Bicycle Question – Advice Please?
Hello, beginning of the year I bought a new full suspension bike from Halfords, half price (£70)
I am starting uni in september, would this bike be ok to commute 3 miles or would it be better to buy a different kind of bike (e.g a commuter bike with no suspension) what would be the [...]
6 comments
The bike you have should be okay. But you may want to get a gel seat. This is a slip on thing that goes onto your seat and makes it comfier. Also if the suspension below the seat is loose then you bounced up and down all of the time and it makes it harder to cycle and get speed up! so make sure its the right tension!
I got my daughter a suspension bike from Halfords 2 year ago to help get her to school.
This cost approx £70 and apart from the usual punctures, this has never caused her any problems. She commutes 3 miles to School daily, then probably another 3/4 in the evening playing on it.
If your happy with it why change it for something more expensive.
I myself have a hybrid bike and quite often clock 30miles + a day, best advice I can give is make sure your seat is comfortable.
Hope that helps
use it till it falls to pieces or gets stolen, which wont be long, then throw it away.
3 miles isnt really long enough for it to matter what you ride, buy something half decent, a second hand rigid or hardtail.
I would buy a commuter bike without any suspension. You already found out how inefficient the cheap full suspension bikes can be.
The bike that you have is more OK for the road than for XC work. However, you might benefit from the adition of a set of road tyres for about £30. Panaracer do a reasonable set. Also, you might look at changing to a road casset.
The advantages of switching to road is that you will have larger wheels, more road specific gearing and carrying capacity, since you will probably be able to put a rack on the back that you probably can’t with your full susser set up.
The downside is that in order to get anything viable for either road or XC you are going to need to spend a bit more money. But you don’t really need to spend it for what you actually need the bike for. Money is going to be tight for you over the next 3 – 4 years. Forking out £250 – £300 on a machine, when you do not know what you will be using it for, is not a good idea. Also, 3 miles is small change. You could do that on a unicycle.
My advice would be to spend any extra money on a decent padlock (theiving bunch those students). You could do worse than spending a bit on a viable helmet. Rechargable lights will serve you well, as will decent clothing. You are going to be doing this in the winter and you lecturers will not take kindly to you saying you need to leave early because it is dark.
So spend the money on road tyres, lights, lid and clothing, especially gloves.
You will struggle getting a rack on the back, but a decent rucksack to carry your books is not a bad idea.
When you get to uni, if you find that the bike is not working for you, bear in mind that there will be a second hand bike market, especially in Cambride, etc. where there are shops set up speciafically to traffic in cycles sold on by ex students. About £100 should get you a viable example. Keep it simple, no suspension and a sturdy frame. Remember you are buying a workhorse. You could also do worse than joining a cycling club while there. You should get access to mechanical and buying advise. Have a look at any clubs or societies via the SU when you get there.
Luck
Was it genuinely half-price or one of those “sold for the lower price at x number of stores for 3 months” jobs? At £140 it’s got to be a poor bike but if it’s only £70 it’s fodder for the recycling centre.
You can’t buy a new MTB with full suspension for £140 let alone £70! £700 would be more like it.
3 miles doesn’t sound far but it will take a toll on the bike; expect the chain to fall off or even break within 3 months. Buy an old commuter bicycle; the free-ads in local newspapers and online sites like pre-loved and ad-trader are the best place to look (as well as postcard ads in the supermarkets) but you’ve got to be quick to get a good bike because they are usually sold within hours and all that’s left are the crappy ones. If you’re skint put a want-ad up on Freecycle.
You don’t have to spend much to get a good bike but you may have to look at several before you find one that’s up to scratch; some people grossly overestimate the value of their old bikes while other people practically give away beautiful high quality models.
Avoid no-name bikes completely and concentrate on looking for brand-name models like Specialized, Dawes or Giant; they are usually very good quality and give a good ride so long as the parts aren’t badly worn. Check the cogs and chain aren’t worn out and test the gears. It’s all common-sense stuff; if a part needs replacing it’s going to cost money so it helps if you can find a bike that needs little or no work.