lines:

http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/mountain-bikes/voodoo-hoodoo-mountain-bike-2013-2014-20

http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/calibre-point-50-alloy-hardtail-mountain-bike-p275620

http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/mountain-bikes/voodoo-bizango-29er-mountain-bike-18

The Bizango is a hell of a bike for the price.

Oh, and you have some incredible trails up there if you get into it.
Click to expand...

Ah ok, I'll look at those. The Bizango is proably out of my price range though :(

And yeah, there are loads of places around me that are great to go cycling in, and I spend most of my time being a lazy bastard sat on the couch lol. I briefly lived in Macclesfield as a kid, and have memories of places that now seem they would be great to spend a day cycling round

jakonovski said:
I'm thinking you want a hardtail mountain bike for that kind of trail, unless you really like to go fast on paved surfaces, in which case a cyclocrosser would be good.

Unless you're set on using that particular store, Vitus mountain bikes get a lot of praise. Something like this:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/fi/en/vitus-bikes-nucleus-290-hardtail-bike-2015/rp-prod120705

edit: yeah the Bizango has an air fork which makes it much nicer than the others.
Click to expand...

Not set on that store! That and an Evans are just the nearest ones near me at the moment, so I started with them, as it'll make it more straightforward to test ride.

I wont be looking to go fast on paved surfaces really, the goal is more to go slow and steady over a day, than razz around on it and get knackered after an hour

I'll keep Vitus in mind though, that bike at the very least looks cool as hell
 
T

TimmmV

Member
jakonovski said:
Evans has their own pinnacle series, this one looks interesting:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pinnacle/ramin-one-2015-mountain-bike-ec071312

No suspension fork but better spec elsewhere to compensate, and you could upgrade straight to an air fork if you ever felt like really going off road.
Click to expand...

Yeah the Pinnacle ones were going to be my next thing to check out, if that Focus one wasn't any good. This one and this one were the ones I was considering

Do you definitely recommend a mountain bike over a hybrid then?
 
P

Psychotext

Member
Hybrids tend to be the best of no worlds. If you find yourself using a mountain bike on road a lot you can just switch out for slicker tyres. It'll be heavier, but if you're doing it for fitness anyway, who cares? But if you're looking to pootle around out in nature then yeah, get yourself a hardtail and don't look back.

I think Evans have test rides available, so there's an option.

Edit - Yeah: http://www.evanscycles.com/help/test-rides

Just go in the morning, chuck the bike in the back of a car and take it to a trail. Do some trail + road and see how you get on.
 
M

Mascot

Member
Psychotext said:
Hybrids tend to be the best of no worlds. If you find yourself using a mountain bike on road a lot you can just switch out for slicker tyres. It'll be heavier, but if you're doing it for fitness anyway, who cares? But if you're looking to pootle around out in nature then yeah, get yourself a hardtail and don't look back.
Click to expand...

Exactly my philosophy. A friend sold his MTB last year because his girlfriend is a witch, then decided he wanted another MTB, then almost went Full Jimmy, then eventually went hybrid because he's mental. The very first ride we went on he wanted to head off the fire trails and through the woods, but his hybrid wasn't up to the job. He now rarely shows his face in public.

At least he didn't go FJ.

*shudders*

Hybrids were invented by the same marketing genius who gave us those 3D TVs that nobody wanted.
 
C

Christoff Yurievich

Member
That's going to be the best thing I see today, I'm sure.

Do you live in/near Oregon? The state is having seven scavenger hunts for seven bikes next month. http://traveloregon.com/trip-ideas/oregon-stories/7-bikes-for-7-wonders/ I live near two of the potential areas (Mt. Hood and the Columbia River Valley) so I'm holding out hope. Not much, but it's there. I'd also go for the Crater Lake one but that's like half a state away, tough to just run over there on a lark to not win.

I wonder though what you do when you find the bikes and you're 5'3 (or 6'3) and don't fit this pre-made bike? Kind of sucks that you then have this one of a kind bike and you can't use it.
 
T

TimmmV

Member
Ok brilliant, thanks for your help guys

I already kinda liked the look of a mountain bike, but was put off by thinking the tires will take a lot more effort compared to a hybrid whenever they are used on a road - is this not the case then?

Are there any particular brands to look out for? Just going off a quick look over the two sites I linked there are some ones by Focus/Specialized/Scott/Trek that all *look* good at least (have disk brakes, and suspension, and then actually look nice)

Again, sorry for all the questions, i cant emphasise enough how little I know about bikes!
 
J

jakonovski

Member
Different tyres have different rolling resistances. OEM tyres that come with complete bikes are mostly well rolling models, but they usually lack grip in adverse conditions.

The best thing to do is to ride whatever comes with the bike and then at some point change to something else based on experience.
 
P

Psychotext

Member
If you buy any of those brands at that price point you're going to end up with shit components on the bike (massive name markup). Go with one of the ones already suggested if you can. Or post ones that you think fit the bill and we'll judge them.

As for them being slower on road, of course they will be... but as I said, if you spend a lot of time on road, swap the tyres to semi slick But why do you care about going fast if it's just for leisure / fitness?
 
T

thomaser

Member
Explored a gravel road that I have only barely sniffed at before. It goes up a mountain to a pasture. It's a cool road, with things to see:

17460446459_f7cc71629f_z.jpg

Somebody has built this almost at the top. There's an oven, a skillet, bottles of ketchup and mustard, a pink sofa, a beware-of-deer traffic sign, and a cowboy hat.

17024212364_2d05fe7b88_z.jpg

The perfect place to take your date. That sofa must have seen EVERYTHING.

17644273872_8d9d6695c5_z.jpg

Everything colour-coordinated.

17026286933_4b0a472fe7_z.jpg

Awesome tree hut. Should have taken a hangage photo here.
 
T

TarpitCarnivore

Member
TimmmV said:
Ok brilliant, thanks for your help guys

I already kinda liked the look of a mountain bike, but was put off by thinking the tires will take a lot more effort compared to a hybrid whenever they are used on a road - is this not the case then?

Are there any particular brands to look out for? Just going off a quick look over the two sites I linked there are some ones by Focus/Specialized/Scott/Trek that all *look* good at least (have disk brakes, and suspension, and then actually look nice)

Again, sorry for all the questions, i cant emphasise enough how little I know about bikes!
Click to expand...

Trek, Specialized and Focus are going to have high mark up with lesser components. Fuji, Kona and Scott should be able to get you onto a bike for a similar price with slightly better components.
 
M

Mascot

Member
thomaser said:
Explored a gravel road that I have only barely sniffed at before. It goes up a mountain to a pasture. It's a cool road, with things to see:

17460446459_f7cc71629f_z.jpg

Somebody has built this almost at the top. There's an oven, a skillet, bottles of ketchup and mustard, a pink sofa, a beware-of-deer traffic sign, and a cowboy hat.
Click to expand...

Luxury! Our serial killers have to do their mass murdering in dingy cellars, not surrounded by trees with a fantastic view.
 
Gray Matter

Gray Matter

Member
I've had my bike now for a little over a month now, I love it. Have put over 200 miles on it already. When I first got it, it felt good, but as I got used to it, I felt like I wasn't getting enough reach while pedaling, so today I raised the saddle, and it's like riding a new bike, I get more kick and I already noticed that I go faster. Way better now.
 
H

HTupolev

Member
Just make sure that it's not too high; people sometimes shoot the saddle way up and pedal with their feet somewhat extended because it feels powerful. But it involves doing a lot of "pushing" with the lower leg that can be hard on the knees, and isn't really a clean low-energy motion. At around the top of the stroke the ankles should be roughly square, maybe gently extending at the bottom of the stroke.
 
Gray Matter

Gray Matter

Member
HTupolev said:
Just make sure that it's not too high; people sometimes shoot the saddle way up and pedal with their feet somewhat extended because it feels powerful. But it involves doing a lot of "pushing" with the lower leg that can be hard on the knees, and isn't really a clean low-energy motion. At around the top of the stroke the ankles should be roughly square, maybe gently extending at the bottom of the stroke.
Click to expand...

I'm no expert, but it feels good, not too low, not too high.
 
M

Mascot

Member
Mascot said:
Tragically, around this time a cyclist was killed just down the road from me. Hit by a vehicle, we think. The road has been closed for the past six hours.
Click to expand...

Reports of his death have been greatly exaggerated, it seems.

Turns out it was some bloke bombing down a hill on a (badly-assembled) folding bicycle that decided to pack itself away a little early. Bad head injuries from not wearing a helmet (silly billy...) but still alive and kicking. Apparently.
 
J

jakonovski

Member
So turns out some of the trails here have been used for enduro sprint races. I tried some and holy shit it's intense. The worst/best part is that you have to keep up the speed to get across obstacles. There's a lot of stuff where my brain just says NO.
 
T

TarpitCarnivore

Member
Gray Matter said:
I'm no expert, but it feels good, not too low, not too high.
Click to expand...

Look at your knees as your pedaling and watch their extension as they reach the bottom of the pedal stroke. The knee should not be fully extending at the bottom of the stroke. If it is then you're too high.

On a similar note I just moved my seat forward, because I kept feeling myself sliding forward a bit. It's been an adjustment for the least three rides, but i have to give it at least a week to two weeks before I decide to go back. I know a lot of my struggles right now are mental so we'll see.
 
P

Psychotext

Member
Knee blown out again... But goddamn there are some fantastic women's arses on display at this event. I don't normally approve of Lycra for mountain bikers, but yes. Yes indeed.
 
M

Mascot

Member
Psychotext said:
Knee blown out again... But goddamn there are some fantastic women's arses on display at this event. I don't normally approve of Lycra for mountain bikers, but yes. Yes indeed.
Click to expand...
Admit it, PT: you stealth-edited the word "women's" in and hoped nobody noticed, didn't you?
 
Gray Matter

Gray Matter

Member
TarpitCarnivore said:
Look at your knees as your pedaling and watch their extension as they reach the bottom of the pedal stroke. The knee should not be fully extending at the bottom of the stroke. If it is then you're too high.

On a similar note I just moved my seat forward, because I kept feeling myself sliding forward a bit. It's been an adjustment for the least three rides, but i have to give it at least a week to two weeks before I decide to go back. I know a lot of my struggles right now are mental so we'll see.
Click to expand...

When I went to buy my bike that's something they mentioned, so I raised just enough so my legs aren't fully extended.
 
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