Find the right bike?

bornfree

I have a Raleigh Boardwalk Lite folding bike, which I love.. but I no
longer need the convenience of a folder.

I want a Raleigh hybrid. http://i32.tinypic.com/2akgvtx.jpg or
http://www.cyclehouse.net/products....0s131p199&z=881
or http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=87441

Any buying advice? Will it be stocked by retailers in London so I can
try it out?

Thanks!

Roger Burton West

bornfree wrote:

>Any buying advice? Will it be stocked by retailers in London so I can
>try it out?

Evans is a retailer in London. Not a great one, but better than
H*lf*rd's. Maybe worth asking them.

Any particular reason you want this specific bike? It seems reasonably
cheap, but I don't see a lot of new Raleigh bikes on the road these days
and there are conflicting stories about their build quality.

R

--
It never gets easier, you just go faster.
-- Greg LeMond

Pete Biggs

bornfree wrote:

> The story I trust the most, is my own! The Raleigh Bike I have is
> fantastic.

How old is your Raleigh?

Raleigh nowdays is just a name on a badge. The company no longer makes or
even assembles anything. A new Raleigh bike won't have anything more in
common with an old British Raleigh than any other new average bike made in
the far east.

Having said that, I don't know anything about the particular model in
question. It may be fine.

~PB

bornfree

On 10 Jun, 17:10, Roger Burton West <roger
+urc200...@nospam.firedrake.org> wrote:
> bornfree wrote:
> >Any buying advice? Will it be stocked by retailers in London so I can
> >try it out?
>
> Evans is a retailer in London. Not a great one, but better than
> H*lf*rd's. Maybe worth asking them.
>
> Any particular reason you want this specific bike? It seems reasonably
> cheap, but I don't see a lot of new Raleigh bikes on the road these days
> and there are conflicting stories about their build quality.
>
> R

Thanks I will check out Evans in W4 - Chiswick

The story I trust the most, is my own! The Raleigh Bike I have is
fantastic.

David Damerell

Quoting Roger Burton West <roger+urc200806@nospam.firedrake.org>:
>Evans is a retailer in London. Not a great one, but better than
>H*lf*rd's. Maybe worth asking them.

Evans are OK if you know exactly what you want and you're not going to
return it - when I needed an MKS GR-9 in a hurry, they had a pair and I
didn't need any advice, so...
--
David Damerell <damerell@chiark.greenend.org.uk> Oil is for sissies
Today is First Stilday, June - a weekend.

bornfree

On 10 Jun, 17:56, bornfree <justyouan...@xemaps.com> wrote:
> On 10 Jun, 17:10, Roger Burton West <roger
>
> +urc200...@nospam.firedrake.org> wrote:
> > bornfree wrote:
> > >Any buying advice? Will it be stocked by retailers in London so I can
> > >try it out?
>
> > Evans is a retailer in London. Not a great one, but better than
> > H*lf*rd's. Maybe worth asking them.
>
> > Any particular reason you want this specific bike? It seems reasonably
> > cheap, but I don't see a lot of new Raleigh bikes on the road these days
> > and there are conflicting stories about their build quality.
>
> > R
>
> Thanks I will check out Evans in W4 - Chiswick
>

Evans in Chiswick. Went this evening. Great team working there! Really
glad I went. Thank you Roger! They let me test ride a Ridgeback
Velocity, (£299). I am thinking about buying either that or the
Raleigh Pioneer Metro LX 2007 for £209

Which one should I choose? The Raleigh would be a risk because they
would order it for me, requiring a deposit. However it would end up
saving me a fair bit of money, because the rack+ guards are included.
http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=71224

What do you guys think?

POHB

On 10 Jun, 23:04, bornfree <justyouan...@xemaps.com> wrote:
> They let me test ride a Ridgeback
> Velocity, (£299). I am thinking about buying either that or the
> Raleigh Pioneer Metro LX 2007 for £209
>
> Which one should I choose? The Raleigh would be a risk because they
> would order it for me, requiring a deposit. However it would end up
> saving me a fair bit of money, because the rack+ guards are included.http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=71224
>
> What do you guys think?

I think I wouldn't recommend you commit to buying a bike that you
haven't even sat on, never mind taken for a test ride.

Peter Clinch

POHB wrote:
> On 10 Jun, 23:04, bornfree <justyouan...@xemaps.com> wrote:
>> They let me test ride a Ridgeback
>> Velocity, (£299). I am thinking about buying either that or the
>> Raleigh Pioneer Metro LX 2007 for £209
>>
>> Which one should I choose? The Raleigh would be a risk because they
>> would order it for me, requiring a deposit. However it would end up
>> saving me a fair bit of money, because the rack+ guards are included.http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=71224
>>
>> What do you guys think?
>
> I think I wouldn't recommend you commit to buying a bike that you
> haven't even sat on, never mind taken for a test ride.

Seconded, and I'll also second Pete B's point that the name "Raleigh" no
longer means anything (good or necessarily bad) about quality, so in
this case I'd go with the known quantity myself.

Ridgeback (unlike Raleigh these days) have a reputation for good quality
and value basic bikes. The Raleigh may be okay... but may be so-so.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net p.j.clinch@dundee.ac.uk http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

bornfree

On 11 Jun, 09:25, Peter Clinch <p.j.cli...@dundee.ac.uk> wrote:
> POHB wrote:
> > On 10 Jun, 23:04, bornfree <justyouan...@xemaps.com> wrote:
> >> They let me test ride a Ridgeback
> >> Velocity, (£299). I am thinking about buying either that or the
> >> Raleigh Pioneer Metro LX 2007 for £209
>
> >> Which one should I choose? The Raleigh would be a risk because they
> >> would order it for me, requiring a deposit. However it would end up
> >> saving me a fair bit of money, because the rack+ guards are included.http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=71224
>
> >> What do you guys think?
>
> > I think I wouldn't recommend you commit to buying a bike that you
> > haven't even sat on, never mind taken for a test ride.

Good advice..

> Seconded, and I'll also second Pete B's point that the name "Raleigh" no
> longer means anything (good or necessarily bad) about quality, so in
> this case I'd go with the known quantity myself.
>
> Ridgeback (unlike Raleigh these days) have a reputation for good quality
> and value basic bikes. The Raleigh may be okay... but may be so-so.
>

I will likely be going for a
Specialised Globe '08 Hybrid £249.99 or the
Globe Sport 08 for £299.99

Having another test ride tomorrow.

Peter Clinch

bornfree wrote:

> I will likely be going for a
> Specialised Globe '08 Hybrid £249.99 or the
> Globe Sport 08 for £299.99
>
> Having another test ride tomorrow.

Roos has a '07 Specialized Globe Elite, and thus far is very happy with
it. Cost more than the one you're looking at, but has 8 speed hub gear
and dynohub lighting supplied as standard plus other nice touches so you
do get more for your money.

I've yet to see a Spesh that struck me as bad value.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net p.j.clinch@dundee.ac.uk http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

POHB

"Peter Clinch" <p.j.clinch@dundee.ac.uk> wrote
>
> Roos has a '07 Specialized Globe Elite, and thus far is very happy with
> it.

Sister in law has a Globe of some sort. I particularly like the globe logo
pedals.

Richard Fairhurst

On Jun 11, 9:25*am, Peter Clinch <p.j.cli...@dundee.ac.uk> wrote:
> Seconded, and I'll also second Pete B's point that the name "Raleigh" no
> longer means anything (good or necessarily bad) about quality, so in
> this case I'd go with the known quantity myself.

+1.

> Ridgeback (unlike Raleigh these days) have a reputation for good quality
> and value basic bikes.

I ride a Ridgeback Velocity and am very happy with it: reliable, light
enough, good value, and has never really needed much doing to it.

Richard

Roos Eisma

Peter Clinch <p.j.clinch@dundee.ac.uk> writes:

>bornfree wrote:

>> I will likely be going for a
>> Specialised Globe '08 Hybrid £249.99 or the
>> Globe Sport 08 for £299.99
>>
>> Having another test ride tomorrow.

>Roos has a '07 Specialized Globe Elite, and thus far is very happy with
>it. Cost more than the one you're looking at, but has 8 speed hub gear
>and dynohub lighting supplied as standard plus other nice touches so you
>do get more for your money.

It's a Spec Glove City 3.1

The City line has useful things like mudguards

Roos

Roos Eisma

Roos Eisma <roos@xs4all.nl> writes:

>It's a Spec Glove City 3.1

Globe that is. Not sure what my fingers are up to nowadays but hitting the
right keys isn't very often part of it...

Roos