What bike.. (hybrid)

[wijcc]

Hi, I am looking to buy a new bike, thinking of a hybrid so i can easily and safely cycle along the canal/tow path as well as the road. Also would be a safer in the wet than a road bike due to the slightly wider tyres. I would use it to cycle to work as well about 5-6 miles one way every so often. My workplace is participating in the cycle to work in partnership with h*lf*rds scheme.. so limited in the numberof storess/place I can use. I am thinking of a max budget of £550 for the bike.
So had these two Boardman HYB 8.6 or Specialized Sirrus 2.0 2020 in mind or should i opt to go for the cheaper Voodoo Marasa or Carrera Subway 2 2020 bikes.
What would you guys recommend?

Thanks in advance

 

[EGuitarStar]

I've just ordered a Carrera Subway 2. Just needed something budget friendly. May replace with a different one once prices and stock come back down.

What did you end up buying?

 

[wijcc]

I got fed up with waiting and managed to grab a road bike from decathlon, a Triban RC120. I also looked at the subway 2, but wanted slightly thinner tyres. If I get a likely for cycling, once availability gets better I may in future get a better bike through my work cycle to work scheme and use this bike to get around on and to go to work.

Hope you are enjoying your new bike

 

[mattyfez]

I would have suggested this from Halfords, although it's a little heavy for a hybrid at 13.2 kg, probably due to the stock tyres mostly.

https://www.halfords.com/bikes/hybr...s-hybrid-bike----18in-20in-frames-445471.html

You'll definatley appreciate the lighter weight of the triban assuming you're happy to have drop bars rather than flats.

 

[wijcc]

i did look at it, even contacted halfords when they were expecting stock for ages.. so just got whatever i could get my hands on

 

[UTmaniac]

I'm currently pondering a new commuter myself, after my amazing power (not) somehow sheared the drive-side crank through the centre of the pedal threads last Tuesday!

The 20" Marasa is certainly available to collect here in Southampton, with a week for Halfords to get it ready. Shame it's £450 rather than the normal price of ~£320 before lockdown, but the RRP had to increase sometime, it's been than sort of normal price for 5+ years.

The Subway2 is alright for £350, very solid frame and hydraulic brakes on the new version. However, personally, I don't need/want a 27.5" wheeled bike, I have 23-60mm 700/29er tyres.

I'm kind of drawn to the new £400 Carrera Vanquish, even though it has cable disc brakes and only the small frame is availble right now near me at least. This might also be partially down to the enlightenment of seeing how much faster my "nice" road bike has been on the commute since Saturday compared to my fatbike that was essentially a 29er hybrid for most of the last ~4.5 years.

For £1k, the incoming new Boardman ADV 8.9 looks great with GRX hydraulic brakes.

However, just like if I was to start using my road bike commutes permanently and get something else "nicer" in due course, I'd be terrified of locking it up anywhere if say I wanted to pop into a food shop.

I've got 11 days off now, so a bit of time to think, but my sensible head says reserve a Marasa on "click and collect" and use 10% British Cycling discount when I collect it. With a few changes, I should be able to easily get it down sub 12Kg and I'm hoping it might have clearance for 2.35" tyres, as I've a pair of G One Speeds and Vee Speedsters with a fairt bit of life left in them (I'm very confident my 50mm Schwalbe Century pair will fit). Great gear range with 26/36/48T crankset and 11-34 cassette plus hydraulic brakes.

 

[doodah]

Complete novice but recently bought a Boardman HYB 8.8 and love it. I also looked at the HYB 8.6 which is also good but 1-2kg heavier I believe. The 8.8 happened to be in stock and only weighs 10.4kg which is almost like a feather compared to my wife's Reebok MTB .

Plus Boardman are about to release an updated range in a month so might be a good time to get last year's models for less?

 

[Hagar]

I bought a Subway 1 for only £75 from Gumtree then cycled it home, it was a very good buy. The only part on my previous bike worth anything were some 2001 Rockshox SID-xc forks which I sold on Ebay for £76.

So all in all, I have a nice condition bike, a couple of years old that has cost me nothing so far this year.

 

[wijcc]

Lucky you, I looked at buying second bikes off eBay and gumtree at the height of the lockdown.. they were going for far too much money. I am guessing used bike prices have come down abit now.