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I've not ridden a bike for few years but have decided that now is as gooder time as any to tackle the growing waistline and take up cycling again but thought I'd ask for some opinions on my choice of steed before spending anything.

Ive got a budget of about £800 and am quite liking the 2012 Cannondale SL3 at £750 but wonder if there's anything else out there for similar money? Is the SL2 worth the extra £150?

What's all this 29" stuff? Are they better than a regular old 26 inch wheel?

Can't comment on wheel sizes, but those are big old chunky tyres for the road. I cycle daily, for work and a bit of leisure at the weekends.

I've found that as long as you look after the bike, you don't need one that costs so much. After plenty of research (7 years ago now!), I bought a Carerra from Halfords. The spec was good, as was the price at about £400. In those 7 years I've been through a few tyres. I've changed one rear cassette and one crank set and one gear lever cable. I bike about 20 miles a week, and thats since I've moved closer to work. I used to bike about 30 miles a week, so the bike now does easily 900 miles a year (based on 5 bike rides a week, 45 weeks of the year), so over 7 years thats at least 6,300 miles. Thats a pretty low maintenance bike really.

I do have two sets of wheels too. I bought a second set of front and rear tyres, one with very narrow road tyres for my bike rides to work, and one with a nice thick set of grippy wide tyres so I can hammer it over a rougher terrain.

Hope thats been a little help!

I used to do a lot of mountain biking years ago with a lot off road before I got fat and lazy. You can get a very decent machine for £800 . Are you planning to use it off road? Or are you going to stay mainly on road? Why not think about a road bike instead?

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Living on the edge of the Yorkshire Wolds, I want to make the most of the woodland bike trails we have locally so will mainly be off roading which is why I'd rather invest a good sum of money in a bike that'll stand up to a good beating.

Much to my amazement, £700-£800 is now considered entry level for mountain bikes, with many of the highly specc'ed ones retailing for £3-6k!! I even read one article that suggested that bikes shouldn't be bought for under £1000 as this is the lower limit of technology and serious manufacturing corners will have been cut to get a well specc'ed bike under this price!

I've found a shop offering the Kona Cindercone for £800 & they include a £100 voucher which should buy me a reasonable bike locks and helmet. Did you know some helmets cost over £200!!. WTF is that all about?

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£200 for a helmet. You haven't started yet. How about £500 for a front light:
http://www.cyclexpress.co.uk/wilma12.aspx

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Not really bothered with mountain bikes Dave but used to race road bikes a few years back and been in a couple of clubs have spent thousands on bikes paid over £700 just for a set of wheels and £2395 for a frame & forks , Still ride now but only for pleasure . £800 on a bike though should be ok I have mates who've spent a fortune on mountain bikes only to have them just sit in the shed and go out every now and then , The 29" wheeled bikes are very popular at the moment it seems but me personally would stick to a normal sized wheel

This was the best bike I owned

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Dave - check if your employer does a bike to work scheme. If they do, or are interested to do it, then you could get great savings on a new bike. Just commute on it once in a while.
I got a £1000 road bike through this scheme and paid it off through my paypacket over 3 years. Think it cost me £650 in the end!

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don't worry, forum dad..

I wouldn't skimp on a helmet but I certainly wont pay £200 to look like a fat chris hoy!! lol. I recon I can get a decent one for £35-45.

I have looked at the cycle to work scheme and it looks good but I currently have no plans to stay with this employer for longer than I have to so committing to a 3 year finance package with them isn't sensible.

My mum's cousin's husband own's a bike shop in Rotherham which specialises in road racing bikes so doesn't usually stock mountain bikes but has managed to get me the Cube Acid with about £100 off the RRP:



Next one to consider is pedals? I'd like to be able to pop to the shops on my bike without having to put special shoes on so I'm not sure spd's would be a great choice just yet unless there's a halfway house? Is there even any benefit to being clipped into your pedals?

Benefit of being clipped in; your leg action works on the pull up as well as the push down.
You need to learn how to un-clip fast or get used to stopping and falling over

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