Help with buying a bike: Size etc..
 

Hello

I've decided to try an dget fit and I used to enjoy bike riding so I'm off to buy one. Well, sexy Santa (my wife!) is. Halfords seems to have good sales (50% off), but the question is what size? I'm quite small (5'7").

Trax Fearless 19" Mens Full Suspension Mountain Bike from Halfords Was £339.99 Save £190.00 Price £149.99 Extra 10% Off ALL Bikes when you Reserve or Buy

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks,

Steve

hello mate
i got a carrera kraken from halfords,really good bike,i went for a 20" and i'm just over 6 foot,they are quite good there so i'm sure they will advise as which size to go for,hope that helps.

good luck

nick.

Hi Steve

There have been a number of highly detailed threads on here recently on this very subject. I have no links but maybe a search or a quick trawl will turn them up. They are well worth reading.

One thing though - Rule No. 1

Do NOT buy a cheap full suspension bike :nono:

A mid range hardtale is what you need.

:)

Noooooooooo

Don't buy that, it will be a horiffic contraption and put you of cycling for LIFE !

You cant do a full suspension bike for £149 that doesnt weigh a tonne and do a good impression of a pogo stick, even top end stuff is hard work on the road but is at least superb off it, that will just be like riding a bucking bronco. My dad had something similar dumped outside his house because it had a puncture, nobody claimed it so I put a new tube in it, cleaned it up like new for my eldest and nobody will ride it, its so heavy and ponderous, it weighs getting on for 40 lbs, this is a kids bike but the whole market is flooded with stuff that looks the part but just isnt, avoid cable disc brakes as well, they are worse than rim brakes in most circumstances.

Think simple at that price, proceed to Decathlon and see if you can get something basic (not a Mountain Bike, or a very simple one), with a light Aluminium frame, The Kraken isnt a bad bike, decent frame but most of the components disentegrate fairly quickly, this is where quality shows.

Trax seems to be a name used to sound similar to Trek, who make proper bikes.

I am not a bike snob in the slightest but I have realised you get what you pay for, there are no real shortcuts, I have just passed a thousand miles since I started commuting, I have spent a grand or more on the bike and associated gear, buy quality stuff and it looks after you, if you look after it but buy cheap, buy twice !

Size wise, go and try them, the only way but I suspect for you a medium will be the way to go in ost sizing charts,

This is more suiable, and only £119,

Decathlon - Mountain bike ROCKRIDER - Rockrider 5.1 Men's ROCKRIDER - cycling on paths and tracks. Ideal for novice mountain bikers.

I was thinking about their basic bikes, i.e. none mtb but they look so lame.

If you can stretch to about £320 then you can get a Specialized Sirrus, a nice Hybrid, no suspension but unless you are doing proper off road, you dont need it, I do bridal ways, bumpy tracks and allsorts without any, remember suspension is a recent development an we managed before without it, most of the stuff on low end bikes is superflous for most riders or even counter productive its so crap.

I reckon Boxst can afford a bit more than that. ;)

To buy anything worthwhile I rackon you are looking at spending at least 400 - maybe less if you can find bikes in that range discounted, which isn't hard.

Evans Cycles | UK Online Bike Shop | Bicycle Shop | Bike Store

is a good place to start.

Bigger tyres will do you more good than the crappy suspension you get on the cheap full sus jobbies anyway.

Ask yourself what kind of riding you're going to be doing on the bike... and get a bike to suit. I'm a road cyclist but have now got a cyclo cross bike due the rough (ish) riding on my commute.

If you get the right bike you'll stick at it and it'll always be money well spent. If you get the wrong one, you'll stop and it'll be money wasted.

You may get away with a 'medium' which may feel less, err, big and so feel more nimble. You'd need to try one though or be safe and go for a large - I just got a 19" rigid bike (AMAZING after a full sus) and this fits well as I'm six foot (on a warm day ;) ).

Look at the Boardman bikes on Halfords - they have good branded, and respected components (i.e the gears will still work in 3 weeks...) but forget any sus at three figure price points - they WILL be pants.

Google Pauls Cycles for bargains - but make sure you check back here in case you buy a lemon!!!

D

I made the mistake of buying a cheap bike from Halfords a few months ago... bad move :( See here.

Best tip I can offer is to go for the smallest frame that fits you. For example I'm 6' and ride a 56cm road bike and my MTB's are 15" full sus. and a 17" hardtail. The advantage of this is it weighs less, is stiffer (oh er mrs!) and can still be adjusted to suit you - raise the bars/seat post, fit a longer handlerbar stem etc.

As has been said; avoid cheap bikes, they'll put you off riding. A hybrid is a good compromise.

Thank you for your replies -- I didn't realise it was so complicated!

Last time I had a bike was ..... erm .... 25 years ago and that was a 'racing' bike and all you got was a choice of colours.

Steve

All the charts I saw recommended a 19" frame for me, but when I tried some, I found I felt more comfortable on a 17" frame.

Try before you buy, you will be surprised how different makes of bikes in the same price range and of similar spec can feel so different to ride.

I'll second that. I tried out several bikes last week and ended up with my Kona, not because it was 'better' on paper, but because it was the one where I found myself thinking "once more round the block" before taking it back to the store.

No no no no no and no again.

You need a 17" framed hardtail bike - Something from the Carrera range will do the job fine. At that budget I recommend V brakes not disks - cheap disk (usually cable pull) are hateful.

What about this one:

DIAMONDBACK PEAK FS :: £279.99 :: RALEIGH BIKES :: 4. Mountain Bikes Over £200 :: ?

Steve

Still a bit of a bag of spanners.

If you must have a full susser, then this is a good deal - Trance 3 for £587. Only got small left but I ride a Meduim Trance and I'm 6'1.

Are you really gonna go straight in at the deep end, downhilling?
If not, and only doing some gentle off road, just get a hardtail for sure.

I would have to agree with most comments on here about the choices of bikes. There was a nice Spesh on Pimmo's thread, thats a good starter bike, with scope for increasing activity and intensity without needing to spend more immediatly.

Evans will be having a clearance now, and always have some great buys.
Dont overlook Gary Fisher either ;) :) (just cos I have one lol )

Finally... definatly try before you buy. Evans are great for that. I hooned round the car park on a few before settling on the Mullet.

The above is spot on. As for sizing its your inside leg length that matters . A 17" might even be a bit big .Try them for size first .Im 5'10" and ride a 17" frame .
GT, Trek, Kona, Specialized all good:thumb:

That Diamondback is just a slightly better version of the first one, you cant get effective full suspension for that money, and its debateable whether you need it or any suspension anyway, I do a fair bit of riding now and when I was on my MTB the front suspension only really was an advantage a couple of times, going down bouncy hills and some stairs, other than that I wouldnt have missed it. A lot of these bikes are designed to look like the real deal, but they aren't, its all kiddology and fashion rather than performance.

Some good advice on here. Just braved the cycle to work today on my specialized hardrock, and loved it, although it was very cold! Need to get some better gloves!

A good place to look is Bikes, Bike Reviews, Cycling Routes, Race News - BikeRadar and go to the messageboards. Good bunch of people on there, as "matteeboy" will testify!

I bought my bike from my local bike shop who were brilliant. Great advice, plenty of time for test rides, no problems if it goes wrong, and excellent service. Although buying on line is possibly cheaper, I would give your local bike shop a look first. They also may know where some second hand ones are coming up soon.

The one piece of advice I would give is - if most of your riding is going to be ON road, whatever you do don't get a mountain bike! And if most of your riding will be off road but *some* on road, I would echo the comments about NOT going for rear suspension. Even if you can lock out the rear shock they are horrid on road.

Unfortunately that means if you take to cycling you will start collecting bikes - the missus and I are up to seven between us now ;)

A local shop will give you good advice and might just have a decent second hand one thats been traded in! They will also be able to sort out any minor problems you might encounter.Not sure i would trust my local Halfords staff for that
If not last years models are always cheaper cos bikings as fashion conscious as anything else
As mentioned can be addictive and expensive if you get into it
I speak from experience:lol1:

5 foot seven, need a 16 or a small. Dont buy a bike thats too big, but try it first.

Stand over the bike. Allow at least 3" of clearence between the top tube and the plums.

Don't buy any bike thats got suspension and costs less than £250

This is effectively what I've got for messing around on.

Evans Cycles | GT Zaskar Expert 2009 Mountain Bike | Online Bike Shop

Bought a few years back in September of the year. (so was still current yet got 25% discount without even trying) Got it for £750! As above bikes are stupidly fashion consious. I guess its a Yank thing as they love their model year 2005 , 2006, 2009 BMW/Honda etc

Out of interest what type of riding do you see yourself doing?

Okay, much to your disgust I bought the Diamondback Peak. Mainly as CostCo were selling them off at £120. I thought it would be a good play, see if I can stand cycling as opposed to having fun in the car and then go on to better and more expensive things.

Now to assemble the stupid thing ...

Steve