OMO: What (push)bike do I want?

[Brettus]

Alright, bit of an odd one, I'd had a thought rattling round in my head for almost a year now that I want a bike, about 18 months ago I got a mountain bike but I just don't get along with it as I used to when I was a kid, it feels awkward and cumbersome and in all honesty I'm just not going to do off road riding.

What got me started thinking the mountain bike wasn't best for me was I had a quick go on my stepsons vintage racing bike he assembled from classic parts and I felt supercharged! it just WENT, very cool.

The riding I WANT to do is explore the cycle trails that exist around me, I abhor the idea of riding with traffic and I live in a rural area (which may sound ideal but riding on roads that people drive every day and aren't often expecting bikes on a narrow lane is NOT good) so I want to ride dedicated trails and ideally without too much height change, a lot of these exist I've since found.

I don't like racing bikes as I'd like something more relaxed for just pottering round a (mostly paved from the looks of it) trail.
One of the routes I have in mind is the repurposed train route in Chester and coming back via the riverside path:

it looks to be paved all the way round:

There are some routes in my old hometown of Northwich around lime beds and such that aren't paved as such but are smooth dirt tracks, this is likely to be the most strenuous of terrain I'd like to tackle.


So, mountain bike seems overkill and the off road tyres are somehow annoying for vibration.

I have fond memories of riding my dads old green bike with sturmey archer 3 speed hub gears.
something like this:

I like the idea of hub gears because I can't mess them up. I have twist grip change on the mountain bike and they never seem to line up with the correct places and just seem to cause me more hassle than is necessary so I THINK I'm looking at a city bike but then there is mention of hybrid bikes and stuff and I'm all clueless.


I'm also half tempted to find a frame I like and if necessary buy a gear hub and get Jon to work his cycle magic with it and make it into a working bike for me giving me the best of both worlds.

Any thoughts, suggestion or discussion welcome!

[pookie]

why not change your tyres for less rolling resistance. You could change the stem which would modify the riding position. I did the reverse and changed the tyres on my mtb this weekend from kenda small block eights to an off road set and the ride was hard work. At least I didnt get any punctures . Also the additional weight of front suspension is probably going to bog you down.

If you are intent on changing bikes maybe a hybrid could do

[NTECUK]

Special ones http://m.specialized.com/gb/gb/home

How about this

With a riser stem and a pair of these

[Brettus]

Originally Posted by pookie

why not change your tyres for less rolling resistance. You could change the stem which would modify the riding position. I did the reverse and changed the tyres on my mtb this weekend from kenda small block eights to an off road set and the ride was hard work. At least I didnt get any punctures . Also the additional weight of front suspension is probably going to bog you down.

If you are intent on changing bikes maybe a hybrid could do

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Retro-vint...item2c8120019a
I keep finding myself drawn to these but I'm not sure if it is just because I remember them being better than they are or if I'm turning hipster

Hmm good point, I could modify what I've got but what I have is big chunky rims etc which would also need swapping? I'm still liking the idea of hub gears too because of the lack of maintenance required and the simplicity.

Incidentally what I have is this:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Reebok-Mens-.../dp/B007DQCRWI
The front feels too twitchy and the tyres annoy me. The 21 gears seemed like a great idea at the time but I'm all for simplicity now, 3-5 speed hub sounds like the ticket but I suspect I'm being idealistic.

Hmm, tyres for that bike then would be 26" 1.95 I guess is width?

[Luckypants]

Look at Pashley bikes, they are exactly what you looking for from what you say... http://www.pashley.co.uk

For Example.... http://www.pashley.co.uk/products/roadster-26.html

26" is the diameter, and yes 1.95 is the width of the tyres, but you can take much narrower tyres on the same rims. Something like this http://www.evanscycles.com/products/...-tyre-ec046108. narrower then 1.25 you might have problems, but then narrower then 1.25 for a mountain bike wheel is unlikely.

Hub gears are great from the point of view of low maintenence, but even something like swapping a tube when you get a puncture becomes a major faff, particularly with the Sturmy Archer ones.

[Luckypants]

And if Pashley are too expensive, then look at a touring bike from somewhere like Decathlon or a commuter bike.

[pookie]

tyres should be ok as long as they are 26 inch and I guess 1.75 and wider based on the inners tubes already on the bike. There are tubes for narrower tyres.

Your bike is 17kg so worthwhile checking out the weight of any other prospective bike with less gears as its definitely going to make it a bit more heavy going.

I would have thought narrower tyres would make your current bike even more twitchy.. maybe worthwhile checking out the seat position and setup.

[Brettus]

LP, those pashley ones look ace. I should've prehaps prefaced the thread with "on a budget" I'm not at the point where I want to spend whatever necessary to get an ideal bike but I did realise it might be cheaper to buy a different bike from ebay rather than change mine.

That being said, how about these tyres? they are available in 1.5" width in stock:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/schwalbe-city-jet-mtb-tyre/ (mainly because they are cheap)
Ah, just seen your link, I'd also looked at these, a variant of the one you linked to.
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/schwalbe-mar...ired-mtb-tyre/
I'm assuming I'd need a new innertube too though as the current one would be too big?

hmm OK so assuming I get tyres sorted, the gears I can get over. Stem then, what should I be looking for? I guess it depends on measurements of column and bars? then a length of stem and angle perhaps.