Hi all.
I want to get a basic hybrid bike, budget £400 - £600.
Daily use, road and round a bumpy country park.
I don’t know much about bikes, I know light is good, as is rigidity, quality components, disk brakes… any suggestions at this price range?
Thx
Tony
If you know what you are looking for you will get much better from s/h on a well known online auction site than buying new.
Any pointers as to what is really important?
the less it weighs, the more it will cost…
Thanks!
My boring answer as in most bike threads; find a good bike shop. There is a ton of choice out there and the best bike shop will not just ensure yo get you want but also what you need and alsomake sure it fits you.
Bruce
Sounds like good advice.
I have bought a few bikes from Halfords over the years, for the kids and a Carrera for myself, but found them short on knowledge, and I suspect the quality of components was not great.
Evans seems better, but maybe I need to Google around and find a decent independent.
Cube Hyde Pro
I picked one of these up a couple of years back in September - which is a good time for deals as the next years versions are due.
Has an 8 geared hub. Only maintenance I have needed to have done is oil the chain and remove the silly decals on the wheel rims.
Thanks, looks good!
Did you buy at a local shop or specialist website?
I think that I have to go have a feel, and a ride.
Just seen the ‘bike to work’ scheme, that might enable me to edge the price up a bit. 
Any expense saved buying online will be spent giving it to bike shop to properly set it up.
Here here!
By the way, in about 2 hours this thread will fill with multiple pictures of everyone’s bike suggestions and you will be totally confused and overwhelmed as a result. Watch this space below…
I think I first need to find a good local dealer, sound familiar?
Then I need to understand what spec I need for my own needs/budget (also familiar…).
I want a light bike, but how light is light? 13kg? 15kg? Less?
I want disk brakes, but other than that I know not.
Do I need to think about an aluminium/carbon frame/forks?
What make/model of things like gears… How many gears?
I aim to use the bike for about 5 - 7 hours per week, party on the road and partly on light terrain, like the local country park.
I will need a helmet, I like the idea of being able to attach a camera, Go Pro?
I have Thule roof rails for my car, so I am good for distance too.
Part of the problem is that I am not sure what the questions are, let alone the answers.
Budget, could go up to £700 or so, now I know I can get tax relief on my purchase
You have already seen and will continue to see the best advice - find a quality bike shop near you. It makes the buying experiences less stressful. Mine is 35 miles away. Buy Shimano components for no other reason than they are available everywhere you go. My rear brake pads needed changing while in Croatia recently, and the local bike shop there only stocked Shimano. My bike was ready to go inside 5 minutes.
Message received and understood.
the OP wanted just to read the experiences of others who have bought an hybrid bike. It’s the reason why of a forum, to share.
Most dealers are not honest, they just want to sell the most expensive they can. And 70% of the dealers don’t really know their products. It’s the reality nowadays, for computers, phones, cars…
That’s a bit unfair, it pays to go by local recommendation, in a town near where i live there are a few bike shops and they all have reasonable reputations.
The advantage of a LBS ( Local Bike Shop ) is having a bike set up and adjusted safely and correctly on the correct size of frame.
I often see cyclists riding bikes that have the wrong frame size for them - usually frame too big, or even far too big.
Bike set-up is important too, and bike shop dealers can lend their years of experience to gain correct seat position - handlebar height - and the appropriate choice of pedals.
Equipment such as helmets, a cycle rain jacket, shoes, is often best bought locally so you get the correct fit.
Buying bikes on auction sites is okay if you’re street wise expert enough know what you’re doing / looking for, but beware of buying a troublesome bike, or a stolen bike, etc…
I got a similar Trek about 7 years ago for exactly the same use as needed in bitg’s original post.
It has been ideal and faultless.
Sounds great. I have found two local dealers from Trek’s website and I plan to go and see them. If I get a good feel from the first, I’ll buy it there and then.
Thanks.
apparently i have a different opinion than yours on dealers. However i live in Paris area. It’s my experience , so i can’t say it’s unfair.
I can’t say really for bikes shops, but hifi, phones, computers have a lot of unexperimented dealers in France.
For hifi, most dealers will say that the components they don’t sell are not musical or good sounding. 70% of them don’t have a solid knowledge in computer audio, but are selling melco, core…without really knowing how it works precisely.
