Not sure which bike to get as a commuter

[mbcy]

Hi, this is my first post so I don't really know if it's in the right place or not (sorry if it's not! Also sorry that it's so long haha)

I've been looking to get myself a bike for a short commute (about 5 miles) and I have a budget of around £400-500 (hoping to get my first non-BSO bike). I don't really know what I'm doing in terms of bikes, so I decided I'd have a look at the two LBS nearest me.

The first shop is mainly a focus dealer and 90% of their stock are e-bikes, they recommend to me a whistler for £500 that's a hardtail mountain bike with a lockout on the front fork, hydro disc brakes and 29" wheels. The bloke there told me they started dealing with focus because they make their frames over in Germany and they'd had problems with some frames that were made over in Taiwan failing and being less reliable. However I'm a bit concerned about the wheels, they're slightly knobbly but 2" wide and I feel like I'd be better off with a bike with some pretty slick tires that were slightly thinner as I'm mainly going to be on tarmac so I'd like them to roll better.

The second shop mainly deals in servicing second hand bikes and old stock then selling it, and the bike that interested me there was a Dawes, looked like it said GX6 on the frame. This bike has basically the same groupset as the Focus, but I think it's a much less substantial frame, and the wheels are what I'd call a normal sized 26" bike wheel. He's offering it for £400 and he says it'll work well with some semi slick tires which he showed me that looked like they'd be decent at rolling on tarmac.

What I'm asking is, is it worth the extra £100 for the german made bike that seems more substantial but I'm not sure whether it's better for commuting? My idea was always a hybrid type of bike rather than a hardtail MTB, and one of the reasons was that I was interested to try out dropped handles and see if I liked them as opposed to a flat bar.

Am I even getting my money's worth for £400 either? The components are basically the bottom of Shimano's range before the plasticy stuff that would fit well on a BSO. If anybody has any better suggestions for bikes (maybe something second hand?) I'd love to hear it.

Thanks!

[Spinners]

I've stopped commuting now but when I started I bought a Giant Escape 3 in the end of season sale for £240 and had the shop fit the Giant mudguards for an extra £20. It was perfect for my short urban commute and I liked the heads up position. No need for front suspension IMHO.

[Brucey]

if your commute is on the road some things you don't need are;

- fat knobbly tyres
- a suspension fork (with or without lockout)
- hydro disc brakes

What you do need are
- reliable tyres (preferably with a high level of puncture protection)
- mudguards
- lights
- suitable lock or locks; keeping a new bike is surprisingly difficult; they are real thief magnets...

Hydro disc brakes feel great when they are working but for road commuting they are not particularly reliable; a common pattern is that road salt enters the caliper bores and the caliper bodies start to corrode and then the piston seals fail to a leak. This can happen in a year or two. Although there is more routine adjustment required, on balance mechanical discs are probably a better choice for road commuting.

Drum brakes are even better, but they are not even offered by the major manufacturers, or only on bikes that are already heavy; folk thus associate drums with being heavy but in reality there needn't be much difference between the weights of drum braked and disc braked bikes with steel frames.

BTW Focus bikes may have 'made in Germany' writ upon them but really they mean 'assembled in Germany'. The prevailing view (including reports from those who have seen the frames being made..... ) is that the frames are built in the far east.

https://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12725895

I agree a hybrid type bike is probably the thing to look at and accordingly I would take a long hard look at the Giant escape range as suggested above. However do check but I think the Escape 3 might have a rear wheel that includes a screw-on freewheel; this arrangement keeps Giant dealers very busy replacing broken rear wheels. Models with a cassette hub at the back are probably a better arrangement. in terms of value the B'twin bikes sold in decathlon have a really good spec for the price. All the big retailers will have sales soon and this is the time to buy if you want good value.

Finally any bike is only as good as the way it is screwed together. If I bought a new bike I would spend half a day prepping it so that the hubs are correctly adjusted, filling them with better grease, fitting better tyres, greasing parts that are not greased, stress-relieving the wheels and a whole load of other things too. Experience tells me that this is, in the long run, not time wasted, but time saved, since it avoids problems down the line. Standards of set-up in bike shops vary quite a bit but if anyone has spent more than 15 minutes prepping your bike before you get it, it is frankly a miracle. They rely on you bringing the bike back after a month so that if there are bits that are falling off, they can be tightened properly.

cheers

[nosmarbaj]

Lots of good advice above, some of which is repeated here...

Don't confuse wheels with tyres. Most wheels will take a variety of tyres, which in the scheme of things are not that expensive to replace - a good LBS might do it almost for free on a new bike.

Unfortunately, based on what you say, neither LBS is giving good advice. The first one's suggestion is just plain wrong for your needs - you don't want a front-sus mountain bike for urban commuting, and his comments about Taiwan are BS in my view. In the case of the second one, £400 seems a lot for a second-hand bike that isn't very high spec, and maybe he's just trying to sell you what he has in stock. I've never heard of a Dawes GX6 - maybe if you could confirm the model, you could get useful advice on it. That said, Dawes is a respected brand.

Many large towns and cities have volunteer groups who do up old bikes and sell them for not very much. If there's one within reach, I'd look to get advice and/or a bike from them. Or even buy something cheap on Ebay or wherever. Then you can find out what sort of machine suits you without blowing your budget. After a few months, you can sell the cheap bike if you like, and buy something nicer, with a better idea of what would suit.

If you want to buy new, a hybrid or city bike would likely be what you need, but would probably have flat bars. A low-end or second-hand tourer could have drop bars, but might be a littly heavy for your purpose. The usual recommendation for good value in new bikes is Decathlon - but not much use if there isn't a branch near you.

[Paulatic]

I don’t like the sound of your LBS s personally with what Youve said I’d steer clear.
Blimey for £400 you could have a brand new potential flying machine just add guards rack and lights. https://www.merlincycles.com/ridley-tem ... 18647.html I wouldn’t recommend that for a hilly area btw. But as already said a theft magnet depending on where you live and work.

[Lance Dopestrong]

Focus bikes are assembled in Germany, and they even manufacture their own ebike motors. However, their carbon frame are manufactured in China by Donguan Taihe, and their other frames in Taiwan by a firm who's name eludes me for the present (it will come). I wouldn't buy a bike from a retailer that can't even be honest about the provenance of their product.

Bianchi do the same and stick made in Italy on their bikes despite the frames being of Taiwanese manufacture, as did Felt with made in the USA, although I think their dropped that in recent years.

Taiwanese frame manufacture is probably second to none. Giant, the world's largest cycle manufacturer, build their frames their, and also build them for Specialized and a host of other brands, and the workmanship and quality of their products is first class.

[mbcy]

Thank you for all the advice!

I'll have a look into the Giant Escape range, I think there's another, larger bike shop a bit further away that deals in all sorts including Giant, so I might go over there and ask them too. The nearest decathlon to me is about an hour's drive away, but their bikes around my price range seem to all have suspension forks and V-brakes (or hydro brakes), and I was under the impression that disc brakes were much better for commuting with.

if your commute is on the road some things you don't need are;

- fat knobbly tyres
- a suspension fork (with or without lockout)
- hydro disc brakes

What you do need are
- reliable tyres (preferably with a high level of puncture protection)
- mudguards
- lights
- suitable lock or locks; keeping a new bike is surprisingly difficult; they are real thief magnets...

This is what I was thinking when I made my post, because I felt like both the bikes the LBSs showed me weren't really ideal for what I wanted them for. Also, that's good to know about the hydraulic disc brakes -- I thought they'd be more reliable than cable brakes which is why I was leaning towards them. I already have a fairly sturdy chain with a padlock to lock the bike, and I was planning on getting a sturdy U lock too, but even so the bike will be in a locked bike shed. I had a nosey over there earlier and most people have just leaned their bikes on the racks without locking them!

If I bought a new bike I would spend half a day prepping it so that the hubs are correctly adjusted, filling them with better grease, fitting better tyres, greasing parts that are not greased, stress-relieving the wheels and a whole load of other things too.

This sounds like good advice, but I wouldn't really know where to start doing that. I know that the first LBS with the focus bike told me that they'd need to know a few hours before closing if I wanted it so that they could prep it - whether they actually spend that time doing that is another question.

I wouldn't buy a bike from a retailer that can't even be honest about the provenance of their product.

It has definitely put me off a bit that they made a big point about having a fully german-made bike even though the frame is made in the far east like other bikes. Of course, I don't mind where it's made, as long as it's decent quality, but then again maybe the bike shop themselves didn't know.

Don't confuse wheels with tyres. Most wheels will take a variety of tyres, which in the scheme of things are not that expensive to replace - a good LBS might do it almost for free on a new bike.

The second LBS I went to (with the Dawes) did say he could put a set of semi-slick tires on any bike if I wanted them, and told me they're definitely a lot better at rolling on tarmac than knobbly tires, especially when they're inflated to a higher pressure. He does have quite a few other bikes, mainly Python bikes, but he didn't really give me any pointers on what he thinks I should look at, so I was looking myself. I don't really know what's good and what's not, though. I could probably do with finding someone into cycling to bring with me, haha. He definitely seems like a nice chap who knows plenty about doing up bikes though. Most of his bikes are around the £100-£200 mark, but I think some of the Python hybrids he has are around 250-300. I don't know if their stuff is any good either? I could always go in and have another look around.

Blimey for £400 you could have a brand new potential flying machine just add guards rack and lights. https://www.merlincycles.com/ridley-tem ... 18647.html I wouldn’t recommend that for a hilly area btw.

That looks very well specced out for £400 to me, but there are way too may hills around me I think. I can only just pedal up some of them on the old steel solid MTB that I have in its lowest gear!

Again though, thank you for all your advice, not knowing anybody who's into cycling it's great being able to ask people for help who know what they're talking about.

[Brucey]

I happened to go into Decathlon today and I quite liked the look of the triban 520 with flat bars; clearance for mudguards, and a nice 3x9 shimano sora transmission on it. £429 and presumably will be available for less in the sales.

cheers

[mbcy]

It does look good, except 30x25 looks like a scarily high bottom gear to me... Too many hills round my way

[Lance Dopestrong]

The Triban does have a good rep as a no nonsense, very effective and useable budget machine.

[mbcy]

So I've been looking at the Triban 520, the 2018 Voodoo Nakisi and the Giant Escape 1 as these seem to be decent for in my price range.

I'm planning on seeing if I can try out drop bars as not liking them would rule out the Voodoo completely, but I think for flat bars the Triban would probably be a better choice than the Giant.

If I did end up getting a Voodoo from Halfords, I'm guessing that it'll be a must to make sure everything's tight and the headset and bottom bracket are greased, also that the forks are on the right way around and the brakes are properly adjusted... It should all be fine with a bit of common sense, right?

To be honest overall the Triban does look to be a very good option and I'll probably pop in to decathlon next time I get the chance, but other than that do these three seem to be good to pick from? Just want to make sure there's nothing glaringly wrong with the giant or the Voodoo in case I go with those.

Thanks!

[The utility cyclist]

I don’t like the sound of your LBS s personally with what Youve said I’d steer clear.
Blimey for £400 you could have a brand new potential flying machine just add guards rack and lights. https://www.merlincycles.com/ridley-tem ... 18647.html I wouldn’t recommend that for a hilly area btw. But as already said a theft magnet depending on where you live and work.

The Ridley looks good value and offers up everything the OP needs in a bike problem is only the one size and buying from distance which isn't for everyone. You can get another 3% off using one of the cashback sites to make the purchase however.


On the Voodoo, cheaper alu forks can be harsh, if you don't need drop bars and you're not used to them then I'd say don't bother, for a commuting bike with the occasional bit of rough terrain a flat bar is better overall IMHO.
The Giant bikes are generally pretty reliable and well made, not always the best VfM but they aren't outrageously priced in the current market but you can see the big difference between Alivio drivetrain and Tiagra on the Ridley, plus the Ridley has carbon forks too which is always a bonus on a bike over alu forks.
these don't look too bad either with guards and a rack for this particular shop model fitted https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Genesis-Skyl ... Sw7P5bSPG2 but don't know if there are other Genesis retailers near to the OP.

Other second hand bikes you could look out for
Specialized Sirrus
Marin Fairfax
Trek FX series
Ridgeback Flight

[rotavator]

It does look good, except 30x25 looks like a scarily high bottom gear to me... Too many hills round my way

You can fit an 11-34T cassette to the B'twin 520, with the OEM RD, which would give you a 23.8" bottom gear. If that is not low enough you could fit a 9sp MTB RD and fit a 12-36T cassette to give a 22.5" bottom gear. That is what I did with mine to try it out as a light tourer and it worked OK.

[squeaker]

... plus the Ridley has carbon forks too which is always a bonus on a bike over alu forks.

For something that's going to see daily work's bike shed use?

[slowster]

The problem with 'what bike for commuting' threads is that, as in this case, the OP is often not very detailed about the nature of their commute as well as their own riding style/preference/fitness/budget. Whilst for any particular commuting route there would inevitably be some differences of opinion/preference between many of us, it would still help if the OP gave a lot more detail.

- If it's no more than a few miles on flat, good roads, then almost anything will do
- If there is a choice of car, bus or train in bad weather, or the bike will only be used to commute in summer, reliability is less critical, and mudguards and/or lights might not be needed
- Luggage carrying requirements and the option of keeping gear and changes of clothes at work can make a huge difference
- If someone wants or needs to ride to work in ordinary clothes, i.e. the clothes they will be working in, that will greatly influence what type of bike is suitable
- Fitness can similarly make a huge difference: for some their fitness might make a fixed gear the ideal option, whereas someone less fit and/or not in good health might need an ebike for the same route.

We all tend to consider these threads from the perspective of our own experience and also our own circumstances. The idea of re-purposing an old bike or used frame with hub gears and drum brakes for commuting appeals greatly to me, but I imagine that there are a good few who work in the City who commute on the latest top end race bikes with 11 or 12 speed drivetrains, and who are not bothered in the slightest by the cost and short lifespan of such kit. They probably just leave the bike once a week in the branch of Evans nearest to their office for a new chain, cassette, service or whatever else the shop recommends.