Cycling UK Forum

From a new member - after many years with a Raleigh, I am loooking to spend £300-£350 on a Hybrid to use on roads, forest paths, canal paths and with my children.

I am 48, quite fit and 5 foot 6 inches.

Can anyone provide advice please? In my local shop in Andover I saw a Claude Butler Legend which seemed to be the sort of thing I am looking for (I think!). I like the idea of a suspension seat and suspension forks.

Grateful for any advice that might be "out there".

Regards and thanks in advance.

Nigel May

I had a hybrid for five or six years and I often pondered the question of suspension.
That was 10 years ago and I do far more off road than I did then due to the constantly increasing encroachment of the internal combustion engine.

I would say an unqualified YES to suspension forks
but on a £250 bike it adds £70 to the cost and a little to the weight as well, but throughly worthwhile. I might add that I still have not had a bike with suspension!!

I bought a Marin Muirwoods hybrid for £400 about 18 months ago. I have since fitted it with suspension forks and seat and it's now a go everywhere bike. I just change the tyres from road to MTB whenever I want to hit the dirt and back again when back on the black stuff.
It's best to get forks with lock-out if possible as that makes them much better for road use (and hills too).
I've no regrets about buying the bike and since coming back from injury (Jan '05 - DVT in calf) I've done over 650 miles in 3 and a bit months.
Nice thing about the Marin is that being matt black it becomes just like a hire car - it doesn't need cleaning after every time you use it !!

gar is right about the suspension, although i'm a full suspension convert, after spending 10 yrs riding my Orange Clockwork, and the last few trying to keep up with my mates on their full suspension bikes, i finally took the plunge and bought a bike off ebay. all i can say is full suspension is awsome.

Robin.

Thanks for being right about something!
I am on a hand cranked trike at the moment due to a badly broken leg, but if I can get back on a push bike in another year or so it will most certainly have to be a value bike with full suspension. I am saving for it now.. to encourage healing. I guess a hybrid with full suspension would not come at much less than £900 (and xtra lightweight) probably more.

My second bike was a claud Butler hybrid which I bought some four years ago. I seriously appreciated the suspension at the time as I gradually hardened myself up. With slicks on it I was cycling comfortably some 50 to 80 mile routes on a regular basis then I realised I was never going to be off road and bought my Dawes. Which I have just sold on, to my purchasers delight, and am now on a road bike.
I would throughly recommend the CB as a stepping stone as it worked well for me.