Hi! I’m trying to look online to buy a bike, haven’t had one in years. I would use it mostly for commuting to college and also to get a bit fitter. I don’t plan on doing anything too crazy, but daily use and some extra cycles around town through the week.

I’ve seen all the bad posts about Halfords and their bike building. My last bike was from them so I was planning on going there until I seen all the reviews. I also looked at Evans as it seemed reputable but I’ve seen the posts saying Evans has gone downhill recently.. so where do I go? What brand do I go for? My budget is probably £250 max which I know isn’t a lot to play with but it’s all I can afford right now. I also don’t have any mechanical knowledge when it comes to bikes so I’d be wary to buy secondhand. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Here's a quick rundown:

Took bike to shop for a back brake fitted

They told me it's a 1 day job and could pick up next day

Phoned after a week, told it will be done tomorrow

went back next day, was told it still is not done will be ready tomorrow again

left it another week and a half (about 2.5 week total now) then was told they have had a nightmare with it and need to go to another bike shop in 4 days to help?

I provided everything except brake pads and the hose. It needs routing internally. How much would you expect this to be? I don't understand how I with no experience done the front brake and never tried back due to not having tool to internally route and a bike shop could have such a nightmare that a 1 hour job tuns into a month. I feel they are doing this to charge me some ridiculous amount for labour. I still have no heard back from them, after them saying they "had a nightmare" with it about 5 days ago.

Tldr: How much for one brake internally routed, pads and hose and it bled. Am I worrying about nothing?

edit: I've already had a dodgy experience with bike stuff, had a guy charge like 250 for a service he done within like an hour of dropping bike off? Sent me a bill with like 50 pound charge for replacing worn brake pads, like 60 quid for checking wheel true, which they were he said and never needed any work.

Hi! New to this sub so apologies if this isn’t the right place for asking; does anybody have any experience with the Calibre Lost Lad? I’m looking into getting a bike for commuting, I currently have an old Btwin Rockrider but I’m interested in getting a gravel bike which might at least be a bit more suited to road/path use than that. Seen the lost lad on GoOutdoors for (what I think) is a decent price post blue light card, but just wondering what others thoughts are?

TIA

Edit:

Link to the site for specs etc: https://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/products/calibre-lost-lad-gravel-bike-blue-498276

Hi,

Looking for some advice. Just purchased my first bike since I was a kid, a Boardman SLR 8.6. It arrived built and all seemed good, I've done about 30 miles on it and im getting a slight rattling sound. On inspection the chain appears to be catching on this piece of metal. Any advice on how to sort it? It's all new to me so I could imagine it's something very common that I just dont know about.

As the title suggests, just wondering if anyone has any recommendations for good value bicycle chain lube? Ideally something in a larger bottle/better value/ml than the Muc-Off 50ml bottles

A cracking bicycle adventure from London to the Irish capital. Via Oxford, Birmingham, Nottingham, Peak District, Manchester, Liverpool & the North Wales coast :) Cheers

Hi everyone,

I’m heading out to the Chilterns this Saturday and looking for a quiet, cycling‑friendly spot near High Wycombe to leave the car. Northern part of Wycombe being best and not right in the middle of a town, and something sufficiently safe.

I am planning to ride Coombe Hill and Haddington Hill this weekend but it is a little too far from my house hence driving to a convenient starting point.

I am also happy to take tips on decent roads or lanes to follow around that area, or other climbs or scenic roads to add to my route

Thank you

Does anyone have an experience with this or any insights?

I commute down a gravel canal tow path every day, as well as sections of gravel road. Every now and then my tyres will flick up a stone.

If this hits a canal boat/pedestrian/parked car - what's the score in terms of liability?
I mean there is nothing one can really do to prevent this in normal riding.

Renewal quote for my bicycle insurance came through and it has jumped up noticeably despite living in a secure area. Trying to figure out if standalone policies offer better protection against theft away from home compared to standard home insurance riders, or if it is just another unnecessary expense.

I was at a festival at the weekend with a bunch of mates, and we're all keen cyclists (predominantly MTB and Commuting).

A bunch of us live rurally in different parts of the UK and eventually the subject turned to Road Cycling and we all had a series of linked questions that we couldn't make sense of:

1. Why is it that every summer, there's a subset of road cyclists, who travel to rural parts of the UK to ride, then decide to follow a route made up of major A-Roads that are heavily trafficked routes essential to local connectivity?

2. Why do cycling clubs in particular (who logically should have the institutional knowledge and resources to plan better routes) seem to do this in honeypot locations.

3. Why do such cyclists never pull over when safe to do so to allow the traffic to pass (this especially vexed the MTB riders, because even in racing this is a basic courtesy within the MTB community for safety reasons)?

4. Following on from 3, why do cyclists who are unable to maintain a sensible speed when climbing, continue to grind uphill at 5mph with a huge queue behind them, when it's very clear they are an obstruction to the flow of traffic at this point?

---

From our perspective as cyclists in other disciplines:

- it doesn't seem like much fun dodging potholes whilst a tailback of frustrated commuters, lorries and tractors forms behind you,

- it vastly increases the risk of being close-passed by a frustrated driver, or next to a driver who miscalculates their overtake,

- it negatively effects the view that the local population has of cyclists and cycling in general making these groups terrible ambassadors for the sport,

- there's so many nicer b-roads, and unclassified roads which offer both more interesting riding and prettier views, without inconveniencing the local population and exposing yourself to more risk.

---

So, *what **is** the attraction of doing these rides?*

I accept that it's your right as a road user to do them, and this isn't about that...

But it seems like a lose-lose, in that you have a less fun ride and lots of other people end up finding it more difficult to go about their daily lives.

I have an older Triban 500 SE from 2016 that is in good condition. I'm wondering how possible it would be to convert it to a gravel bike. As far as I can see, the main issues are going to be:

• Wheel clearance: The current 700x25c tyres seem cosy already but I might be able to get to 35?
• Brakes: Not currently disc brakes, which wont help with tyres. Easy to switch to discs?

Can I just get new forks to accommodate a wider wheel if the current ones dont? Is that even a thing?

Has anyone had experience doing something similar or should I just shelve the idea and look at picking up a completely new bike.

Hi, I'm doing some research for a project looking for interesting uses of ChatGPT in different hobbies/groups etc. Found a few interesting posts on FB with cycling groups finding ChatGPT useful for various things and wondered if anyone had been using it themselves or come across groups who are? Any anecdotes or insight gratefully received! Thanks

Been cycling for more than a year now only within the city and now looking to get into mountain biking. Budget is not a lot so I'll buy a used bike.

Are there any groups/events in north west (Liverpool) which I can join? Also can use general advice and tips to get started.

So another bike buying advice guide. Been starting to sniff around for a new bike for a short commute to work & general usage. I live in a pretty flat part of the country. Thoughts have landed on:

Road vs Gravel bike?

Skinnier tyres

Internal cables

1x (i.e. only one gear on front for simplicity)

Mudguards

Pannier rack

Budget around, and hopefully a touch below £1000

Any pointers towards brands and models would be much appreciated. Last time I looked was over 15 years ago so am a little out the market

I've just seen another post asking for recommnedations for gravel bikes.

Please, someone educate me like I'm five, whats the difference between my £250 Carerra Crossfire and a bike ten times as expensive? If I buy the latter do I suddenly turn into Sir Chris Hoy?

Looking to start cycling for my commute to work. Journey is only about 3 miles or so each way, and about 50% road and 50% shared cycle paths on most direct route. Slightly hilly at points but overall relatively smooth.

Was looking at hybrid bikes as best option having read through a few similar posts before, and been looking at a Carerra Subway as affordable option to trial. Would a hybrid option be my best bet or should I just get a road bike? And if not Carerra Subway any other recommendations? Looking to spend £300-500 max for now.

Hey guys, my bike has recently developed an issue where the chain will jump inward from the middle chainring when on a low rear gear and pedalling hard e.g. going uphill.

I did a full adjustment of both derailleurs but that doesn't seem to have helped. The bike is about eight years old and still on its original set of components, so I guess most likely it's just time to replace them.

Before I book it in for a service I thought I'd ask if there's anything else I should try first. Any suggestions would be welcome, thanks!

I’ve just recently gotten back into cycling after a long hiatus, and feeling slightly discouraged after some recent incidents. One thing that’s happened to me thrice in one bike ride is men, purposefully swerving into my path head on, and swerving off at the last second to intimidate me or humiliate me. On electric bikes on 2 occasions which with no exaggeration could have killed me or caused me to fall into the canal.

This has been happening on a canal path and it’s just really jarring. I’m a POC teenage girl and i have a feeling this is only happening due to my demographic.

Hi everyone. I’ve had this Boardman Truvativ in the shed for a bit. Needs a bit of TLC but nothing a keen amateur couldn’t handle. I want to sell but am struggling to figure out a price.

I offered it to someone for [price]. Turned out they weren’t able to collect it but messaged later to say we’re undervaluing it a lot.

Hoping to put any money towards the kid’s school uniforms so any ideas on what I can reasonably expect would be appreciated. Not looking to make a killing, just don’t want to screw myself over.

Should mention that I have checked eBay and others and it left me more confused. Also, there is a saddle - I just haven’t reattached it yet.

It is registered to me BikeRegister and I’ll transfer ownership there to whoever buys it.

Thanks

Edit: thanks for the responses. This has been useful and it turns out we weren’t being crazy with our initial price.

I was watching a guy on Instagram today who crashed his bike into a car in traffic, he was saying its now on him to pay for the car repair and its going to be expensive.

I've never had insurance specifically for my actions on a bike, just theft cover through home insurance. Do you have it, is it needed?

So, currently the new ebikes in the dining room but that's not a long term solution.
From a security point of view so far I have bought a NY Diamond Standard anti angle grinder d lock, a kryptonite cable loop, app allows disablement of the motor and if bike is moved an alarm goes off albeit it's not madly loud, oh and it's got find my built in, like an airtag.

But that's the bike. To get it out of the house and into my metal shed (argos) that I've had some years and never locked as it would be extremely easy to bust into and it would cost more to repair the damage!

So, it's on a patio base and this is where Im planning on securing the bike. The shed is really keeping the bike out of sight and stop the rain. Luckily to access it is convoluted, ie we live on a dead end, but to get to the back garden is a 3-400 yard detour out of the street, up another and over a grassed common area with public path and so any time I use it I'll be on the lookout for anyone following, etc.

THEN my garden gate is the first obstacle for a thief, 6 foot high but wooden and 20 feet from the path, this time of year overgrown as there's a ditch of trees / bushes, though of course in winter the gates easily seen so not a reliable security feature and why I've added a top post to the gate posts, a locked bolt into concrete at the bottom and one to the top post at, well, the top lol. Im also going to add 2 long throw keyed locks which can be locked either side and a normal thumb latch.

Now, the shed I plan to store the ebike in is another 30 feet away from the gate, as I say, it's only a large tin shed / workshop, not actually visible from the outside public path even in winter so that's good. BUT I refuse to rely on that alone and as said it wouldn't be difficult to break into the shed, doors could Im sure be ripped off by hand, main good thing is that all this would be very noisy but again, not good enough.

2 thoughts (on top of locking the shed doors so they'd have to make noise) is

a) some sort of alarm in the shed that I can activate / deactivate from outside

b) fitting a sheffield type bike stand in the shed (I've been seeing posts about filling it with wet cement first) and then concreting into the floor OR concreting into 2 buckets so it's "movable" (for my convenience) but not when the bikes locked to it etc?

Again apologies for the long post and looking forward to any thoughts anyone may have.

Good evening,

I hope you’re having a wonderful week!

I’m getting super excited planning an upcoming cycling trip for the end of September, riding from North Birmingham all the way to Land's End over 6 days. I'm hoping to get some community tips, and home valuable insight.

I’m aiming to travel nice and light, so I would be so grateful for any recommendations you have on the best lightweight panniers for the essentials or any other forms of storage. I want to stay away from using a backpack.

I’ve really fallen in love with cycling over the past year and am eager to learn from your experience. Also, if you happen to know anyone who has tackled this route before, I would welcome any tips on the best places to stop along the way.

On the tech side, I’m looking to upgrade to a proper cycling computer. Using my phone totally drains the battery, which isn't ideal for a big trip like this, even with power banks! I love my Garmin watch and have been eyeing the Garmin Edge 1040, but I'd value your honest opinion on whether that might be a bit overkill for my needs.

Thank you so much for any advice or suggestions you can share—I truly appreciate your help as I prep for this adventure!

Warmly,

Jason

So - it looks like the army use their playground a lot. But I really fancy going to Salisbury plain for a bit of 'real' gravel, do they really use their tanks, etc as much as the MoD website indicates?

I (F30) was cycling home from work today and a 4x4 did a close pass and the male passenger of that car grabbed my arm out the window as they went past. Not sure if it was deliberate or accidental, but either way that obviously illustrates how close they were passing me and he wasn’t even leaning out the car to do so

I’ve been debating getting a camera for my bike/helmet after a man on another bike tried to push me over me last week (no reason for it, and I reported to the police) but today’s incident has made that decision for definite.

Part of me doesn’t want to spend huge amounts of money but also I recognise I can’t do this on the cheap

I also feel like perhaps a helmet camera would be better as it could see what I see (a camera on the front of my bike wouldn’t have caught the man grabbing my arm I don’t think etc)