[cite]Posted By: holyjo[/cite]The thing that bumps up the price of MTB is the group set. This is the front mech rear mech, brakes, etc. The key thing is what you want the MTB for
downhill,
cross country
free riding.....
these will impact what you want. Also of course in the end your budget will dictate what you can get.
How much do you want to spend
About £400. I gave been looking at A Claude Butler Cape Wrath 01.
Or a Marin Shoreline 2010 Disc.
Depends how much you want to spend, but there are road bikes that are adaptable and would be perfectly suitable for a triathlon, although as with any sport, specific equipment may be better. The first bike that comes to mind that is capable of both pretty well is the Cervelo S-1, but I'm biased...Canadian bike!
If this is your first, I'd go for a road bike, and swap out the seat post (different angles for tri than road) and get aero bars, and you're sorted. Any shop should be able to advice you on this.
If you have any intentions of doing road riding or more tri racing, I'd definitely go for a road/tri bike rather than a hybrid. That said, I'm spending more time on my cyclocross bike than anything anymore. Seems the best jack of all trades that you can find...
Vinnie V, at that price there all going to be much of a muchness - good names are GT (Avalanche model falls in that price range), Trek, Marin, Giant etc.. You usually end up paying a bit more for hydraulics over cable...if you're using it for larking around, general track riding, non competitive you'll be fine with cables.. I've got a GT which I use for mucking around when I'm bored of road cycling - cost about £350 six or so years ago and it's still going strong and have changed nothing... There's some good deals online across most brands....
Got an Avalanche 3 at the moment. It is starting to fall apart but i do about 70 miles a week so it has done ok over 4 years. Just fancied something different.
I echo Charlton Charlie's comments...I've noticed that UK bike prices tend to be super high (by my standards, anyway), but over here, for $1,000.00, you can get a lot of bike nowadays.
I've got a Genesis Croix de Fer which is a cyclocross bike with disc brakes and I love it.
I've always used mountain bikes or hybrids for commuting as they stand up well to London roads. I fancied something that could do the commutre but be a bit sportier.
I've had cable discs before and they were fine. They're easy to use and maintain and it's possible to do emergency roadside cable repairs. As SE10Addick said, failed hydraulics is not a quick job.
Disc brakes make great sense on a cyclocross bike, and the only reason you'd want to avoid them is in the event that you ever want to compete with the bike. I believe that UCI regulations still prohibit them.
For practical use that 98% of the population would put the bike to though? Make all the sense in the world...
I was always told (when buying road bikes), that you should either spend 400-450 or then 700 and above. Anything inbetween isn't going to represent value and prices are graded for the sake of marketing.
Also, people get hung up with bikes being lightweight when in fact you'd do better to lose a few kilos!
I was in the bike shop in Canary Warf last week chatting to the shop assistant when he mentioned something called the Ride-to-work scheme. It's an initiative set up to encourage people to buy bikes Tax free. You employer purchases the bike on your behalf and you reimburse you employer through a small monthly deduction in your wages. The main thing with the scheme is you get the bike less the VAT. check it out
I'm running home from work a lot at the moment but usually I cycle. I have cable operated disc breaks on my bike, no way near as good as the hydraulic ones but much better in wet weather when compared to calliper or cantilever breaks.
I bought my Specialized Rockhopper Pro on my works C2W scheme last year. Just finished paying for it, had to pay 5% of the original voucher value to buy it outright then have just applied for a new one to buy my new road bike. We did have a thread on this ages ago and someone, cant remember who it was, indicated there would be more than a few problems with the scheme but I've had no problems and would recommend it. I've bought a £1k bike which has cost me £550. Cant be bad.
[cite]Posted By: Valley_floyd_red[/cite]I'm looking at the scheme at the moment.
Ditto. I'm rather taken by the Marin Point Reyes or Novato, but I don't know if they look better than they are - I've had mixed opinions. They're expensive too.
I did the C2W scheme through my wife's work. Thought about going for something high end but have had 3 bikes nicked in about 5 years so went for a £450 Marin Larkspur. Quality hybrid and easily the best riding bike I have ever owned.
Comments
Disc brakes are good on mountain bikes but you wont find them on road bikes.
Yes, one works on a mechanical pully system and the other uses some kind of oil or lubricant under pressure from a valve....basic fizzix Vinnie!
LOL Vinnie..............I was being delberately stupid...though some wouldn't know the difference I admit!
downhill,
cross country
free riding.....
these will impact what you want. Also of course in the end your budget will dictate what you can get.
How much do you want to spend
I heard a hybrid is best is that right?
only if you're going to use it to commute to work with it.
Get yourself a racer, you can get specific triathlon bikes but they just cost a fortune.
these guys are good if you know what you want - but go into a shop for your bike.
www.ribblecycles.co.uk
About £400. I gave been looking at A Claude Butler Cape Wrath 01.
Or a Marin Shoreline 2010 Disc.
If this is your first, I'd go for a road bike, and swap out the seat post (different angles for tri than road) and get aero bars, and you're sorted. Any shop should be able to advice you on this.
If you have any intentions of doing road riding or more tri racing, I'd definitely go for a road/tri bike rather than a hybrid. That said, I'm spending more time on my cyclocross bike than anything anymore. Seems the best jack of all trades that you can find...
Cheers
CC
I've always used mountain bikes or hybrids for commuting as they stand up well to London roads. I fancied something that could do the commutre but be a bit sportier.
I've had cable discs before and they were fine. They're easy to use and maintain and it's possible to do emergency roadside cable repairs. As SE10Addick said, failed hydraulics is not a quick job.
For practical use that 98% of the population would put the bike to though? Make all the sense in the world...
Also, people get hung up with bikes being lightweight when in fact you'd do better to lose a few kilos!
Tax free bikes
Ditto. I'm rather taken by the Marin Point Reyes or Novato, but I don't know if they look better than they are - I've had mixed opinions. They're expensive too.