WDB
Full Member
Posts: 7,352 
|
Post by WDB on May 28, 2020 15:29:02 GMT
This is a cousin of my shopping bike. whyte.bike/collections/fast-urban-commuter-r7-series/products/whitechapel£600 list but you could have one through C2W for an effective £348 spread over 12 months. The discount on school fees would cover that. 🤓 That Halfords one isn’t bad, but I struggle to see why you need a triple chainring for anything short of heavy-duty off-roading — which you won’t be doing with a rigid front fork. 1x is the future. You might want a lower bottom gear than the Whyte’s 42:36, though, which you get with the one I have — but for £200 more. |
|
|
|
Post by Humph on May 28, 2020 15:31:17 GMT
I remember reading an article on hybrid bikes and its author proposed, that like rats, you're never more than about 50 yards from a Carrera Subway.
There's a good reason for that. Great bikes for the money. Much favoured by bike couriers.
New or second hand, should be ideal. Subway 1 has mechanical discs ( nowt wrong with those ) but a Subway 2 has hydraulic discs which are a tangible step up.
Good robust bikes with very little to go wrong. You'd be amazed how much nicer it'd be than what you currently have.
|
|
|
|
Post by Alanović on May 28, 2020 16:29:45 GMT
This is a cousin of my shopping bike. whyte.bike/collections/fast-urban-commuter-r7-series/products/whitechapel£600 list but you could have one through C2W for an effective £348 spread over 12 months. The discount on school fees would cover that. 🤓 That Halfords one isn’t bad, but I struggle to see why you need a triple chainring for anything short of heavy-duty off-roading — which you won’t be doing with a rigid front fork. 1x is the future. You might want a lower bottom gear than the Whyte’s 42:36, though, which you get with the one I have — but for £200 more. How well are the tyres on that Whyte going cope with gravelly, thorny trails? Also, we're getting a LOOOOOOONG way from £150 here. |
|
|
|
Post by Alanović on May 28, 2020 16:34:25 GMT
I remember reading an article on hybrid bikes and its author proposed, that like rats, you're never more than about 50 yards from a Carrera Subway. There's a good reason for that. Great bikes for the money. Much favoured by bike couriers. New or second hand, should be ideal. Subway 1 has mechanical discs ( nowt wrong with those ) but a Subway 2 has hydraulic discs which are a tangible step up. Good robust bikes with very little to go wrong. You'd be amazed how much nicer it'd be than what you currently have. They don't appear to be available brand new. www.cyclerepublic.com/carrera-subway-1-mens-bike-2020.htmlNo buy button? Looks good though, but over geared according to WDB I expect. I'm minded to agree with him on that, but then again you don't have to shift between the front cogs. The Whyte suggestion is getting into the realms of "bound to be nicked", however. I would want something cheap looking, anonymous and essentially disposable. |
|
WDB
Full Member
Posts: 7,352
|
Post by WDB on May 28, 2020 17:02:43 GMT
That Carrera 1 does look decent. Usefully low 7:8 climbing gear and a 4:1 top (same as mine) for the open road. But 22 ratios in between, of which about 8 will have a near-duplicate in another set, which is part of the reason it weighs a third more than my shopping bike to do essentially the same job.
Granted, 32mm tyres are not ideal off-road — although Boy1’s 33mm cyclocross tyres cope with almost everything my fatter ones do. But the Whyte frame will take the 650x47mm tyres I have on the shopper, and the 700c wheels on that one would be great with 42s like the gravel machine’s. Set those up tubeless and never (well, hardly ever) worry about punctures again.
|
|
|
|
Post by Alanović on May 28, 2020 17:29:52 GMT
So, there's your task. Find me a medium sized, rigid fork, disc braked, 6ish-speed bike with hybrid tyres for as near to £150 as you can get. New or second hand.
|
|
|
|
Post by tyrednexited on May 28, 2020 18:28:02 GMT
So, there's your task. Find me a medium sized, rigid fork, disc braked, 6ish-speed bike with hybrid tyres for as near to £150 as you can get. New or second hand. I think you'll have to go down the station and nick one..... |
|
WDB
Full Member
Posts: 7,352
|
Post by WDB on May 28, 2020 18:43:03 GMT
Be sure you’ve peeled all the ‘POLICE’ stickers off it before you ride it anywhere.
|
|
|
|
Post by Humph on May 28, 2020 19:07:10 GMT
Yeah, and the trouble is, at that size, it's bound to have a girl's saddle on it...
😉
|
|
WDB
Full Member
Posts: 7,352
|
Post by WDB on May 29, 2020 7:18:33 GMT
Back to Halfords. This one appears to be in stock. www.halfords.com/bikes/hybrid-bikes/carrera-parva-mens-hybrid-bike-2020---silver---s-m-l-frames-346142.html‘Parva’ is Latin for ‘little’, so it ought to work for you. The text suggests it weighs 13kg, which is manageable, although the spec sheet says 15kg. 2x transmission is more sensible (Halfords’ cheapest 1x is a Boardman at £750) and a 30:28 bottom is usable, but top is barely 3:1, so you’ll be pedalling frantically to make progress. So it will get you around, just not very quickly. Which is possibly just as well because you don’t get disc brakes. That restricts your tyre choice and makes progress on muddy tracks more hazardous. I’ve done a lot of ‘leisure cycling’, weekends and summer evenings, and very seldom had cause to overtake another cyclist. These days I have to pass several on every outing, usually people on overweight BSOs travelling barely above walking pace. I suppose this one is a bit better than that but I’d still be scouring the classifieds for something more capable. |
|
|
|
Post by Humph on May 29, 2020 8:11:32 GMT
One of the bikes lurking in our shed is a Carrera Vulcan my son had when he was about 12/13 years old. Good little bike actually, but he grew through it very quickly.
We keep it among others, mainly due to inertia, but with its 16" frame it serves as a spare/guest bike for use by smaller people who may want to borrow a bike to try a bit of off roading.
I can just about ride it with an oversized seat post. Wouldn't want to go far on it due to its cramped riding position for me but I can't really fault it as a basic but solid bike.
I've a couple of fairly serious full suss bikes, but the one I'm using most right now due to mainly cycle path and gravel trail use, is a Specialized 650b hardtail. It's light enough to keep up with the traffic and climbs like a Red Arrow in a hurry. More than happy on the rough stuff too if a little bit tooth rattling on fast descents.
It's getting a wee bit tired in places so it is in danger of being replaced by an Orbea Alma or an Orange Crush.
|
|
|
|
Post by Alanović on May 29, 2020 8:29:16 GMT
|
|
WDB
Full Member
Posts: 7,352
|
Post by WDB on May 29, 2020 8:38:16 GMT
Here's a more affordable 1x www.chainreactioncycles.com/vitus-dee-29-city-bike-tourney-2020/rp-prod183548which looks promising until you look at the gearing. It's gone 1x on the cheap, by simply removing the front mech and leaving a cassette on the back that's designed for a 2x chainwheel, so you get an inadequate top gear and no climbing gear at all. If you could swap the 12-28 for a 1x-specific 11-42, you'd have a pretty useful bike with a very good set of tyres, and with disc brakes - albeit mechanical rather than hydraulic. But that would probably add £75, assuming you could get the parts to fit. |
|
|
|
Post by Humph on May 29, 2020 8:40:00 GMT
I think you'd like that Subway Al. If it was me though, I'd probably upgrade to a Subway 2. You'd probably never need another bike for years if you did. Not much else that good south of £500.
Edit - Vitus looks ok too
2nd edit - Kona Dew ( as suggested to Esp )
|
|
WDB
Full Member
Posts: 7,352
|
Post by WDB on May 29, 2020 8:48:06 GMT
|
|
