Can anyone recommend a reasonably priced women’s bicycle?

[AngeloMysterioso]

Mine is well and truly knackered and beyond rescue... I’d like a new one but don’t have a huge budget, would need to keep it below £250. For road cycling mostly, with the occasional countryside bike track jolly (once lockdown is lifted.)

I guess not!

Evans Hybrid pinnacle range is good, you may be able to get one for £250 on the cycle to work scheme

Where are you? There is a great independent shop in Manchester called Pop Up Bikes .the staff there are great very helpful .

AlCalavicci I’m in Kent. There are a few really good bike shops in my town but they’re for proper cyclists, no real budget options there.

I love the hybrids from Decathalon.

To be brutally honest, you can't get much of a bike for £250 if you buy new. Whatever you get at that price point is going to be heavy and with low quality components. Its difficult at the moment unfortunately but you could get a lot more bike for your money if you bought second hand. Liv, which is Giant's name for their women's range, make a wide variety of good women's bikes and would probably be where I would start looking. Some local bike shops take bikes as part exchange so you can sometimes find a bargain in the back room even if the window is full of £10k beauties. You've nothing to lose by asking anyway.
Unfortunately of course many of the usual second hand options aren't available right now. You can't really go trawling round people's houses looking at stuff off selling sites at the moment so if you want something right away you will probably have to go for new.
But there are ways you could maybe get something better without a big outlay. As a previous poster mentioned, there is the Cycle to Work scheme which is a salary sacrifice scheme where you can sometines get substantial discounts. Also, some of the online bike stores have 0% interest schemes running at present. If you look for last year's or the year before's model you can sometimes get substantial discounts. There will be nothing wrong with them, often the only differences are the paint, but the shops want to get rid of them. Another option is that the big online stores like Wiggle, Tredz, Evans etc sometimes have bikes that have been returned or are slight seconds in their clearance sections at a reduced price. A few years ago I bought my mountain bike from the clearance section of Tredz for less than half its retail price. It had some scratches on the cranks and a couple of marks on the frame so had been rejected, but its a MTB for heaven's sake....it has a lot more scratches on it now I've ridden it for a few years! So it is worth digging around, though that takes time of course.
If you really need something "off the peg" straight away then your options are limited I'm afraid. Your best bet is going to be a shop's own brand. I have never ridden one myself, but Decathlon's B'twin range often gets good reviews. They have a reputation for being better bikes than others around the same price point, so I would start your search there. Personally I would avoid Halfords.
Also, unless you are particularly short, don't rule out mens/unisex bikes. Often there isn't a huge difference, so keep an open mind as you don't want to miss out on a good deal.

Thanks for the advice @MrsAvocet.

Someone who lives near me is currently selling a “hardly used” Viking bike for £100- is that a good price?

It isn't a brand I'm familiar with to be honest, though slightly bizarrely I just Googled and the first page that came up selling them was Avocet Sports!
The women's bikes seem to be mostly traditional steel step through frames and they are heavy bikes, averaging around 16kg. To put that into context if you are unsure, my winter road bike which is aluminium with carbon forks is around 8.5kg and my good carbon fibre road bike is a smidge over 7kg. So 16kg is pretty hefty. That said, steel framed bikes are often really comfortable, and if you live in a flattish area the weight might not be too much of a problem. The components are not great but not the worst out there either. They seem to cost from around £230 to £350 new, depending on the particular model. So if it really is hardly used then £100 is probably a fair price. However, if it has been used a fair bit and especially if it needs any work doing then I would be looking to haggle them down as, much like cars, bikes depreciate pretty quickly, and lose their value most quickly as soon as they have been driven off the forecourt so to speak.
To be honest, its not the kind of bike I would go for myself, but that is because it wouldn't suit my needs - I regularly ride quite long distances and I live in a very hilly place. Both my commute and the majority of my leisure rides involve some challenging hills and a bike that heavy would probably kill me! Cycling is my main hobby, I am passionate about my bikes and I like a particular aesthetic. However, if you are looking for something to do, say, a fairly short commute or to go shopping and you don't have any big hills to tackle then it could be just what you need, especially if you like the traditional type styling. One absolutely crucial thing though is to be sure that whatever you buy is a good fit. You could spend thousands on a bike but if it was the wrong size it would be wasted money as it would still be awfully uncomfortable. If you can find out what model and size it is I am happy to see if I can find out a bit more info for you if that would be any help?

@MrsAvocet Going by what you’ve said it probably wouldn’t be appropriate for me, I live in quite possibly the hilliest town in England! I’m currently using my husband’s Raleigh Ogre 15 but it weighs a tonne and the hills are absolute killing me ☹️

Raleigh Max Ogre 15 that is. Not that it makes much difference I guess!

Hmm. I wonder if that is why the seller is getting rid of it whilst "hardly used" then?! It certainly isn't the right kind of thing for a very hilly area in my opinion.
Unless you are desperate, I would probably hang fire and keep looking out for second hand options. I would be looking for an aluminium hybrid from a decent manufacturer like Liv(Giant). You may have to wait a while for something to come up but it would probably be better than wasting your money on something that proves no better than what you've got now. You want something with lowish gearing for the hills but ideally not a mountain bike as you tend to end up spinning out on flatter roads as the biggest gear is too small. Something with a triple chain ring might suit your needs. They aren't fashionable at the moment, especially not on pure road bikes but you do sometimes see them on hybrids still and on slightly older bikes. I think they can be very useful if you live in a very hilly area, the very low gears afforded by the smallest chainring can be a life saver. I will see if i can find any examples if you like, though it might be a few days as Ive got some stuff I need to help my kids with over the weekend.
Does your husband's bike have mountain bike tyres on? If so, an easy thing to do that might help make it a bit better for you would be to swap to some road tyred. Knobbly tyres are great for off road obviously but they add a lot of rolling resistance which means you have to work a lot harder. My husband also rides an old school mountain bike a lot of the time but he has 2 sets of wheels, one for riding off road and another with slick tyres for on the road. Obviously it doesn't turn his bike into a super light speed machine but he says it does make things noticeably easier. Swapping to slick tyres, making sure that the drivetrain is very clean and well lubricated and your chain isn't worn out could make the Raleigh a bit better for you whilst you are looking. It might be worth getting it serviced as other stuff like worn bearings in the hubs can make a difference too. (Apologies if you already know all that, but a lot of people don't so I thought I should mention it.)

did you find anything angelo?

I am looking for a new bike for every day, and leisure cycling use, but I am 5'2" and have never had a comfy bike. I am currently looking at kids bikes unless someone tells me not to.

Alas not yet, still heaving around on my husbands heavy-ass Raleigh! Hoping for something decent to pop up 2nd hand.

Watching with interest - I want a 'ladies'/step-through (have a dodgy hip, so the middle bar is a problem for me) - i'd probably go up to near £450, and I'm 5ft1. I was looking on Decathlon, who I know are short stocked, but their ladies' bikes they say are suitable from 5ft5, so that's still a bit big for me!

I saw that Echobelly, there is a mysterious gap from kids at 4'9" and then adults at 5'5", and i am annoyed I cannot go and try them out.
it is too hard trying to buy a bike online.

I’m 5foot nuffin and I have a 26inch one, perfect for me although looking at buying my 10 year old the same size

Is it a childs bike?

Decathlon have an entry level mountain bike for £179 that has good reviews

If all you need is a basic bike, there's one in Halfords called Apollo Cafe ( I think! ) - I've had it about 6 months and it's perfectly fine for commuting short distances/park rides. Comfortable too, nothing flashy feature wise.

No it’s classed as an adult bike but it like this one.
I found this Cross LXT300 26 inch Wheel Size Womens Mountain Bike

www.argos.co.uk/product/8849500

I've bought a childs bike now. Pendleton blossom or something. I hope it is OK, it is not here yet