Which Beginner Bicycle.

[SBSP]

Hi.

 

Noob here. :-)

 

 

Both me and my wife is looking at getting a bicycle to ride around the neighborhood. So yesterday we popped by a couple of shops to look at bicycles. Games,  Pic n Pay and a few other retail stores (Yes i know its probably the worst place you can look for bicycles).

 

At games I saw a 29Inch Raleigh for 5K Looks decent. Reading up some local reviews were all super negative though. Some of the reasons were because they don't come with shamano gears , the jockey is part of the frame ect ect.  Which is strange because I have never seen a Raleigh that do not come with Shamano gears and the jockeys is replaceable ect ect. Even when I was a kid i had one and they had Shamano gears. So whats your take on these bikes?

 

I have a 5K budget per bike. Which other brands can I look at that will give best value for money ?

 

Something funny

After visiting the retail stores yesterday I also visited CycleLab in Lynwood. When I walked in IT WAS BICYCLE HEAVEN! And the prices were ridiculous! R2950.00 for a momosen and R3000.00 for some of the other bikes like a TREK ect ect

Both me and my wife's eye pupils turned into little bicycle shapes.Until I noticed the tag says p/m for 36 months :-)

 

I couldn't find a single bike below 10K. I Honestly cannot spend more than 5K on a bike. So which other brands are worth looking at. ? I guess seeing It will be used to ride around the neighborhood I may as well just buy anything I can find ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[JulienR]

Hi,

 

Ithink we all spend too much money on bikes so nothing wrong with starting out with your budget...Some thoughts:

1. Check out Decathlon. They make BTWIN/Triban bikes for the road and Rockrider bikes for offroad. They should have bikes within your price range. They also have good gear that wont break the bank.

2. You may even be able to get some Titan bikes in this range (sportsmans warehouse)

3. If you are comfortable with bikes, then check out the used bicycle forum on the hub. You can normally pick up bikes for 50-60% of the new price and most of the guys are honest and take care of their bikes

 

Good luck shopping around

[ChrisF]

Hi SBSP

 

WELCOME to the Hub.

 

Titan offers very good value for money.  Also an excellent warantee on the frame.  See if you can get something like this - https://bike-addict.co.za/collections/titan-29er/products/titan-rogue-ryde-2020

 

(sorry, I know is a bit more than you wanted to spend, but a LOT better value than the typical Makro bike!!)

 

 

Your other option would be to buy second hand.  But then you need to know what to look for, or repairs may well blow your budget .... Personally I would go the Titan route  (we have bought two Titan bikes in the last year)

[Ampandy]

Hello and welcome to the part of life where deep pockets are order of the day.

If I knew then what I knew now things would be so much simpler. That said keep it simple, keep it clean and ride a single speed.

[SBSP]

Hi SBSP

 

WELCOME to the Hub.

 

Titan offers very good value for money.  Also an excellent warantee on the frame.  See if you can get something like this - https://bike-addict.co.za/collections/titan-29er/products/titan-rogue-ryde-2020

 

(sorry, I know is a bit more than you wanted to spend, but a LOT better value than the typical Makro bike!!)

 

 

Your other option would be to buy second hand.  But then you need to know what to look for, or repairs may well blow your budget .... Personally I would go the Titan route  (we have bought two Titan bikes in the last year)

 

 

Thanks, Looks like a nice bike.

 

So say i wanted to spend 8 to 10K on a bicycle , which one would you buy. Bear in mind my limit was 5K a bicycle, Cannot be a cent over 10K. 

Edited June 7, 2020 by SBSP

[JRN89]

With the revised budget, sounds like someone just decided the wife doesn't need a bike after all    

Enjoy the solo rides, and the couch! 

[Frosty]

Any of the following bike brands have options below, and just above R5k.

 

Titan

Avalanche (Sportsman Warehouse)

Silverback

Momsem

Merida

Scott

 

Most good bike shops should have one or more of these in their offering.

ChrisF replied with a Bike Addict link, and they have a list of bikes on offer below R10k to show you what is available. https://bike-addict.co.za/collections/mtb-r10k

 

Good luck in your bike searching, and hope you enjoy many years of riding ahead.

[SBSP]

With the revised budget, sounds like someone just decided the wife doesn't need a bike after all    

 

Enjoy the solo rides, and the couch! 

 

 

The sad hard fact is, unless I settle for makro bicycles , There is literally nothing decent you can buy for 5K.

 

Looks like I will have the finance the latter.

[JRN89]

The sad hard fact is, unless I settle for makro bicycles , There is literally nothing decent you can buy for 5K.

 

Looks like I will have the finance the latter.

It is a sad fact, but over the long run, for all the time outdoors on the trails, the physical fitness and I assume good memories cycling with the Mrs, it'll be money well spent! 

 

A cheap bike is probably going to cause you both a lot of headaches, imo. 

 

Hope you find something good. 

 

[Kranswurm]

Any of the following bike brands have options below, and just above R5k.

 

Titan

Avalanche (Sportsman Warehouse)

Silverback

Momsem

Merida

Scott

 

Most good bike shops should have one or more of these in their offering.

ChrisF replied with a Bike Addict link, and they have a list of bikes on offer below R10k to show you what is available. https://bike-addict.co.za/collections/mtb-r10k

 

Good luck in your bike searching, and hope you enjoy many years of riding ahead.

Follow this and you will end up satisfied.They are all much of a muchness in your price range

[Eugene]

I tried to post a link and a photo, but I couldn't.

 

Sportsmans Warehouse has an Avalanche Reflex for R4999.

 

It will tick all your boxes and is infinitely better than the Raleigh you are looking at from Game.

[The Guy in Pink]

Hi SBSP,

In 2004/5 our club launched a recruitment drive which was 12 week fitness programme " Zero to Hero" for people that had never cycled. Day one was three laps of the local rugby field and the last day was a 75km ride. We signed up 120 individuals and almost all did the 75km ride.

Our local bike shop did a special for a basic Game Special type bike with a helmet and water bottle for R400.00 which a fair number of our Heros bought. By week 8 most of those who bought the starter bike had invested 10 or 20 times more on entry level competition bikes.

By riding the starter bikes with others in the club they learnt about which bikes were better suited to their type of riding, so I believe they did not waste their money on the starter bike, when they upgraded they had the basic knowledge to make informed selections.

[ChrisF]

Thanks, Looks like a nice bike.

 

So say i wanted to spend 8 to 10K on a bicycle , which one would you buy. Bear in mind my limit was 5K a bicycle, Cannot be a cent over 10K. 

 

 

Some excellent advise from the various posters. 

 

Post 7 - Frosty is spot on with the list of bikes.

 

 

So which one ?  Uhm .... 

 

 

At this price it really is much of a muchness .... IF you have to decide between bikes, the one with the "air-shock" is better than the one with the "coil-shock".

 

 

Frankly, buy the one that "looks" right to YOU.  It may be the angle of the frame, it may be the colour..... but sometimes a bike just speaks to you ...    

 

 

 

Just one more thought .... dont be tempted towards the "R 9 999" bikes too quickly ...  Or should I rather say, keep in mind that you will be spending money on:

- helmets

- cycling pants

- water bottles, and brackets

- cycling tops will come later  (those little pockets are HANDY for the house keys, and coffee money...)

- Tubeless conversion ... actually, speak to the bike shop, most will throw this in to clinch the deal.

 

 

PS - If tell us where you live we can point you to the better bike shops in your area.  For instance, in Kuilsriver (Cyclosport) there is an excellent bike shop which also does trade-ins.  So they can possibly help you with a good second hand bike, and certainly will help you when the time comes to trade up ....

Edited June 7, 2020 by ChrisF

[OnlyFans]

https://bikehub.co.za/classifieds/item/hardtail-mountain-bikes/406304/cannondale-lefty

 

This will be ideal for lady riders imo, has a female seat even!

[DREDDY]

Adding onto what ChrisF said....

 

I am also a noob and didnt know much. Started cycling about a month now. So I went that route and bought a makro raleigh. Come with what is shown as, all the bells and whistles. MTB, brake disks, front shocks, shimano gears etc etc. The price of the bike is one thing, the accessories that I ended up getting , soon added up.

Clothing,

Pants

Gel seat (got a big bum, needed some cushioning )

spare tubes

Slick tyres

 

Even though it is my first bike, the raleigh feels like a decent first bike. No issues so far. (Touch wood)

I've ridden it in my suburb on the roads.

 

After all this, then I picked up on this website . Read up on some chats on what's good and not. Now I feel like I bought a mtb for road use. I should have bought a road bike instead. Thats when I changed the tyres from mtb tyres to slick tyres.

 

When going through cycle labs website, much later on, they have this marvel cadent roadbike for 5999 which is also one of the Zero to Hero starter deals. Not sure if you saw this as yet? Theres even a video clip by Andrew McLean promoting the deal.

 

Theres lot of deals out there, find one and start with that, it will definitely grow from there.

 

Good luck dude

[Trevz]

Look at Signal Bikes and Avalanche...you might be able to get those in budget if you really want a new bike. Maybe some Momsen's. I saw they having a sale.