Many thanks..

http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/kona-20 ... wn-1136499

Sounds like a good sale if you're looking for a new bike.

We're moving office so I will be ditching the car from July

New office should have a disabled loo downstairs - maybe a shower - so I will be able to freshen up on arrival.

Been for a two hour bike ride checking all the roads and my route is now planned.

Could be a bit hairy in the rush hour but only two miles from home and a good chunk of my route through the park. Hopefully I have picked the quietest roads.

Hoping to lose pounds off my stomach but save pounds from my wallet !

£3.50 a day to park, plus petrol, so the bike should soon pay for itself.

Looking for a semi-decent bike for fitness and biking to work. NOT GOT A CLUE what's good. Is this ok, tons of money off, wondering why?
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165534

Cheers guys.

Halfords generally sell cheap bikes at 'half price'. Just a marketing gimmick really. Having said that, if that's your budget then that Subway looks ok. At least it's not a 20kg full suspension monstrosity.
I'd also rather go for that than the disc brake version as cheap mechanical disc brakes can be a bit of a nightmare.

If you can up the budget you'll get a better bike but unless you can stretch to £500ish for something half decent then you're prob best sticking with that. For light commuting and short (say <20 mile) road rides it'll be ok.

Just don't get tempted to buy anything with suspension forks, and especially not with rear suspension unless you're paying at least 3 times that amount (more for full suss).

latic, if its a 20" there these in stock

http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/claud-bu ... 57127.html

unc might have a better idea on the quality of a claud butler v carrera. I know their MB range is ok, never looked at anything else.

if you can stretch a little further, I think its worth the extra.

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/tre ... e-ec023927

or a little further still

http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/felt-qx6 ... 59629.html

felt are good bikes. That just from googling bike sale - couple of phone calls to any independant shops near you might find some clearance models.

What do you all think of this limited edition Carrera Virtuosa bike from Halfords, released for the olympics.
I like the colours. any views on the bike though?

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165710

I fancy something to thrash on the way to work and bike and which is fairly cheap for road use in summer and winter.

Carerra's are usually ok, ie better than most of the crap they sell in Halfords. Probably ok as far as cheap bikes go. Pretty heavy but not excessively so for the price. If that's your budget you'd probably be better off with a second hand Specialised Allez, which are good entry level bikes. Usually lots on eBay as people upgrade to better bikes if they get into the sport.

Cheap road bikes can have pretty scary handling characteristics at speed though so I'd check out some independent reviews if possible if you're going to be in any hilly terrain.

That Claude butler's a 6 speed shopper. Great for pottering into town but you'd get pretty bored of it on the open road I think.

Thanks, it sayes lightweight frame but I guess that is in comparisons to other carreras, which as you say weight a ton
Will have to check out the specialized allez

Have you no shame?

On page 3 of THIS thread you were handing out advice on which bike somebody else should buy. You were putting yourself across as FISO's version of Chris Boardman!

You even advised that you should never buy a bike from Halfords!

Why do you lie so much? Serious question.

Thanks for the suggestions there guys.

May go for the Halfords one. The last bike that MVL suggested looks great although probably more than I was going to spend, but hey you get what you pay for eh?

Will have a good look about

Question for Uncle Si? (or anyone else that may have a brain).

I have to replace my brake pads on my Subway Carerra One.

Will these badgers do the trick?

brakepads not badgers]

@RichT,

I'd probably take one of the old brake blocks off and take it in to a bike shop, or Halfords at a push, to make sure you get the right one.

Generally I'd say that brake blocks aren't the best thing to try and save money on, although if you don't do any big downhills than most blocks should be OK.

Suspect it's going to cost me about the same price as a Carrera Subway to fix the Pringled wheel, bent bars and snapped saddle on my mountain bike after a 25mph off road wipe out tonight

Couple of stiff whisky's now then off to scrub the dirt out of my legs and arm.

A bike can be fixed quicker than a broken bone. Glad you seem relatively ok.

I hope you make a swift recovery, Unc.

Ouch Unc, could of been worse!, thankfully not obv. Womans husband in our club had to be air lifted from the lake District after a high speed 'off' mountain biking 3 weeks back. Not kown yet whether or not he'll be able to walk again let alone cycle.

Cheers all,

yes, could have been a lot worse. According to the guys behind both me and bike went airborne. Hit some soft sand which slewed me sideways into some rough stuff. Managed to keep it upright and back onto the trail but then hit a deep rut head on with weight all on the front wheel before I could get control. From the Garmin it looks like I'd slowed to about 18mph by the time I hit the rut and took off.

Luckily feet came unclipped so bike landed away from me and I didn't put my arms out to stop the fall. Just some grazes and bruises. Other guys thought it was a busted collarbone at least.

Very fine line between walking away unscathed (like I did) and breaking bones. Hope your club guy comes out OK Pasty.

Luckily, Wiggle have a 50% off sale on saddles starting today . Both saddle rails sheared clean off when the bike landed. I need some new bars anyway (the end's been ground down to about a 60deg angle after sliding along the road a couple of years ago ), so just the front wheel to sort.

Might straighten, but maybe just too bent. Rim looks OK (and tyre stayed up) but had to take the front brake off to ride the 8 miles back to the pub (standing up and with the front end wobbling around just clearing the fork).

Need to get it sorted before Thursdays ride - trails are drying out nicely so don't want to miss an opportunity.

We once had a fella snap his saddle 50 miles from home, I wasn't out that day but the tale of him taping it back on and riding back very gingerly still makes me smile I have my own 'offs' that get mentioned far too often, somersaulting over fords and ignoring 'cyclists dismount' signs spring to mind. I'm sure you'll be laughing about it soon Probably one of the reasons why I should stick to my road bike...

Yep looks perfect for trail riding atm and obviously very pleasant on the roads too, tan line cultivation is in full swing

Echoed here

Well unc I don't think you should try and run before you can walk. Perhaps you could look around the threads here for some training techniques? Maybe some stabilizers might help until you build up your experience.

Although I'll consider WilBert's suggestion above. Going to try and get a look at this tomorrow.

http://www.alpinebikes.com/shop/bikes/hybrid/motion-2/

Anyone in the North West looking for a cheap bike could do worse than head over to Cycle Recycle - Hedbden Bridge

Recycled bikes mostly in the £70-100 range.

Got mine for £60 (hasn't got an alloy frame, hence it was the cheapest) but it's still the fastest I've ever owned! .

The place is on the canal tow path - you can't miss it.

Lots of barely used, expensive bikes avaialble - thats whats happend ever since the chattering classes invaded Hebden Bridge

Nice place - very scenic.

I think it's the Brighton of the North

Just pretty darned hilly

And strangely famous

Liking that Specialised Trike WilBert - can I borrow it?

Gurn King's idea of recycled bike shops is a great one. There's a place in Leicester as well, and a project in Nottingham that I know of. Decent bikes at a decent price.

Nothing wrong with a steel frame either. A decent steelie can be lighter than a cheap alu frame - good steel frames are pretty sought after at the moment, it's kind of the latest 'in' thing.

Went for this, getting it this afternoon

You could do worse than a Dutch bike. Cheap and cheerful.


You need to remember to back pedal for braking though and no gears. But who needs gears with no hills?