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Young adult bike recommendations

(5 posts)
  • Started 4 years ago by WickyWocky
  • Latest reply from WickyWocky
  • This topic is not resolved

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  1. WickyWocky
    Member

    My son has very inconveniently grown up, and his Islabike Luath is too small for him so he needs a new bike and we have to choose from the whole wide world of bikes out there. I'm feeling a bit lost, not having had to make a real decision about bike buying for many years.

    He's asked for a road bike and goes for 30-40 mile rides with his friends at weekends. I'd like him to have something that can do non-tarmacced paths and take a pannier rack and mudguards.

    He's accepted an offer from Edinburgh Uni for the autumn and is probably going to want to commute by bike to George Square from Craigleith.

    Any suggestions at what we should look at in terms of types of bike. How much should we be looking to spend for a decent quality entry level bike? And where we should go to look?

    How secure is bike parking at the Uni? Should we be looking at getting him a second cheaper/second hand bike for commuting?

    Any advice would be much appreciated.

    Posted 4 years ago #

  2. chdot
    Admin

    “Should we be looking at getting him a second cheaper/second hand bike for commuting?”

    The great N+1 option!

    If you/he have money and space. Two secondhand bikes may be better than one new one.

    “

    It increases the chance of having a working bike. Tyres have a nasty habit of going down overnight (slow puncture).

    “

    https://cyclefridays.wordpress.com/n1/

    If he goes riding with friends he will already have opinions based on their bikes and their opinions too!

    Mudguards advisable for ‘daily use’ bikes.

    Will need decent waterproofs if he hasn’t already got them.

    Posted 4 years ago #

  3. Frenchy
    Member

    How secure is bike parking at the Uni?

    It's fairly good. At George Square there are three or four bike sheds which only staff/students have access to (via swipe card). Getting access to them in the first place isn't always a straightforward process, for reasons that continue to elude me.

    There are also obviously a lot of non-secure bike racks, outside other buildings.

    Posted 4 years ago #

  4. crowriver
    Member

    Why not just give him your bike, assuming it fits?

    Then you have an excuse to pick up a decent barely used replacement. Buying a brand new one for yourself would be rubbing his nose in it...

    Posted 4 years ago #

  5. WickyWocky
    Member

    Thanks for the replies. He's going to take my bike for a spin and see how he gets on. We can then get him, or me, a new (or new to us) one when there's more availability and less virus. We still need another bike now though so we can both ride at the same time so I'm keeping my eyes open for a decent secondhand something that can maybe be my popping to the shops or his going to university bike.

    Posted 4 years ago #

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