GRcade

Floex wrote:This is my current bike at the moment but looking to do more off road stuff. Not so much downhill but through forests and shizniz. Now, it's a hybrid but if I was to get some cyclo cross/mountain tyres would I have any concerns to worry about?

Sure, it's not ideal but could in reality do the job?

Get some 35mm cyclocross tyres. Continental do pretty good ones.

Thought it depends how 'off road' you're meaning. It's not going to turn it into a mountain bike, but if you just want to go along gravel paths and forestry tracks it'll be fine.

I've been recommended YT, which make and sell bikes online from Germany. Apparently they're good and they cost about 30% of what they would cost at retail because they cut out the distributor. Has anyone heard of them?

http://www.yt-industries.com/shop/index ... rie&cat=21

They have 2 models of mountain bikes. The rest are for downhill or jumping.

smurphy wrote:

Floex wrote:This is my current bike at the moment but looking to do more off road stuff. Not so much downhill but through forests and shizniz. Now, it's a hybrid but if I was to get some cyclo cross/mountain tyres would I have any concerns to worry about?

Sure, it's not ideal but could in reality do the job?

Get some 35mm cyclocross tyres. Continental do pretty good ones.

Thought it depends how 'off road' you're meaning. It's not going to turn it into a mountain bike, but if you just want to go along gravel paths and forestry tracks it'll be fine.

I was hoping you would turn up in this topic

Yeah, pretty much at the moment, gravel and trails. I do want to do the downhill stuff, just perhaps not yet

As for mountain bikes (if you know about them, that is), are there any particular models or brands I should be looking at

What do you mean by downhill? That bike isn't very suited for going downhill in the woods tbh.

Good brands I can think of for MTB are Specialized, Wheeler, Scott. There's loads others, though. Avoid supermarket/sport shop chain bikes. They are never built well. The makers usually don't really know what they're building...

Smurphy...

Ok, I'm about to buy some tyres but hella confused - my rims are Rigida Cyber 10 700C, 32H, cnc and my tyres are S207 700x37C semi-slick. Now I want to buy 700 x 38 Schwalbe Marathon Cross Tyres, would that fit the rim?

What bike did you get?

Yeah they'll fit Floex. 700c is the wheel size (all roadbikes/hybrids are the same), 32H is how many spokes the wheel has which is irrelevant, cnc is a manufacturing process, also irrelevant. The "x 37" etc is the width of the tyre in mm. If it came with a 37mm tyre you could put on anything from about 30mm to 42mm.

Also, when buying mountain bikes:

£300+ for a recreational one, £5-600 for a proper one, around £1000 for a serious one and never less than about £13-1400 for full suspension.

Mine looks a bit like this

Think of getting this bike.



Or the 2012 version if I can get it.

I'm thinking of getting a full suspension one, but I'd only use it for general mountain climbing and going downhill a bit, but nothing as drastic as proper downhill or enduro or whatever other suicide methods some people choose.
I saw some Santa Cruz bikes and they look awesome, but are they worth getting if I don't even bother with jumps?

Hell yeah Santa Cruz are badass as strawberry float. I'm getting a Heckler sometime, it's just a matter of when.

I bought this bike at the end of April, and have clocked up over 1000 miles on it already...

Do most of you guys live in and around cities? If so, what kind of routes do you ride? Public roads, cycle paths?

I really want to get a bike myself, but looking at the roads available around me I think I would honestly get myself killed trying to do a proper workout

Jonathan86 wrote:Do most of you guys live in and around cities? If so, what kind of routes do you ride? Public roads, cycle paths?

I really want to get a bike myself, but looking at the roads available around me I think I would honestly get myself killed trying to do a proper workout

I commute 10 miles each way into Edinburgh along busy roads at rush hour, and it's fine. Just have to be sensible and aware of your surroundings and you'll be fine. Other than the commute, I'm cycling routes round the Scottish Borders. Country roads.

The Boardman bikes that are sold through Halfords are actually superb value for money...they reguarly get top marks in the trade mags. Not only do you get a decent frame and fork which is ripe for upgrading down the line, the groupset and seatposts, bars, saddles are usually far superior to other bikes in the same price range. Another brand well worth considering is Cube. I always used to swear by Kona but over the last few years the value for money with them has become awful.

Wonky Owl wrote:The Boardman bikes that are sold through Halfords are actually superb value for money...they reguarly get top marks in the trade mags. Not only do you get a decent frame and fork which is ripe for upgrading down the line, the groupset and seatposts, bars, saddles are usually far superior to other bikes in the same price range. Another brand well worth considering is Cube. I always used to swear by Kona but over the last few years the value for money with them has become awful.

Yeah, I love my boardman. The only downside is the level of service from Halfords. Their bike department (at my local branch) consists of a bunch of teenagers who don't know what they're doing, and one mechanic who works two days a week. My bike wasn't built up terribly well when I got it, and needed a bit of adjusting/tightening. I've seen £1000+ bikes in there with the tyres on backwards!

Yoshimi wrote:

Wonky Owl wrote:The Boardman bikes that are sold through Halfords are actually superb value for money...they reguarly get top marks in the trade mags. Not only do you get a decent frame and fork which is ripe for upgrading down the line, the groupset and seatposts, bars, saddles are usually far superior to other bikes in the same price range. Another brand well worth considering is Cube. I always used to swear by Kona but over the last few years the value for money with them has become awful.

Yeah, I love my boardman. The only downside is the level of service from Halfords. Their bike department (at my local branch) consists of a bunch of teenagers who don't know what they're doing, and one mechanic who works two days a week. My bike wasn't built up terribly well when I got it, and needed a bit of adjusting/tightening. I've seen £1000+ bikes in there with the tyres on backwards!

Yeah, that is the downside of buying from a non specialist store I suppose but Halfords are much better than they used to be. I know alot of them seem to be staffed by teenagers who think they know the ins and outs of bikes but actually know very little. Having said that we have a very popular specialist bike shop in Cardiff and their service is just as terrible. Getting a good relationship going with a decent bike shop who has a good mechanic is really worth its weight in gold.

smurphy wrote:Yeah they'll fit Floex. 700c is the wheel size (all roadbikes/hybrids are the same), 32H is how many spokes the wheel has which is irrelevant, cnc is a manufacturing process, also irrelevant. The "x 37" etc is the width of the tyre in mm. If it came with a 37mm tyre you could put on anything from about 30mm to 42mm.

Also, when buying mountain bikes:

£300+ for a recreational one, £5-600 for a proper one, around £1000 for a serious one and never less than about £13-1400 for full suspension.

Thanks man, great info and cleared it right up. Tyres should be here by the weekend

Sputnik wrote:What bike did you get?

Decided against the mountain bike for now but was eyeing this;

Trek 4900 2011



then I just saw your Santa Cruz links and now I only have eyes for them

After my previous message I stumbled across a map highlighting some decent routes in Glasgow. My question is though, what sort of MTB brands should I be looking out for? (new or second-hand)

I haven't ridden properly in years, and have no intention of getting a road bike before anyone suggests it! I reckon my maximum budget is £500, but hopefully more around the £350-£400 mark. I was looking at the Boardman bikes on the Halfords site, but they're a bit out of my price range new, and I guess I can look for better brands second-hand? Thoughts?