The Get fit club!

[Iain]

Thinking about getting a cheap mountain bike to trash about at lunchtimes at work as I'm being forced to take hour long rather than half hour for lunch soon. Any recommendations as to what sort of thing I should be looking for?

Not just lunchtime of course, I've fancied getting a MTB for a while, as a counterpoint to having a skinny tyred road bike!

Define "cheap".

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[Mark]

Fair play. Between £200 and £500 depending on what I would get for it.

I've also been looking at the likes of the Trek DS 8.3 which is more towards the hybrid side of things but with front suspension.

[Gregor-y]

You may be happier with a hybrid and some wider (35-37) tires. I'm riding some improved trails on 35s (granted on a touring bike) and they're quite comfortable over the rough stuff. Also don't forget to look at used bikes.

[airshifter]

Thinking about getting a cheap mountain bike to trash about at lunchtimes at work as I'm being forced to take hour long rather than half hour for lunch soon. Any recommendations as to what sort of thing I should be looking for?

Not just lunchtime of course, I've fancied getting a MTB for a while, as a counterpoint to having a skinny tyred road bike!

TBH I'd just pick up a cheap used bike to see if it fits your use first. Then you can decide what fits the use better before spending any real money on the choice.

At the end of the day, exercise is exercise. An old mountain bike with fat tires won't do much to help your mileage count, but it will still build your legs.




So far I've been slacking this month. I did around 300 miles last month, and have just been really busy this month and as such haven't hardly gotten on the bike. When I did I didn't have time for a real ride, so just a couple short rides.

[janneppi]

Fair play. Between £200 and £500 depending on what I would get for it.

I've also been looking at the likes of the Trek DS 8.3 which is more towards the hybrid side of things but with front suspension.

I wouldn't get a hybrid if you already have a road bike and are looking for something that can be taken to trails. The suspension forks in Hybrids aren't good, just add weight. For 200-500£ I might even look for a fully rigid mountain bike, although it's harder to find decent second hand bikes with a rigid fork.

I took a quick look in a Finnish used bike forum and for 450Eur, you could get a 2011 Trek 6000, which has pretty ok parts.

[Mark]

Well it's for dual purposes really. I want a bike I can ride at work, both on the tarmac cycle paths they have around here, and a bit on dirt around the river. I could use my road bike tbh however I don't really want to bring that to work, and I want to be riding it all through the winter, my road bike can't take tyres wider than 23mm.

[janneppi]

Well it's for dual purposes really. I want a bike I can ride at work, both on the tarmac cycle paths they have around here, and a bit on dirt around the river. I could use my road bike tbh however I don't really want to bring that to work, and I want to be riding it all through the winter, my road bike can't take tyres wider than 23mm.

Are you sure about not being able to fit in a wider tyre?
I can fit 28mm Vittoria Randonneurs in my road bike(they are closer to 26mm in real life) I use them after winter when the roads are in bad shape.

[Mark]

I can fit 28mm Vittoria Randonneurs in my road bike(they are closer to 26mm in real life) I use them after winter when the roads are in bad shape.

Not even close. There's on a couple of mm between the chainstays at the edge of the tyre as it is. Besides I'm looking at any new bike as a 'winter bike', so keep my good bike in good nick away from the salt.

[janneppi]

I can fit 28mm Vittoria Randonneurs in my road bike(they are closer to 26mm in real life) I use them after winter when the roads are in bad shape.

Not even close. There's on a couple of mm between the chainstays at the edge of the tyre as it is.

I just looked t my road bike, with 25mm tyres, there's about 4-5mm of clearance between tread and frame tubes. with the Vittorias it's less than that, but I've had no problems with them.

Besides I'm looking at any new bike as a 'winter bike', so keep my good bike in good nick away from the salt.

Extra bikes is always a good thing.

I found a strong candidate for my next bike, there's a used One One cyclo cross bike with disc brakes for 1200 Eur, just the size I'm looking for. The good thing is that I've gone through this months budged already so I won't have to concider it.

[Gregor-y]

I just finished a five day, 340 mile trip between Pittsburgh and Washington DC following a canal and a few railroads. I felt good about it until the canal crossed paths with the the Appalachian Trail, where hikers spend six months walking 2,200 miles.