Cycling UK Forum

Hi all,

Just a quick update, I was in Evans today and they have ordered in a Pinnacle Lithium 4 2016 for me which I will take for a spin next week. All being well I'll be out and about next weekend!

Thank you once again to everyone who has contributed and helped me to a decision.

Alex.

Brian, I did see that earlier and thought it looked a good deal until I saw it is now only available in Small, which I fear might not fit my 6'2" frame that well! Thanks though. The Lithium 3 2016 I linked to earlier is a similar price, or the Lithium 4 2016 is also available at just under £500.

https://www.evanscycles.com/pinnacle-li ... e-EV244090

Bonefishblues - That's really helpful, thanks. There is a Pinnacle that's £45 more with a couple of Shimano (upgrade?) parts but I'm not sure it's necessarily worth the extra.

Anyway, it sounds like the Pinnacle, I'll be going shopping at the weekend anyway so thanks again for all your help.

Hi all,

Thank you very much for all your help and comments, I really appreciate it!

Tiberius - I did actually quickly pop in to Evans last weekend just to get a couple of pointers and I will be going back in this weekend, I was just aiming to go in with a bit more purpose and knowledge than I did last week so I can hopefully get something ordered.

Suspension is out then, I've not really heard/read anyone strongly in favour of it so I'll stick to a rigid front fork, so that's that. Thanks all.

Bicycler - I had assumed that the Norco having more gears would be advantageous? When you say lower gearing that means the Pinnacle has the "easier" gears? Whereas the Norco having more/higher gears would mean I could theoretically go faster? I doubt I will come close to pushing either of them to their top speeds anyway, so if you're suggesting the Pinnacle would be the easier ride then that's a plus point for me.

One further question if I may - one of the reasons that prior to posting I was leaning towards the Norco was it has a few components which are Shimano rather than something else, such as the Tektro brakes. Shimano is a name I was aware of and associated with better quality components. The Pinnacle seems to be getting the recommendations here which is great as it's a bit cheaper, but I would be happy to pay the extra for the Norco (or something else) if there was to be any benefit. However, if the Pinnacle has everything I need then that's good news and I can put the money saved towards accessories.

Thanks once again to all those who have replied so far.

Hi all,

I'm looking to buy my first bike (since childhood) and I'm looking at a hybrid bike. The ground I anticipate I will be covering would be paths, trails, canal tow-path, maybe some roads. It will be for leisure, I don't intend to commute, although if I did in the future it would be down the canal tow-path.

My budget is around £500 and it must be from Evans.

1. My main question is whether with my modest budget front suspension is a good or bad idea, or whether it will be a bit rubbish and not last well? Am I trying to buy a bike to tackle too broad a range of activities? This image shows probably the roughest kind of thing I would intend to ride down:
https://geocass.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/14.jpg

2. One of the arguments against suspension is that it adds weight, but when I've been looking at bikes unless I'm mistaken they don't seem to advertise their weight? If I am correct, is there any way to know how much heaving "bike A" with suspension is than "bike B" without it?

3. I will definitely want mud guards, and I will possibly want to fit a rack on the bike as well. Is there anything I should be looking for which tells me whether I will be able to fit these or not, or will every hybrid be able to facilitate them?

Here are some examples of the kind of thing I've been looking at, comments welcomed:
https://www.evanscycles.com/pinnacle-li ... e-EV244089
https://www.evanscycles.com/norco-vfr-3 ... e-EV243561
https://www.evanscycles.com/specialized ... e-EV212228

Sorry if these are stupid questions, any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.