Buying a Bike – How much to spend on your bike

Buying a Bike – False Economies?

A good bicycle can cost a small fortune. You can pay as much as you would for a small car. But bikes also come cheap. Very cheap. So how much do you spend?

If all you want is the means to get you to and from work then paying a lot is not very sensible. But beware buying cheap. For a long time that is what I did and each time I regretted it. But when it came to replacing the cheap bike it was hard to resist the temptation of buying cheap again. After all what is a bike but some rubber and a few bits of metal?

But this is a false economy. With a bike you tend to get what you pay for. Try one for £100 and one that costs say £300 and the first time you ride them you may notice only a small difference. But over time that difference will grow.

So what are you paying for?

One of the things that matters is the quality of the gears and their ease of changing. Then there is the chain and the pedals and crankshaft. There is nothing worse than a bike with poor quality parts which need constant adjustment and keep coming loose. Cheap bikes have cheap tyres too which puncture more easily. Then there are the brakes. You want good ones and brake blocs come in here at around £10 a pair. If they don’t quite stop you dead they can be mighty effective and they may make the difference when it matters.

This doesn’t mean that you have to go to the top of the range. A mid range bike from a good name will do. The point is that you should buy something that is a pleasure to ride everyday. And that is the problem with false economies – cheap bikes can be a daily regret.

Cheap accessories

It is also a false economy to go for a cheap lock and lights. It was that lack of good lights that finally forced me to move up market. I followed a car at night into a back street that was blocked. The driver saw he could not go forward and slammed the car into reverse and, not seeing me, crushed the front wheel of my bike. But in the end he did me a great favour, forcing me to pay a decent price for a decent bike.