Comfort/Hybrid bike choices

BigH47

If you are only riding on tarmac then buy a Pashley. One of the best frames for the money, Brooks leather seat and hub gears which are more robust and reliable than the durealier (is that spelt right ?)and is a quality product.

Here is the website.

http://www.pashley.co.uk/products/classic/paramount/splash.html

Regards

Mick

I have never understood the fascination with gears not in the hub (I can't derailer either [Smiley]), as these outboard gears seem to need endless fettling to make sure safe and secure changes are possible. One day I was at some trafic light in Worcester and almost came a cropper because the chain flew off (on the way home froma rebuild at the bike shop!)on a derailer set - the car behind me managed to barge me before stopping!

Hub gears are the way to go unless you want to do cross-country type cycling and be forever fiddling.

Fredrik

Check out this site it has lots of useful information on the various cycles you may be interested in.

I know for a fact, The Ridgeback Switch Nemesis is a good bike.

Dérailleur is the correct spelling.AFAIK

http://www.cycle-heaven.co.uk/city_bikes.html

Beano

At that price level you will not find huge differences between brands, especially big companies like Specialized, Trek, Giant, Ridgeback etc. The prices tend to be pretty competitive. I'd say the important choice is of which local shop, make sure they get a bike that fits you well and that feels right, that they give you a nice test ride and perhaps will throw in the odd accessory. You should be looking for a good saddle, rim brakes and a rigid fork-cheapo suspension front forks are not worth the money/weight IMHO, and neither are cheap disc brakes.


Bruce

BigH - I bought a Dawes Kalahari a year a go,

If you are in your late 50s, bicycle names that as a youth you would have drooled over - eg Shimano, Dawes. Claude Butler are built in the far east - VietNam etc and are much more readily available in the price range you are specifying.
Also a lot of the great names are now owned by one company that imports them (just like a lot of the great UK HiFI names)

RE the great gear change debate - from what I can see you can get a greater range of gear ratios by using the derailleur (sp?) system than a in-hub system - this may be an advantage if you live in a hilly area and need a bit of very low gear to help you get into practice. And harking back to the bikes you may have lusted over in the 50s and 60s is just like one of those.

Also you might want to check out the the claims of the more puncture resistant tyres to gve you a bit of peace of mind re being stuck out in the wilds of Sussex with a flat tyre

quote:

Originally posted by Bruce Woodhouse:
At that price level you will not find huge differences between brands, especially big companies like Specialized, Trek, Giant, Ridgeback etc. The prices tend to be pretty competitive. I'd say the important choice is of which local shop, make sure they get a bike that fits you well and that feels right, that they give you a nice test ride and perhaps will throw in the odd accessory. You should be looking for a good saddle, rim brakes and a rigid fork-cheapo suspension front forks are not worth the money/weight IMHO, and neither are cheap disc brakes.


Bruce

Agree with this.

That said, the two bikes you've mentioned, the Trek 7100 and the Specialized Expedition, are quite different from each other.

The Specialized is very upright (more like a Trek Navigator) and although superficially comfortable, you will find it very hard work to cover any distance.

For your intended use, I would recommend the Trek 7100 because you need to be a little more leant forward to get the power down. The Specialized Crossroads would be a nearer equivalent if you would prefer that brand.

Hope that helps.

you might want to try looking at Giant. IMO they have some rather nice bikes and are descently priced.

http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/index.html?pageTitle=...atID&quicksearch=527

Thanks for all the repies guys. Further investigation is required methinks. As usual more questions than answers.
Thanks again I'll report any progress in due course.

Howard