In this section I will try to help with buying a bike, but I am no expert. I have made some poor decisions my self over the years and that is why I feel it is well worth thinking before buying. You are the engine of the bike so you will need a good one. I have included a section on children's bikes and also a few links to the Bike To Work scheme run by the government. Lets start with the basics.
Get a light bike. If it is for a child get the child to pick it up and also pick up some adult bikes so you can see how children can have heavier bikes than grown men.
Don’t get it through a catalogue unless you really know what you are doing, in which case you would not need to read this. I would not get a bike with out seeing it first as I do not know enough. And I am giving advice to you, as I said I am no expert.
Get the right size not too big and not too small. The biggest surprise about a Christmas bike is that it is the wrong size. Bikes have to fit. Take the child with you and get them to sit on the bike and ride it at the shop. Crossbars should not be so high that if you jumped off and landed flat footed the cross bar would hurt you.
If you put the pedal at its lowest point and then put your heal on it you should have a straight leg while sitting on the saddle, this is how we set the saddle height. It is not about being on tip toes. A bike feels comfortable to sit on when the saddle is too low, but it should be comfortable when you are riding it. Shops know this and so set the saddle low, also they do not know how well you can cycle and you need it too low if you’re a bit rusty or new to cycling.
Suspension weighs you down and adsorbs the energy that you are using to go up and down instead of forward. That is why racing bikes never have suspension. And the suspension on cheap bikes is truly awful. Make sure that you really are going to need suspension before you buy it.
Get a light bike. If it is for a child get the child to pick it up and also pick up some adult bikes so you can see how children can have heavier bikes than grown men.
Don’t get it through a catalogue unless you really know what you are doing, in which case you would not need to read this. I would not get a bike with out seeing it first as I do not know enough. And I am giving advice to you, as I said I am no expert.
Get the right size not too big and not too small. The biggest surprise about a Christmas bike is that it is the wrong size. Bikes have to fit. Take the child with you and get them to sit on the bike and ride it at the shop. Crossbars should not be so high that if you jumped off and landed flat footed the cross bar would hurt you.
If you put the pedal at its lowest point and then put your heal on it you should have a straight leg while sitting on the saddle, this is how we set the saddle height. It is not about being on tip toes. A bike feels comfortable to sit on when the saddle is too low, but it should be comfortable when you are riding it. Shops know this and so set the saddle low, also they do not know how well you can cycle and you need it too low if you’re a bit rusty or new to cycling.
Suspension weighs you down and adsorbs the energy that you are using to go up and down instead of forward. That is why racing bikes never have suspension. And the suspension on cheap bikes is truly awful. Make sure that you really are going to need suspension before you buy it.
Get bog standard V breaks unless you are spending on a really good bike. They are easy to understand and repair or replace. All you would need is a few allen keys and a cable cutter to do all work on these brakes.
Avoid disc brakes unless, so I am told, they are hydraulic, disc brakes are often broken
Avoid those funny brakes that are on some BMX’s these are often broken too.
Don’t buy a stolen bike. This is a real problem, any one who is keen on cycling will have issue with you not asking awkward questions and will not mind proving that the bike is theirs.
Get the Bike that is for the cycling you are going to do, If you are going to spend most of your cycling time on a hard surface get a fast road bike. If you will be riding in mud most of the time get an off road bike. If you are going to do a bit of both, you want a robust bike and a fast one, then get a hybrid. If you will be commuting and using the train get a fold up. If you want to do tricks in the park get a BMX.
Avoid disc brakes unless, so I am told, they are hydraulic, disc brakes are often broken
Avoid those funny brakes that are on some BMX’s these are often broken too.
Don’t buy a stolen bike. This is a real problem, any one who is keen on cycling will have issue with you not asking awkward questions and will not mind proving that the bike is theirs.
Get the Bike that is for the cycling you are going to do, If you are going to spend most of your cycling time on a hard surface get a fast road bike. If you will be riding in mud most of the time get an off road bike. If you are going to do a bit of both, you want a robust bike and a fast one, then get a hybrid. If you will be commuting and using the train get a fold up. If you want to do tricks in the park get a BMX.
Children’s Bikes
Nearly all children have a bike and that means more than one bike while growing up. Their parents may never cycle and so do not know what to look for in a bike, so we have a situation where lots of people are only looking at the price when they buy children’s bikes, which has distorted the market. Now I am not a style snob, but you are the engine that powers your bike so you have to have a well oiled machine, it can be the difference between a bike that is in the skip within months and a life long passion for cycling. My amazement is that children do love cycling considering the bikes that they are given.
Unbelievably, not being able to reach or be strong enough to use the brakes is very common, you can see that they will not work in the shop when the bike is brand new. Children have grip change gears that again you can test will not work even before they leave the shop. Now you are thinking surly not, some one will adjust them, but remember even if the shops ( and by shops I mean a few well know chain stores, toy shops and supper markets ) does adjust them before they leave the shop, it is either not done properly or is not done at all. I see brand new bikes in the playground all the time with gears that I am not strong enough to change using all my strength and both hands. How is an eight year old going to change that while riding along? To be fair sometime parents put the bike together and it is a tricky job, but often the toyshop put the bike together and I have checked with the child.
I have seen all sorts of horrors, brake cable in the lever, but not attached on a brand new bike. The front part of the bike that holds the wheel in place is called the forks and they are often the wrong way round. When family members put a bike together they often put the brake cables on the wrong way, which will teach the child to pull the wrong brake and they will get a new bike at some time, which has the brakes the right way around.
Little boys are the most at risk of buying a dodgy bike as they are the most likely to be swayed by marketeering. All little boys think that the fastest bike is either a BMX or a mountain bike. Both of these are slow and heavy. If these boys lived in another country they would want a road bike. Now they do live here in the UK and they should have fun and fit in with their friends, but lets not lie to them. When I have a group of young cyclist cycling in a line we put the slowest ones at the front and there is no getting away from it, it’s the BMX that find it hardest to keep up and often the heavy mountain bike with suspension. Also the mountain bike with disc brakes, the sort that have cables, as the brakes seem to get stuck on so much.
Unbelievably, not being able to reach or be strong enough to use the brakes is very common, you can see that they will not work in the shop when the bike is brand new. Children have grip change gears that again you can test will not work even before they leave the shop. Now you are thinking surly not, some one will adjust them, but remember even if the shops ( and by shops I mean a few well know chain stores, toy shops and supper markets ) does adjust them before they leave the shop, it is either not done properly or is not done at all. I see brand new bikes in the playground all the time with gears that I am not strong enough to change using all my strength and both hands. How is an eight year old going to change that while riding along? To be fair sometime parents put the bike together and it is a tricky job, but often the toyshop put the bike together and I have checked with the child.
I have seen all sorts of horrors, brake cable in the lever, but not attached on a brand new bike. The front part of the bike that holds the wheel in place is called the forks and they are often the wrong way round. When family members put a bike together they often put the brake cables on the wrong way, which will teach the child to pull the wrong brake and they will get a new bike at some time, which has the brakes the right way around.
Little boys are the most at risk of buying a dodgy bike as they are the most likely to be swayed by marketeering. All little boys think that the fastest bike is either a BMX or a mountain bike. Both of these are slow and heavy. If these boys lived in another country they would want a road bike. Now they do live here in the UK and they should have fun and fit in with their friends, but lets not lie to them. When I have a group of young cyclist cycling in a line we put the slowest ones at the front and there is no getting away from it, it’s the BMX that find it hardest to keep up and often the heavy mountain bike with suspension. Also the mountain bike with disc brakes, the sort that have cables, as the brakes seem to get stuck on so much.
The government has a scheme to encourage cycle commuting, it is called the Bike To Work Scheme. Your employer has to be part of the scheme and you have to be paid by PAYE. Here is the government page explaining it.
One or two organisations provide a service for employers to help them get started. Put in a search on google for the bike to work scheme and this is the sort of thing you will find.
