Chris Boardman bikes

[Andyp]

Originally Posted by mikeyscott

So what other brands to consider?

Kona
Scott
Giant
Garry Fisher
??

Trek, commencal, whyte , marin , specilazed ( sorry for spelling) they is also orange, rocky mountain and a few others but big£££

As said money can be saved from buying online but you have to be sure of what you are getting if that makes sense , the frame sizes are abit hit and miss eg. You maybe want a medium in one brand and a large in another .

[footey]

best bike ive seen is YETI simply awsome but mega ££££££

[mikeyscott]

Originally Posted by Andyp

Trek, commencal, whyte , marin , specilazed ( sorry for spelling) they is also orange, rocky mountain and a few others but big£££

As said money can be saved from buying online but you have to be sure of what you are getting if that makes sense , the frame sizes are abit hit and miss eg. You maybe want a medium in one brand and a large in another .

Looks at a few whyte and they look nice, will get down to a shop hopefully over the weekend. Happily spend circa £700-800 etc.

[Chequered Flag Racing]

Pace Cycles

http://www.pacecycles.com/

[jcb]

Originally Posted by Chequered Flag Racing

Who grow's them , got a link?

www.chainreactioncycles.com is where i got them from, but I guess most cycle shops would stock some.

[jcb]

Originally Posted by mikeyscott

Looks at a few whyte and they look nice, will get down to a shop hopefully over the weekend. Happily spend circa £700-800 etc.

Cannondale, maybe? Can't fault mine. Think you pay for the name if you a bit, but some bargains to be had when and as the 2012 range comes out.

[Bungleaio]

Cube are looking pretty good too.

[Andyp]

Whyte is designed in the uk , with the uk in mind they have big clearance around the tyres for our muddy conditions , I think the same bloke has something to do with Marin too .

It's all very well knowing and looking at all the makes but it is sometimes like Rc cars in that it's prob best go with what your local shop does as they will be able to suppy, advise , service what they know best .

[Si Coe]

Not so much.
Excepting some parts on suspension bikes, virtually all the bits on a bike that actually need servicing are bought in. My Klein, Marin and Scott all use Shimano gears for example. Consequently, as long as my local shop can service Shimano they can do all three just fine.
The only time I've had a frame specific warrantee issue was with the suspension bushes on the Klein, which therefore had to go back to the shop it came from (not the nearest, but not massively far away). I've also had a warrantee fault on a set of Marzocchi forks handled at a different store from the one the bike was purchased at - but it was an authorised Marzocchi service centre. They did the work and billed the suppliers.

So as long as the local store can service the components on the bike, the actual bike isn't that important.

[teamorsum96]

i wouldt touch any thing from halfords full stop!

[Theshiro]

I have last years model on the Hybrid. Its been great, my local Halfords is good, in fact excellent, which nicely surprised me.

The original post mentions using in forest etc...Hybrid is a little generous on these though. Its really a beefed up road bike, I'd certainly not want to take mine on anything remotely off road.

Have to say spec is good and I can't fault it.

my 5p's worth.

[mattr]

just had a mail from chain reaction, they have a warehouse sale on at the moment, 40 odd % off some of the bikes.

[B4 Sloth]

I have had numerous bikes in the past, as I used to do time trials. before you spend any money think what you really want it for. Will you realistically take it off road, bridle paths or will you spend 90% of your time on the road.
Having had stupidly fast time trial bikes, hard tail mtbs and others, I love my current bike, a Specialised Cirrus elite. Light, quick, comfortable.
Not a fan of hybrid bike, a bike in my opinion should do one thing and do that well
(yes i a preparing to get shot down but hey).

Try Cirrus and you will think "this is easy, comfy and fast". then get a 2nd hand hack for the dirtier stuff!

If you are adamant you want a bit off light off road capability then I think a better compromise may be a specialised cross trail. Great after service with sepcialised, good support etc etc.
Always a deal on specialised