What bike to buy

**AL21784** · 23rd November 2007, 22:00

Claud Butler's are good bikes, had one a couple of years ago before it got nicked , fantastic bike

**DeathStar** · 23rd November 2007, 22:25

Originally Posted by glynn

i would say about £3000 if not more as i have seen some for sale from £2500 upwards

Mine aint as expensive as that....but as a clue my front fork was a shade over £350....ouch!

But you are right, some can be in excess of 3.5k! Full Carbon Fibre!

CB are good frames, the problem with buying a cheap CB is that the frame will be good, but the components will be rubbish and will brake. As an example my 1st bike was £500 hardtail, the bearings went on the crank after 2 rides,

**VauxVeteran** · 24th November 2007, 14:26

Halfords had an offer on I think where you get £20 acc pack with any bike and a lot of the bikes were half price, if you get a mountain bike style bike, make sure it's aluminum cos steel ones are a pig to carry/ride and don't get much speed up.

**Stevel** · 24th November 2007, 21:23

I've bought three bikes from Halfords.

First one I specfically told the guy I wanted one with decent brakes for the little fella as we were starting to venture off road. The missus picked the bike up and the rear brake had not been adjusted so barely touched the wheel.

I fixed it myself but was a bit peeved. Six months later I was back looking at some stuff when the Manager came over. I mentioned the brakes and he offered to prepare a new one himself and swap the bike for a new one.

When he got older I bought a Carrera Kraken. from the same store as a result
This bike which he still has has been A1

Then the missus wanted one so we bought the same bike in the womans version. The brakes were again poorly set up and the gear change was never as good at the little fellas bike.

A couple of weeks ago the gears went completly. I took it to the local bike shop who said that the Mech. had not been put on properly.

They replaced the Mech. and gave the bike a full service all for £40.

Thing is now it's like a new bike. You just touch the gears and it changes so smoothly it's untrue.

All the bikes were from the Bike Hut section of the Chester store.

The bikes are good but the set up has been poor locally which is why I'm buying mine from the local shop.

**DeathStar** · 24th November 2007, 21:30

I would tend to agree with the above, I always get my bikes for a LBS (Local Bike Shop) You pay £10-20 more sometimes, but you have piece of mind its their bread an butter, the bikes are always setup correctly after sales service is great also.

Would you buy a car from a bike shop? probably not, so why buy a bike from a car shop....

**AL21784** · 24th November 2007, 21:33

Originally Posted by DeathStar

Would you buy a car from a bike shop? probably not, so why buy a bike from a car shop....

good point

**chunkster** · 25th November 2007, 00:19

i agree, i buy my bikes from local shops, as they know theyre stuff. i paid just over £1300 for my mountain bike and then my mrs decided she wqanted a road racer so got her a cannondale r600 about 2 years ago which has seen tarmac once, but back to topic, that bike looks spot on for what you need it for ian

**Graeme** · 25th November 2007, 00:24

try this site ian www.edinburghbicycle.com they do good prices for bikes. i think they have a branch somewhere down south but maybe worth a look. i have one of their own mountain bikes bought about 6 years ago, ho not used much

buy for me better bike than the raleigh one i had before that.

**ade** · 25th November 2007, 01:28

Originally Posted by VauxVeteran

Halfords had an offer on I think where you get £20 acc pack with any bike and a lot of the bikes were half price, if you get a mountain bike style bike, make sure it's aluminum cos steel ones are a pig to carry/ride and don't get much speed up.

tosh a decent cro-mo frame can ride a lot sweeter than some aluminum frames i used to race a decent cro mo frame in the national points series they can be alot more forgiving and smoother to ride than aluminium frames. i would only use aluminium for full suspension . if i had £150 i would be looking for secondhand better spec bike. my x-country steel frame weighed in at 23lb with front rock shox SIDS

**Duncan** · 25th November 2007, 01:39

Well, this is what I used to commute between North and South London when I lived there......

Oh, as well as using it for road racing, time trialling and runs at the weekend!

Still got, still use it - just not as much as I used to.

Ian, as others have said, that bike will be absolutely fine for your short commute. If you find that you get more into cycling then you could upgrade. No point having a whizzy bang bike if all it's for is a short commute.

D