Doing lots of cycling on and off road but using a heavy Halfords bike that’s past it’s best and looking to upgrade, where’s the  best deals for bikes and what should I be looking for to replace it?  

Edited April 7, 20206 yr by Mounts Kipper

12 minutes ago, Burndens Bogs said:

I’m guessing you’ve bought a road bike Mounts, what did you end up getting? Apparently second hand bikes are like hens teeth at the moment due to folk wanting them to relieve the boredom. I bought a bit if a £40 banger mountain bike for my Grandson before lockdown, i knew it had been around £300 new due to it being Alloy & having all Shimano stuff on it, so i spent about £60 on new brakes,pedals,cables,tyres, grips etc & gave it a service - the thing is like new now & he fucking loves it!

My dad used to buy old bikes at car boot sales, take good parts off some and put them on new frames and sell them on eBay. Made a fair bit of money.

He bought one for £10, took The parts off two others that he had paid £10 & £15 for sold it on eBay as refurbished for £120. Took him a couple of hours to fix one up.

Good to see you @Mounts Kipper 

Looked a treat in all that Lycra, lovely bike though pal! 

Ive dug out an old racer that I used for a London to Paris charity ride back in 2012, got it serviced at Hewitt Cycles in Leyland for £200. Nice little family run firm, Merlin are based on Buckshaw, a big mail order job with a shop that you can go into 

Think I will get a new road Bike at some point this year, hopefully on the cycle to work scheme to save a few quid 

2 minutes ago, birch-chorley said:

Good to see you @Mounts Kipper 

Looked a treat in all that Lycra, lovely bike though pal! 

Ive dug out an old racer that I used for a London to Paris charity ride back in 2012, got it serviced at Hewitt Cycles in Leyland for £200. Nice little family run firm, Merlin are based on Buckshaw, a big mail order job with a shop that you can go into 

Think I will get a new road Bike at some point this year, hopefully on the cycle to work scheme to save a few quid 

Good to see you pal. When lockdown ends we should get out on the bike and have a pint on the way back, Plough’s good last stop for a beer to refresh. 

33 minutes ago, Burndens Bogs said:

I’m guessing you’ve bought a road bike Mounts, what did you end up getting? Apparently second hand bikes are like hens teeth at the moment due to folk wanting them to relieve the boredom. I bought a bit if a £40 banger mountain bike for my Grandson before lockdown, i knew it had been around £300 new due to it being Alloy & having all Shimano stuff on it, so i spent about £60 on new brakes,pedals,cables,tyres, grips etc & gave it a service - the thing is like new now & he fucking loves it!

I bought a Hybrid bike, brand is giant if that means anything, bought from buy a bike, to be honest the bloke said they’d never been busier and had only had one at £525, one at £800 and one at over 1k so went for the middle option. 

1 hour ago, Mounts Kipper said:

I bought a Hybrid bike, brand is giant if that means anything, bought from buy a bike, to be honest the bloke said they’d never been busier and had only had one at £525, one at £800 and one at over 1k so went for the middle option. 

Giant are in the the “top ten” of popular bike brands -  Yank iirc, although they will be knocked up in the far east now like 99% of bikes these days. You won’t go far wrong with it,

14 minutes ago, Burndens Bogs said:

Giant are in the the “top ten” of popular bike brands -  Yank iirc, although they will be knocked up in the far east now like 99% of bikes these days. You won’t go far wrong with it,

Usually I would research a large purchase but took their advice was originally gonna buy the £500 one but when I decided to go with the cycle scheme it meant a £800 bike for less than half price thought it was a no brainer.

did my first 4 mile on it at 7 this morning

8 minutes ago, little whitt said:

did my first 4 mile on it at 7 this morning

Paper round?

Only on houses with cat flaps

1 hour ago, Casino said:

Only on houses with cat flaps

Piss flaps more like. 

7 hours ago, Mounts Kipper said:

I bought a Hybrid bike, brand is giant if that means anything, bought from buy a bike, to be honest the bloke said they’d never been busier and had only had one at £525, one at £800 and one at over 1k so went for the middle option. 

You'll be on a full on carbon road bike this time next year.

Can get addictive (and very expensive)

1 hour ago, mickbrown said:

You'll be on a full on carbon road bike this time next year.

Can get addictive (and very expensive)

I’m loving it to be honest, missed Blackburn away earlier this season because it was lovely day and fancied cycling down leeds Liverpool canal instead. I need a carbon hip before I get a carbon bike. 😂

Edited April 23, 20206 yr by Mounts Kipper

i'm toying with the idea, 

I fancy a road bike, but don't know if it will just break with my.. err... size.. or to go for a mountain bike.. 

I'm reckoning the mountain bike would be a better bet, there is a decent trail from home to work. 

I really don’t like cycling on the roads. Apart from drivers pulling out on you the biggest issue to me is the state of the roads. I’ve hit some nasty potholes pretty hard on my MTB and I’m not sure that the wheel would have survived on a road bike 

38 minutes ago, MancWanderer said:

I really don’t like cycling on the roads. Apart from drivers pulling out on you the biggest issue to me is the state of the roads. I’ve hit some nasty potholes pretty hard on my MTB and I’m not sure that the wheel would have survived on a road bike 

Aye. Used to be in a cycling club in my youth. Wouldn't entertain it now. Don't like my lad going on the roads, they're just too congested.

Thankfully, the advent of the mtb has resolved that.

The state of the roads in Bolton...like a Banana Republic.

The stretch from Matalan to Vernacare has killed two back wheels on decent hybrids, I'm not a fat tw*t either and I'm an expert swerver.

I dread to think of the price of repair for these bikes costing thousands in similar circumstances.

Should be able to get hold of replacement wheels easily and cheaply enough.

Bloke in my street does old bikes up and often has spares. Must be loads like this on social media selling sites.

The price of decent spares and tools is ridiculous...

I've perfectly fixable bikes lying around as the cost of replacement parts is often near to the price I paid (2nd hand) for the whole bike initially.

That and gears are like my Kryptonite - any bike where I've fettled the gears never travels further than about 7-8 miles from home just in case - if I go further I always make sure the route never strays too far from a railway line and I've cash/cards...It's the price to pay for being an immature twat and riding BMX only until I was 17-18.

Edited May 4, 20206 yr by Youri McAnespie

3 hours ago, Tonge moor green jacket said:

Should be able to get hold of replacement wheels easily and cheaply enough.

Bloke in my street does old bikes up and often has spares. Must be loads like this on social media selling sites.

I would always be wary of buying wheels second hand. Only takes a tiny hairline crack and you hitting a bump too hard and you are in a world of trouble 

8 hours ago, only1swanny said:

i'm toying with the idea, 

I fancy a road bike, but don't know if it will just break with my.. err... size.. or to go for a mountain bike.. 

I'm reckoning the mountain bike would be a better bet, there is a decent trail from home to work. 

If you plan to also go on the road get a hybrid as it’ll be easier on the road and still ok off road. 

8 hours ago, only1swanny said:

i'm toying with the idea, 

I fancy a road bike, but don't know if it will just break with my.. err... size.. or to go for a mountain bike.. 

I'm reckoning the mountain bike would be a better bet, there is a decent trail from home to work. 

Look at gravel bikes. 

Years ago, probably mid 90’s, I went to watch Cycle Speedway at Astley and Tyldesley. I was massively into mountain biking but wanted to do something else as well. This looked a hoot. Fucking Hell!!! One of the most mental things I’ve ever watched live. Didn’t bother after watching it

They did and presumably still do have a team in bury, not far from Gigg

Its probably the highest level sport played in bury, these days

54 minutes ago, Casino said:

They did and presumably still do have a team in bury, not far from Gigg

Its probably the highest level sport played in bury, ever.

 

I'm thinking of doing some cycling if the lockdown continues but not had a bike since my Raleigh Chopper. What size frame so I want, I'm 6'1 no idea what I should be buying. Dont want anything too expensive as I'll probably thrown it away after lockdown