Please recommend a bike for travelling to and from work in London, around £200!

Count Picnic

Hello folks.

Nope, I'm no die-hard bicycler (did I just inadvertently invent a work?). I just cycle to and from work, between Hackney and Westminster every day, via Seven Sisters Road, through Islington, Camden Road, and St. John's Wood.

For the past year or 18 months, I've been using a Carrera Subway 1. It was the first bike I've owned in nearly 20 years! Anyway, I'm a very fit person, and I found that I'm really fast and nimble on a bike. In fact, cycling seems to be the fastest possible way for me to get to/from work. It takes me about 30-35 mins, whereas using the tube used to take an hour and ten minutes (I've literally cut my journey time in half!).

But my bike is now dying and I want a new one. I'm a bit skint for the next few months, so I was hoping you nice folks could recommend a decent bike for about £200 (absolute maximum price). Ideally, I'd like to spend about £160.

I noticed that Finsbury Cycles sell a lot of bikes for that price, such as the Tourismo 20Four, the Steinbeck Trail and the Hevada, um, I forgot the name...

I want a pretty fast bike, but it also has to be durable. I don't want to have to buy a new one in a year's time. And please bear in mind: I cycle through Camden borough, where the state of the roads is a joke. It's more like being off-road. So the bike needs to be able to handle lots of potholes etc.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, since I can't find any decent bike review sites (can anyone recommend any?).

Cheers,
C.P.