It wasn't necessarily directed at you, young lady. Young people today, no respect for their elders.Ms_Merida said:Someones cranky.. did you have your grandpa nap this afternoon?
I realise it's an obvious question... however i thought there might be some good tips for it all.
Now where did I put my bifocals and wheres my warm cup of horlicks?
splutter. I farking posted it, so of course its right. I fought in two world wars you know. I fought the Germans at Pearl Harbour and in Vietnam to save the free world from commos and nazis. I shouldnt have to put up with this sort of ****.gusboh said:
Dunno what Horlicks tastes like, but IMO good choccie like Lindt should only be accompanied by coffee or port (or both.)matagi said:Mmmm, Horlicks - my bedtime drink in winter.
Accompanied by a Lindt 70% chocolate ball.
G'day ladies and gents, Ms Merida sent me over here to get a reply to my question here .
Basically, I'm looking at getting a new commuter-y bike for around $600, but I'm not entirely sure what I should be looking at! Of course, for that sort of budget there's not so much to look at...
I'm tossing up between the Kona Dew Plus 08, the Kona Smoke 2-9 08 and the Scott Sportster P5 - mainly used for general commuting around Melbourne, road, bike path, that sort of thing. Not really off-road - the ocassional bit of gravel and grass perhaps.
At the moment I'd only be riding about 10km a day, plus maybe a bit on the weekend, but hopefully that'll increase as I get fitter! What are the standout differences between these bikes for that sort of use?
I only have a budget of about $600, maybe stretching a bit higher for very good reason. Are there other bikes I should consider?
I'm about 185cm, 110Kg.
Thanks!
Basically, I'm looking at getting a new commuter-y bike for around $600, but I'm not entirely sure what I should be looking at! Of course, for that sort of budget there's not so much to look at...
I'm tossing up between the Kona Dew Plus 08, the Kona Smoke 2-9 08 and the Scott Sportster P5 - mainly used for general commuting around Melbourne, road, bike path, that sort of thing. Not really off-road - the ocassional bit of gravel and grass perhaps.
At the moment I'd only be riding about 10km a day, plus maybe a bit on the weekend, but hopefully that'll increase as I get fitter! What are the standout differences between these bikes for that sort of use?
I only have a budget of about $600, maybe stretching a bit higher for very good reason. Are there other bikes I should consider?
I'm about 185cm, 110Kg.
Thanks!
For commuting on your budget, buy a mountain bike and bung some touring tyres on it.PubliusNaso said:
Don't bother with hybrid bikes, you'll get something much more robust in a mountain bike with 8 speed Alivio componentry.
62vette gives good advice.PubliusNaso said:
Hybrids are just that - a cross between two styles of bike, but you end up with a product that is not a good road bike, and not a good off road bike.
Flat bar "commuter" road bikes can be okay, but it seems that a lot of flat bar riders want to upgrade to a drop bar road bike once the riding bug bites so if you are gunna end up with two bikes you might as well have one "off road" style and one "road" style rather than a bitzer and a roadie.
I would suggest you have a look at some Giant bikes too, they tend to be very good value for money - a big plus for a limited budget.
You are about the same size as me.PubliusNaso said:
I'd recommend you look at increasing that budget (if you want a new bike that is).
Many reasons;
1) You need lights, helmet, lock and mudguards. That'll run you about 200 to get reasonable quality stuff.
2) The wheels on low-end bikes are going to be rubbish, and they'll fall apart with someone as big as us on them. You can get them re-tensioned by the bike shop (the melburn-ites can give you a good name for wheel building) and they'll be ok. If you buy new wheels, it'll be $3-400 for a strong set. Re-tensioning shouldn't run more than $50.
3) If you intend to commute through winter, you'll need cold weather gear. I actually use woolen items from the salvos. I've found brand new merino stuff for about 5 bucks. If you want to look less like a homeless guy, a good cycling jacket, and gloves will set you back about $150. (Wool is very good though, so don't discount it.
4) The tyres that come on most MTB's are cheap, and knobby. You'll need to replace those with something like Schwalbe Marathons. They run about $80 to $100 for the set.
5) You'll need spares and tools. Spare tubes, a pump, a flat repair kit, a multi-tool. They'll run about $100 to get good quality stuff. (topeak morph series pump for the road).
6) A few pairs of bike shorts, and a few wicking shirts are great for summer. You can wear cheap shorts over the top so you don't look like you're wearing lycra, but the chamois is a life saver at times.
--------------------
I guess what i'm saying, is get the tools, accesories, and get a cheap old MTB off ebay. You can post the ones you like the look of here, or you can PM someone about them to ask about quality etc.
I'd recommend taking it to a bike shop, and getting them to give it the once-over. They'll replace stuff like the chain, cables and things if necessary. If you go to the right shop, they might even spend ten minutes with you to go over the basics of what they did, and how to do basic jobs that you'll need to do. (lubrication, etc)
You'll end up with a better quality bike, it won't have suspension (which is largely, if not completely un-necessary for commuting) and you'll come out spending less than $600.
The other good thing is that you'd be re-using a resource, which is kinda nice in a hippy, environmentalist way
Someone on here might have an old bike they want to get rid of. You never know.
I'd go used, but that's cos i like old bikes (and re-using stuff in general). If you have your heart set on new, then check out Cell bikes (google it). In terms of bang for the buck, they're pretty tough to beat. They have some commuter specific bikes too.
There's heaps more i'd say, but it's cafe time.
Ask away btw, we all like to put in our 2c.
Bayley again, this time talking about his soon to be brother-in-law
"The thing was I actually don't like the guy, so it sort of made me a little more angry, during the race and after the race. It's an unfortunate incident. Perkins is going really well at the moment, but I don't care because I don't like him".
"The thing was I actually don't like the guy, so it sort of made me a little more angry, during the race and after the race. It's an unfortunate incident. Perkins is going really well at the moment, but I don't care because I don't like him".
Bit tough maybe, but any suggestion as to minimum budget? This budget is for the bike itself - I've been riding a $70 Huffy I bought from ebay (which I mentioned in my initial thread but forgot to mention here), but it's just too far gone (I took it to get serviced and only got charged $20 because there wasn't much he could do - and the frame's not worth a rebuild) for a year, so I've got stuff like helmet, lock, lights etc. (though I think I may have lost the rear light!) and some things, like warmer clothes, I can add in dribs and drabs as the weather requires!Gusboh said:
Any takers? I'm out near Eltham at the moment.
I've seen in other threads talk about having two sets of wheels - is this a good option? And you can't swap 26" wheels with 700c, right?
I do agree, generally, and there's a place in Melbourne called Human Powered that I think I'm probably just a bit scared of - mainly due to lack of skills, not being confident with the mechanical side of things. They do run workshops though, which whether I buy new or used I'd be getting in to.
Their brand bikes particularly or the store in general?
Thanks for the help so far, Gusboh, 62vette and Wilchemy!
yeah, that was funny. As I said, I didn't reckanize ya.Jono L said:
Did you think I snobbed you off?I saw you in the Bike Now gear, and thought to meself: "I wonder if that's Jono". So I looked RIGHT at ya from about 3m away, and said to meself: "nah, that's not him -- if it was, he'd be wearing his Jayco gear".
A related question - and sorry to be a pestering noob - are brands any sort of a guide with bikes? Or is it really a matter of components? Take computer motherboards for instance - same brand, different model, one can be fantastic, the other ****, often not even with much price difference. Some are upgradeable (that is, have good quality but 'switched down' components/frame), some go nowhere. Usually, the brand is relevant, but not vital.
Is there the same thing with bikes? For example, Kona and Scott both make (as far as I can tell!) decent top-end bikes, and Giant is a bit of a slapdash - can be good, can be bad, often rebranded. Is that a good reason to go for one over the other in the sub-$1000 price range?
Is there the same thing with bikes? For example, Kona and Scott both make (as far as I can tell!) decent top-end bikes, and Giant is a bit of a slapdash - can be good, can be bad, often rebranded. Is that a good reason to go for one over the other in the sub-$1000 price range?
Giant also make decent top-end bikes... I wouldn't go along with them being "slapdash" at all, they're one of the largest bicycle manufacturers in the world... so they make frames for other companies and because they're so big, they can usually offer more bang for your buck.PubliusNaso said:
For lower level bikes, Giant, Avanti and Merida do some good deals (they all build good bikes) Kona - paying for the name a bit... same with Scott but to a lesser extent.
Like Oz said though, much of a muchness for frames under 1K
Thanks flipper - I figured I'd offend someone with that! I meant just that they're all over the market, with lots of lower-end stuff, which makes it harder for someone like me to tell them apart - I've no idea what's worth an extra $50 and what is just window-dressing. Whereas from what I can tell, Kona and Scott (my examples just because they're mainly all I've looked at) have only a few models in the low-end (sub-$700 even), which gives me less to choose from - easier!flipper said:
So not slapdash, just lazy word-choice
An example - Avanti, before I started looking, I thought were really really good, everything they made was top-class and way out of my price range. I start actually looking, rather than assuming, and find they've got heaps of stuff sub-$500. Great! Even more bikes and components and gadgets for me to choose from, even less I think I 'know'. It's always tough straying out of your own field of expertise...Similar threads
