Which Bike for delivery work and general commuting in London?

General cycling advice ( NOT technical ! )
Biker_Groove
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Joined: 9 Jul 2019, 1:09pm

Which Bike for delivery work and general commuting in London?

Post by Biker_Groove »

Should I go with the Boardman HYB 8.6 Mens Hybrid Bike...
https://www.cyclerepublic.com/boardman- ... -2019.html

or

the Kona Dew 2019 Hybrid Bike...
https://www.evanscycles.com/kona-dew-20 ... e-EV354576
?

I'm gonna test ride both this week to see which feels better, but just wondered if anyone else had experience with either bike, and/or knows which bike is offering better specs overall. I'm a dunce when it comes to the technical stuff.

Thanking you kindly.
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SimonCelsa
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Re: Which Bike for delivery work and general commuting in London?

Post by SimonCelsa »

The Boardman bike probably has the slightly better components but I would recommend that you get whichever bike you personally like the look of.

I would go for the Kona if it had rim brakes, but I'm a luddite & like basic simplicity.
Bonefishblues
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Re: Which Bike for delivery work and general commuting in London?

Post by Bonefishblues »

Pinnacle Lithium 3.
Jamesh
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Re: Which Bike for delivery work and general commuting in London?

Post by Jamesh »

If I were getting a bike for commuting and delivery work I would get one which

1) isn't very attractive to theives

2) uses components which are both hard wearing and cheap to replace you will be doing so regularly 8spd is the sweet spot imho.

3) is tough - light weight double butted frames are likely to be dinged.

Something like voodoo limba would be ideal or a Carrera hybrid or a decathlon or Evans bike.

Or even an Argos cross hybrid

Cheers James
PH
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Re: Which Bike for delivery work and general commuting in London?

Post by PH »

EDIT - Cross posted with James, who makes most of the same points

I don't know much about either of those bike, a friend has a Dr Dew from some years ago but it's very different to the current version. I do have a bit of experience of delivery if by that you mean Deliveroo/Uber/Just Eat?
Are you already doing it? If so you'll know how hard it is on bikes, mostly stop start, you can't be too precious about what you lean it against or sometimes where you park it. Unless you're prepared to spend a lot of time on maintenance and cleaning, it's going to eat components. Having said that it isn't hard riding, there's no point rushing to the pick up as the order won't be ready any earlier, then the average drop off is 1.7 miles (In Derby, it's likely to be less in London) It adds up, I might do 250 miles in a 30 hour week, but it isn't the sort of riding that needs a decent bike.
I started just doing a few hours a week on my decent folder, didn't want to trash that so bought a £180 hybrid, that's been fine for eight months, but I've just bought a secondhand hub geared bike in the hope that it'll need less care.
Best bike? One that requires the minimum of maintenance and you're not going to be upset about it being trashed or nicked. IMO both the bikes you link to are too good.

If you're over 6' I could do you a good deal on a Pinnacle Lithium hybrid :wink:
Brucey
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Re: Which Bike for delivery work and general commuting in London?

Post by Brucey »

people do delivery work on all kinds of bikes; mostly this seems governed by 'what works for them'. But there is no doubt that

a) you will be wearing stuff out if you do many miles; with most bikes being 'a technical dunce' is not an option otherwise you will be spending a lot of time and money in the bike shop

b) you will need things like locks, lights and mudguards with whichever bike you use.

cheers
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stradageek
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Re: Which Bike for delivery work and general commuting in London?

Post by Stradageek »

I think Brucey might back me up here, for delivery and urban travel I sacrifice speed for durability. Therefore it's hub gears and hub brakes, rack and mudguards, dynamo lights. Maintenance is then a matter of pumping up tyres every week or so and oiling the chain every month or so.

I use a second hand Pashley postie bike which, to prove the point, had already covered many thousands of miles before I started using it.

The hybrids you've found will be fast and light, but on the downside will need rack, mudguards and lights, will eat chains and sprockets and will be a thieves first choice. I've had similar machines for commuting longer distances (10 miles+) but with such bikes my enjoyment of bicycle tinkering has been something of a necessity.

Whatever you choose - enjoy the ride :D
Brucey
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Re: Which Bike for delivery work and general commuting in London?

Post by Brucey »

I'd agree with all that. The thing is that speed and practicality need not be exclusive to one another, but it just happens that they usually are in bikes that you can buy easily. You can specify a bike that is relatively light and fast and has the benefits of hub brakes etc too, but no-one makes such a thing; such things are usually built not bought.

Given a choice of things that you can buy, it makes sense to err on the side of practicality and low maintenance, at cost of a small amount of speed. If you can buy a lightly used elephant bike for example, that would be a good buy.

cheers
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Biker_Groove
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Re: Which Bike for delivery work and general commuting in London?

Post by Biker_Groove »

Thanks for your answers people, some really good advice, most of which I didn't follow haha. I went ahead and bought a Boardman HYB 8.6 as it was on sale. Couldn't resist. The hour ride home was uncomfortable, I started to regret not getting the Kona Dew. Ah well, I got a pretty fast responsive bike for now.

Thanks again for all your replies, I really did mull it all over, but after the test ride, and realisation that the bike was on sale, I got suckered into just getting it there and then.

So may this be a lesson to any other dunce like me reading this, go for comfort over speed.

Cheers.
PH
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Re: Which Bike for delivery work and general commuting in London?

Post by PH »

Biker_Groove wrote:Thanks for your answers people, some really good advice, most of which I didn't follow haha. I went ahead and bought a Boardman HYB 8.6 as it was on sale. Couldn't resist. The hour ride home was uncomfortable, I started to regret not getting the Kona Dew. Ah well, I got a pretty fast responsive bike for now.
Thanks again for all your replies, I really did mull it all over, but after the test ride, and realisation that the bike was on sale, I got suckered into just getting it there and then.
So may this be a lesson to any other dunce like me reading this, go for comfort over speed.
Cheers.

There's no reason for the Boardman to be uncomfortable, the likely causes are poor fit, and/or the contact points, or harsh tyres/pressure. A quick search of this forum will point you in the right direction.
As I said my experience is the bike choice is only a small part of the delivery job, that one wouldn't have been my choice, though I can't see why it won't do you fine, enjoy.
Bonefishblues
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Re: Which Bike for delivery work and general commuting in London?

Post by Bonefishblues »

PH wrote:
Biker_Groove wrote:Thanks for your answers people, some really good advice, most of which I didn't follow haha. I went ahead and bought a Boardman HYB 8.6 as it was on sale. Couldn't resist. The hour ride home was uncomfortable, I started to regret not getting the Kona Dew. Ah well, I got a pretty fast responsive bike for now.
Thanks again for all your replies, I really did mull it all over, but after the test ride, and realisation that the bike was on sale, I got suckered into just getting it there and then.
So may this be a lesson to any other dunce like me reading this, go for comfort over speed.
Cheers.

There's no reason for the Boardman to be uncomfortable, the likely causes are poor fit, and/or the contact points, or harsh tyres/pressure. A quick search of this forum will point you in the right direction.
As I said my experience is the bike choice is only a small part of the delivery job, that one wouldn't have been my choice, though I can't see why it won't do you fine, enjoy.

Those tyres are tough urban commuters, and I bet they've been pumped up within an inch of their lives.

More supple tyres (think 120tpi) pumped to a more appropriate pressure for your weight would be transformative.
StephenL
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Joined: 10 Aug 2017, 11:10am

Re: Which Bike for delivery work and general commuting in London?

Post by StephenL »

Biker_Groove wrote:Thanks for your answers people, some really good advice, most of which I didn't follow haha. I went ahead and bought a Boardman HYB 8.6 as it was on sale. Couldn't resist. The hour ride home was uncomfortable, I started to regret not getting the Kona Dew. Ah well, I got a pretty fast responsive bike for now.

Thanks again for all your replies, I really did mull it all over, but after the test ride, and realisation that the bike was on sale, I got suckered into just getting it there and then.

So may this be a lesson to any other dunce like me reading this, go for comfort over speed.

Cheers.


Made the same mistake as you mate. Luckily, there are ways to increase the comfort level a bit. Start with the tyre pressure like Bonefishblues suggested.
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pjclinch
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Re: Which Bike for delivery work and general commuting in London?

Post by pjclinch »

What are you delivering over what sort of distances?

If it' a curry in a Delivroo bag over a couple of miles then it doesn't really matter, if it might typically be, say, a box or two of 5 reams of paper you want something where the bike can take the strain with a decent cargo area mounted on the frame somehow (but not the steering)
Often seen riding a bike around Dundee...
Jamesh
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Re: Which Bike for delivery work and general commuting in London?

Post by Jamesh »

Try lower tyre pressure.

Also double wrap the bar tape.

Thirdly look for a more comfortable saddle. Like a rolls, turbo, brooks or comfort gel saddle.

Cheers James
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