Scottish Elises

Edinburgh Bike Co-op in Marchmont would be my recomendation for a bike shop. Make their own range of bikes, including hybrids whcih can be tailored to your requirements.

I bought a cracking bike from them - recommened

As above, Bike Coop will see you right, but avoid a hybrid at all costs. Jack of all trades, master of none. A mountain bike on slicks will be just as good as a hybrid on road, plus you have the option of putting on a set on knobblies and taking it off road. Hybrids are hopeless off road as the tyres are just too narrow. The bike coop does their own range of low to mid priced mountain bikes which are very good value.

Mark

http://www.cyclescheme.co.uk/general,index.htm

I'm thinking about going down this route. you can get upto 50% off.

Scotty C

I need a new bike as some ned stole mine from work.

paul, buy 2nd hand. get onto http://www.descent-world.co.uk and you'll see all the spotty kids selling their hardtails (front suspension) bikes to save up for a DH rig. They go for a pittance.

If you need to use it for city riding, take Mark's advice.. do not buy a hybrid. You'll need an 18 inch frame bike given your height. don't be fooled into thinking an alu frame is what you need, you'll find that they weigh only slightly less than a steel framed bike as they need a lot of gusseting to maintain strength.

Don't buy one with front suspension travel in excess of 4 inches. To get a good set of (light) forks with that travel, you'll spend a fortune. If you do go for a 2nd hand bike, get one with Rockshock Judy SLs, or SIDs. Forks with a lock-out will help for the road riding.

Don't buy disc brakes - they'll soak up much of the budget on a low-spec bike and mean compromises are made in other areas. Best bang for buck are v-brakes, such as avids or good old shimanos.

A good set of wheels & hubs are essential to keep your rolling resistance down. Hope hubs are the best, but get at least shimano deore hubs and mavic rims.

21 gears will eb enough. 9-speed rear cassettes use thinner cogs and chains and consequently snap more easily

Any more advice needed, give me a shout if you buy one that needs assembled, I can give you a hand (believe it or not I used to build my own DH bikes)

forgot to say, £650 is a lot of cash for a bike. You can get a pretty stonking front suspension bike for that money. Back in the day, I always used to go for Kona bikes. Their geometry is the best and they were as tough as old boots (although I did snap 2 frames...bothe were replaced under warranty). Another manufacturer to go for is GT, I used to have one of those and loved it to bits. IIRC they went under in 03/04, but I think they're up and running again.

For £650, you should get a good 18in frame, at least an XT groupset (i.e. hius, brakes, rear mech and cranks, seatpost etc) and good rockshox/marzocchi forks.

http://www.konaworld.com
http://www.gtbicycles.com

Sounds like you should drag Greg to the bike shop with you

Paul

As a few have said, Hybrids arn't great, think what you want to do with it, if you want to go off road, (real off road with rocks, mud, steep climbs/descents, drop offs etc) then buy a real hardtail moutainbike with front forks you can lock out for the road as Greg mentions, but if you are not going off road, just get a road bike, they are much easier to ride, moutainbikes are hard work on the road, a rough guide is that your average speed in mph on a road bike will be the same as your average speed in kph on a mountainbike. Also think about one you can fit full mudguards to, they will keep you and your clothes cleaner and drier, the only road bikes that shouldn't have mudguards are ones that are raced.

The only thing I'd disagree with Greg about is the brakes, if you buy a mountainbike and plan to use it for real off road, disc brakes are good, and getting cheaper all the time. They really are good off road, and for £650 you can get some bikes with decent components including the disc brakes.

The Edinburgh bike coop are really good and very helpful.

Hope this helps

Giles
PS. As we are now 2 engineers down at work right now due to broken limbs from bike crashes I'm beginning to wonder if cycling is really a good idea.

GregR wrote:forgot to say, £650 is a lot of cash for a bike. You can get a pretty stonking front suspension bike for that money. Back in the day, I always used to go for Kona bikes. Their geometry is the best and they were as tough as old boots (although I did snap 2 frames...bothe were replaced under warranty). Another manufacturer to go for is GT, I used to have one of those and loved it to bits. IIRC they went under in 03/04, but I think they're up and running again.

For £650, you should get a good 18in frame, at least an XT groupset (i.e. hius, brakes, rear mech and cranks, seatpost etc) and good rockshox/marzocchi forks.

http://www.konaworld.com
http://www.gtbicycles.com

I like Konas too. In a previous life I used to race cross country on a Kona Explosif. Most recent bike is a hardtail Klein, though a knackered knee severely limits my cycling these days.

Mark

GilesM wrote:The only thing I'd disagree with Greg about is the brakes, if you buy a mountainbike and plan to use it for real off road, disc brakes are good, and getting cheaper all the time.

I've had experience of avid, hayes & RST mechanical disc brakes. None of them compared to the stopping power of a well set-up v-brake (and that was on mud-ridden descent work), and all were seriously worse than their hydraulic counterparts

As for hydraulics, I've ridden Hope 02s, C2s, DH4 (4-pot) [all used in national races] and minis plus Hayes [in one race] and Shimano XTs [one day messing about]. I broke the Shimanos on 1 DH run, and the Hayes provided woeful stopping power in comparison to the Hopes. I'd heartily recommend the old Hopes, but their QC isn't what it was, oh and they cost me £160 for a rear, and £175 for a front!

seriously, unless you're talking serious mud slugging, get v-brakes. Bang for buck, they're the best you can get (wheelsets for disc brakes cost more too as you need a disc-compatible hub).

As for hydraulics, I've ridden Hope 02s, C2s, DH4 (4-pot) [all used in national races] and minis plus Hayes [in one race] and Shimano XTs [one day messing about]. I broke the Shimanos on 1 DH run, and the Hayes provided woeful stopping power in comparison to the Hopes. I'd heartily recommend the old Hopes, but their QC isn't what it was, oh and they cost me £160 for a rear, and £175 for a front!

Greg, a while ago I'd have agreed with you, but I recently bought some Hope Mono Minis, and they really are the dogs dangly bits, just perfect finger tip control, not cheap, but not too bad at £200 for the front and rear. Really easy to set up and they don't destroy the wheel rim like V brakes do. All a personal choice, and as I only recently got into the world of MTB, (I used to race on the road and track) I know I've got a lot to learn about this off road world, just what I've discovered so far.

Giles

I've popped up a wanted addy for you - I'll let you know if anything suitable for you is out there