Bike for less than £180!

Chief wrote:

> A friend of mine has just got a new job and is looking at buying a bike
> to commute to work, this commute is only going to be a total of four
> miles. Although we'd like to spend more he only has £180.
>
> Any recommendations?

Second hand may hold possibilities, depending on the local market. A
pal bought a very nice Dawes Horizon for... £180, which certainly struck
me as nicer than what she could have got new for the same.

But the level you need to spend to get anything half decent is dropping
all the time, and I think £180 should get you something okay as long as
you avoid unnecessary stuff like suspension forks and disc brakes.
Something like a Giant Cypress ought to do a few miles every day for a
while and not put the rider off cycling. Any change can go on a decent
set of mudguards and a rack.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email protected] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

"Peter Clinch" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Chief wrote:
>
>> A friend of mine has just got a new job and is looking at buying a bike
>> to commute to work, this commute is only going to be a total of four
>> miles. Although we'd like to spend more he only has £180.
>>
>> Any recommendations?
>
> Second hand may hold possibilities, depending on the local market. A pal
> bought a very nice Dawes Horizon for... £180, which certainly struck me as
> nicer than what she could have got new for the same.
>
> But the level you need to spend to get anything half decent is dropping
> all the time, and I think £180 should get you something okay as long as
> you avoid unnecessary stuff like suspension forks and disc brakes.
> Something like a Giant Cypress ought to do a few miles every day for a
> while and not put the rider off cycling. Any change can go on a decent
> set of mudguards and a rack.

Might be worth seeing if the company participate in one of those cycle
schemes? Get a bike for half price then.

in message <[email protected]>, Chief
('[email protected]') wrote:

> Help,
>
> A friend of mine has just got a new job and is looking at buying a bike
> to commute to work, this commute is only going to be a total of four
> miles. Although we'd like to spend more he only has £180.
>
> Any recommendations?

Claud Butler Classic, actually a very good utility bike with mudguards
and rack as standard, is £200 list but you can get it for £180 from
discounters e.g.:

http://www.bikesandprams.co.uk/product.php?xProd=342&xSec=178

It's not sexy or stylish but it's well made with very reasonable kit for
the price.

--
[email protected] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; IE 3 is dead, but Netscape 4 still shambles about the earth,
;; wreaking a horrific vengeance upon the living
;; anonymous

> Claud Butler Classic, actually a very good utility bike with mudguards
> and rack as standard, is £200 list but you can get it for £180 from

My tourer started with front sus( total waste of time) but now is
similar the above with good tyres on it(marathon plus).It does 80 to
100miles per day a little slower than a lighter bike but should be fine
for a short commute.The bearings have held up very well.After many
thousands of miles the rear axle broke and the steel chainrings wore
out so I renewed the wheel and bottom bracket as well.
The handle bar on mine was very heavy, so that and the tyres can be
changed sometime.
Tell him to get a proper track pump immediately as well.
The only problem is where to park a new bike .
There may be a case for spraying it all over with garish paint to make
it less desirable, although I have never yet managed to do that.

TerryJ

Am 24 Aug 2006 15:18:47 -0700 schrieb [email protected]:

> The only problem is where to park a new bike .
> There may be a case for spraying it all over with garish paint to make
> it less desirable, although I have never yet managed to do that.

As a ballbark figure you should invest 10% of the cost of the bike in a
good lock - and use it all the time locking the bike to poles, fences etc.,
preferably in busy environments with social control. U-locks are the most
difficult to crack.

Andreas

in message <[email protected]>, Andreas
Schulze-Bäing ('[email protected]') wrote:

> Am 24 Aug 2006 15:18:47 -0700 schrieb [email protected]:
>
>> The only problem is where to park a new bike .
>> There may be a case for spraying it all over with garish paint to make
>> it less desirable, although I have never yet managed to do that.
>
> As a ballbark figure you should invest 10% of the cost of the bike in a
> good lock - and use it all the time locking the bike to poles, fences
> etc., preferably in busy environments with social control. U-locks are
> the most difficult to crack.

You wouldn't get a good lock for 10% of the price of that bike! It's a
reasonable bike, though.

--
[email protected] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
Just as defying the law of gravity through building aircraft requires
careful design and a lot of effort, so too does defying laws of
economics. It seems to be a deeply ingrained aspect of humanity to
forever strive to improve things, so unquestioning acceptance of a
free market system seems to me to be unnatural. ;; Charles Bryant

Simon Brooke wrote:
> in message <[email protected]>, Chief
> ('[email protected]') wrote:
>
> > Help,
> >
> > A friend of mine has just got a new job and is looking at buying a bike
> > to commute to work, this commute is only going to be a total of four
> > miles. Although we'd like to spend more he only has £180.
> >
> > Any recommendations?
>
> Claud Butler Classic, actually a very good utility bike with mudguards
> and rack as standard, is £200 list but you can get it for £180 from
> discounters e.g.:
>
> http://www.bikesandprams.co.uk/product.php?xProd=342&xSec=178
>
> It's not sexy or stylish but it's well made with very reasonable kit for
> the price.

Indeeed, and comes with mudguard, rack and lights at a very good price.

Very interesting and had me looking for CB stockists locally..

...d

Am Fri, 25 Aug 2006 08:08:45 +0100 schrieb Simon Brooke:

> in message <[email protected]>, Andreas
> Schulze-Bäing ('[email protected]') wrote:
>
>> Am 24 Aug 2006 15:18:47 -0700 schrieb [email protected]:
>>
>>> The only problem is where to park a new bike .
>>> There may be a case for spraying it all over with garish paint to make
>>> it less desirable, although I have never yet managed to do that.
>>
>> As a ballbark figure you should invest 10% of the cost of the bike in a
>> good lock - and use it all the time locking the bike to poles, fences
>> etc., preferably in busy environments with social control. U-locks are
>> the most difficult to crack.
>
> You wouldn't get a good lock for 10% of the price of that bike! It's a
> reasonable bike, though.

Well, of course you get a bit better protection with locks starting from
£30/£40. But something simple like the Abus Buffo 34 or Sinero 43 for
around £20 should do the job for the bike mentioned above.
In the end even the most expensive bike locks can be cracked in minutes
with the right tools like a little battery driven angle grinder. So what
you get with more expensive locks is maybe some more minutes it takes to
crack them.

Andreas