Buying Hybrid on a £200 Budget

[Flobberknock]

Hi All,

I'm very new to bikes and am going to be buying a new bike soon and I have decided on a hybrid.

I will be using it to get to and from work and to get some exercise cycling around town. The distance to work is about 3 miles and is fairly flat with some gentle hills.

I found two bikes, one on Argos and one from Decathlon. I previously had a Muddyfox bike I bought from Argos and this did me well until it was stolen.

Here are the links to the two bikes I am looking at.

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/nework-3-id_8222474.html
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3300343.htm

Now I am not looking for any sort of performance bike, hence the £200 budget, I am not going to be a hardcore cyclist, just an Average Joe who wants to cycle around a bit.

Are either of the two bikes above suitable for my needs? Are there any others that anyone else can suggest?

Anything would be appreciated!

Cheers,

Flobberknock

 

[alfeng]

FWIW. While each bike has pluses-and-minuses, BOTH look good to me for the type of riding which you indicated that you anticipate ...

The bike with the steel frame possibly will weigh 4kg more than the other because of the all-steel components + mudguards & chainguard [BOTH the mudguards & chainguard are items you will probably want if you are using the bike to commute to work regardless of the weather]... THAT weight difference should not be an issue unless you are lugging the bike up to a third floor walk-up apartment ... and, the additional weight could be a good thing because a heavier bike is (hopefully!) less seductive to someone who might steal it if the choice is between the one bike or another.

• I don't have a problem with bikes which have an inexpensive carbon-steel frame ... some people do

The bike with the alloy frame IS otherwise much better for when you are not commuting to work.

 

[Flobberknock]

Thanks Alfeng, that's some great advice, I think I'll go for the steel framed one.

Regarding bike locks, are there any certain types that are better than others? I heard something about chain locks being not very good?

I was just going to buy a £5 lock or something or are these not worth getting? (Bearing in mind it's only a £140 bike, not some £1000 fancy bike!)

 

[alfeng]

The old adage is ...

​

The lighter the bike, the heavier the lock ...​

​

However, that doesn't mean that a heavy bike can go with a flimsy lock ...

Consequently, I think your best bet is to look at the locks which are in use at the location where you plan to lock up your bike ...

• some people may-or-may-not be using both a U-LOCK + a chain/cable lock ... if that is common, then you should probably do likewise
• if people only use one lock, then one should suffice

[*] REMEMBER not to leave ANYTHING (which is not bolted on or otherwise secured -- for example, if you have a light which is clipped into a holder, unclip it & take it with out, etc.) on the bike when it is parked for more than a half-hour (an arbitrary time frame since it only takes a few minutes for someone to steal a bike)

 

[Flobberknock]

Thanks Alfeng, I've gone for a combination of the two (although not expensive) to at least protect it a little. http://www.tesco.com/direct/via-velo-d-lock-with-cable/211-1195.prd?skuId=211-1195&pageLevel= Thanks for all your help