CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Infrastructure

Which bike? Commuting, shopping, days out, touring.

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  1. Rosie
    Member

    Today I received the news that my Colorado Dawes hybrid is going to cost so much to repair I may as well get a new bike. The Dawes has been in my life for about 12 years. It cost £400 and has been a fairly sturdy though heavy beast. A carthorse of a bike.

    So which bike for these activities:-
    Commuting on Edinburgh's awful road surfaces;
    Shopping;
    Days out - off road on some tracks but not mountain bike
    Touring

    Cost - up to about £500

    Any advice welcome. I'm looking for comfort more than speed.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  2. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    Can't beat a decent hybrid in my books. Marin and Ridgeback just keep going year after year;

    https://www.evanscycles.com/ridgeback-speed-2018-hybrid-bike-EV320427

    https://www.cyclerepublic.com/marin-kentfield-cs1-womens-hybrid-bike-2018.html

    Also: great kudos for wearing a bike out. It's what we should all aim for.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  3. jonty
    Member

    I loved my old Ridgeback Speed and it's still going strong in the hands of a friend years later.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  4. neddie
    Member

    You could join the Elephant Bike club.

    Maybe a bit heavy for anything other than short distance touring.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  5. chdot
    Admin

    “going to cost so much to repair I may as well get a new bike”

    I’d get a second opinion.

    And an itemised one.

    Sounds like new transmission chain, block and complete chainset if not separate rings?

    New wheels and tyres too??

    DIY at Bike Station?

    Posted 5 years ago #

  6. chdot
    Admin

    Try Eastside for the second opinion.

    They might have a suitable secondhand bike for you too.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  7. chdot
    Admin

    Though once in a while a new bike is deserved...

    Posted 5 years ago #

  8. Rosie
    Member

    @chdot - New wheels, chain, mudguards, rack, tyres. Other things as well.

    DIY - I'm doing well if I oil my chain. I am cack-handed.

    Second opinion though a good idea. Will do that. It's still ridable.

    I would like a new bike that I can lift without doing my back in. And I do deserve one, totally.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  9. Rosie
    Member

    Also, as an over braker, my Marvel comic name is Wheel Destroyer, Death Dealer to the Rims.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  10. chdot
    Admin

    Possibly have conversations with people who like disc brakes then?

    Posted 5 years ago #

  11. Morningsider
    Member

    I was looking at Gazelle bikes the other day, some of which might fit the bill for you:

    https://www.gazellebikes.co.uk/

    Harts (of this parish) is their Edinburgh dealer - so might have a better idea of what might suit.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  12. Roibeard
    Member

    as an over braker, my Marvel comic name is Wheel Destroyer, Death Dealer to the Rims.

    <grin>

    Hub or disc brakes are the way to go for this. And you probably want a belt drive...

    Have you checked out the "expensive advice wanted" thread?

    ;-)

    Robert

    Posted 5 years ago #

  13. fimm
    Member

    Flat bars, drop bars, butterfly bars?
    sallyhinch has a bike with butterfly bars which suit her very well I believe - hopefully she'll be along to comment. I think you might be looking for a bike that is similar to hers...

    Posted 5 years ago #

  14. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    I think you might be looking for a bike that is similar to hers...

    I think @sallyhinch may have the last of that breed - an early nineties Saracen MTB frame built into an upright tourer....

    Posted 5 years ago #

  15. sallyhinch
    Member

    Heh, I was going to chip in with 'rebuilt steel-framed second hand tourer' but I've said it so often I didn't want to be boring! Mine certainly suits me down to the ground, has done 9 years on D&G's equally rubbishy roads (about 60-100 miles a week) and works for all of the above except I don't really go off road at all unless I've got really lost (it handles dirt tracks fine, not so happy on gravel despite its allegedly mountain biking pedigree - it effectively looks like any other touring bike except for a lack of bosses). I also have a fondness for lugged frames and old fashioned curving front forks so there's an element of aesthetics as well as practicality

    With a £500 budget (and some time) I would get myself down to Common Wheel in Glasgow as they seem to have an inexhaustible supply of touring frames and will effectively build you something from the ground up. OTOH a modern flat bar hybrid will likely do equally well, weigh a bit less, and will be available now rather than in the fullness of time.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  16. sallyhinch
    Member

    Also with a modern bike it's easier to get replacement parts, as I'm increasingly finding (I think my bike shop wants me to buy a new bike)

    Posted 5 years ago #

  17. Trixie
    Member

    I have an older Specialized Crosstrail but they start at £450 new. https://www.edinburghbicycle.com/specialized-crosstrail-mechanical-disc-2018.html

    Fast as heck on and off road and handles gravel and tracks no bother. I can't overstate how much I enjoy riding mine. I fell in love as soon as I tried her. I'm short and a bit of a weakling but I can carry her up several flights of stairs to her stable without drama. Sadly, does not come with rack or mudguards but they can be added.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  18. chdot
    Admin

    “I also have a fondness for lugged frames and old fashioned curving front forks so there's an element of aesthetics as well as practicality”

    Definitely.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  19. Greenroofer
    Member

    Elephant Bike very lovely and totally awesome for shopping. Pretty good for commuting if not too far or too steep. Shrugs off the destroyer of rims due to drum brakes. Suitable for negligible maintenance regimes. Not great off tarmac. Only suitable for the lowest of low mileage touring (less than 20 miles a day, I'd say). Impossible to carry up stairs unless you are excessively muscle-bound.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  20. crowriver
    Member

    I see Eastside have what looks like a nearly new Revolution Streetfinder for £180. 19" frame. Could be a perfect replacement for your existing bike? Has mudguards, rear rack, and seems to have front rack bosses on the forks too so it would go touring no problem.

    I have a very similar bike (from Globe bikes) which I have used for all the things you want to do, plus cycle camping with a kid on the back. A decent hybrid really is a good all rounder.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  21. unhurt
    Member

    Hmm. @Rosie I have a 2007 Cannondale tourer (sans saddle or racks and I THINK sans mudguards as they have all moved on to other bikes) mouldering in a friend's garage... Size M. Came with drops but ended up with butterfly bars & v brakes.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  22. minus six
    Member

    @rosie

    i think you probably want a croix de fer, but might not know it yet

    https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xcroix+de+fer.TRS0&_nkw=croix+de+fer&_sacat=0

    more comfort than you'd expect

    Posted 5 years ago #

  23. Rosie
    Member

    Thanks for the advice, guys.

    I am now reunited with my clapped out bike and a list of the things that are wrong with it.

    I've booked it into another bike shop for a second opinion.

    I can see myself going the refurbished second-hand route.

    I am grumpy that I was bikeless during the beautiful May weather you may remember earlier in the week.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  24. crowriver
    Member

    "I am grumpy that I was bikeless during the beautiful May weather you may remember earlier in the week."

    Which is why n+1 is usually a good idea (in moderation). If you'd had a spare, or "Sunday best' bike, you could have ridden it while the workaday bike was out of commission.

    n+1 is quite affordable if you go "the refurbished second-hand route". :-)

    Posted 5 years ago #

  25. Rosie
    Member

    @crowriver I really don't have room for an extra bike, so I try and get one that is fit for several purposes.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  26. acsimpson
    Member

    I'm not sure what crowriver describes is n+1. IIUC it's only ever possible to own n bikes. As soon as n+1 is purchased then n increases and n+1 moves to the next item of desire.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  27. Ed1
    Member

    Part of my n is rusting outside

    Posted 5 years ago #

  28. sallyhinch
    Member

    There's always room for a Brompton...

    Posted 5 years ago #

  29. acsimpson
    Member

    Do you have high ceilings? I think I still have an unused bike pulley somewhere if you want to relieve me of it.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  30. crowriver
    Member

    @Rosie, fair enough!

    Hope you find one that suits.

    (You could try a folding bike for the 'spare'?)

    Posted 5 years ago #

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