Help to buy a bike - for first time in decades

[walkingtheplank]

I'm looking to buy a new bike for the first time in ages. I'd like to be able to use it to go out with the children who are 11 and 9 so they can get more road practice. I might also use it to pop to the shops.

Not sure what I should be looking for. I was recently in a bike shop to get DS a new helmet and the range was staggering. A consideration is that we live at the top of a hill. You can't get back to our house in any direction without having to come up the hill. I joked about getting an electric one but that's not fair on the children huffing and puffing behind me. I guess the solution is to go very light?

Any advice would be welcome.

They say some shops will let you try before you buy.
I want to say lightweight hybrid, but suspect your budget doesn't stretch to lightweight.

Watching with interest, as I am in the same position.

Last time I owned a bike it was a Raleigh Twenty.

You guys need to talk to each other!

I live on top of a hill. I have two bikes with lowered gears (bike shops can change the front chainring for a smaller one, or some bikes can come with lowered gears as an option), specifically to help me up my hill.

On one of the bikes I still struggled and retro-fitted an electric motor, although it's a cargo bike which weighs more than I do when it's loaded and I'm sticking to that excuse.

How tall are you? Could you borrow your 11yo's bike? Or a friend's bike, and go down and up your hill a few times? And then see what you like about the bike, and what you don't. And whether you can keep up with your DC without a motor...

I read somewhere that 40% of new bikes in the Netherlands (where it's flat) are now electric.

If you can't borrow a bike, I'd be tempted to buy a cheap second hand one, just as a trial. Make sure it's the right size for you, and see the cost as a short-term 'rental' whilst you try out the gears, the handlebars, the size, the weight (do you need to carry it up any stairs? Train stations?), a high or low top tube ('ladies' bike), pannier rack etc etc. Will you only be going on roads, or any paths too?

I reckon most people in NE are riding "old" bikes, not new or electric.

Sorry for extra thread on buying a bike. I did a search to see if anyone had started a similar thread!

I'm 5'7" so too tall for 11 year old's bike.

That hill is going to break me!

And thanks for tips pileoflaundry. It's going to be road only so don't need anything for off-roading.

Also wondering about carrying stuff. Front baskets always look very small and I've never used panniers. I think when I was a teenager and cycled to school I had a basket on the back.

Also wondering about carrying stuff.

Depends on how much you want to carry, and your preferences.

I find it hard to steer with a front basket, the whole thing is too front-loaded. Cycling with a backpack is the least-faff option when locking up. It doesn't require any other expense or weight, e.g. basket, rack or panniers. For some reason though cycling with a backpack gives me backache.

I have a rear basket on a shopper bike. The bike has small-ish wheels, so it is still stable even when loaded with groceries, and really convenient. A rear basket on a full-sized-wheel bike would be less stable if loaded up, but again it would be fine for some, e.g. plenty of people cycle with a toddler on the back.

I like panniers because then the weight is low, but they are a faff when locking up, and less comfortable to carry about compared to a back pack. You'll need somewhere for your lock, which can be really heavy, some bikes have geometries which don't allow a D-lock to attach to the frame.

Are you near a city which has a bike rental scheme? Or somewhere touristy or picturesque which might have a bike rental shop? The latter are likely to be mountain bikes, which will be heavy, but mountain bikes have a large range of low gears so you'd be able to try out what you need for your hill.

What bikes do your children have? What do they like/dislike, would it apply to you? How easily can they cycle up the hill?

If you can't try anything out, or buy a cheap second hand bike, I'd go to your local bike shop, explain your requirements, compare the weights of any bikes that they recommend, insist on a small front chainring, and if possible, handlebars which can be raised. Make sure that there are attachment points for a pannier rack and water bottle holder, and space for a D-lock, in case you decide later that you want these.

If the hill turns out to be too much, but the bike is otherwise good and fairly standard in construction (e.g. not carbon fibre), and your budget can stretch, you could have a battery + motor retrofitted. I used Electric Bike Conversions.

panniers are great. Baskets can be useful for extra large items, but panniers are the biz

More great info. Thanks.

The info is great because it's helping me to work out what questions to ask in the shop.

I’ve got an aluminium hybrid which is light enough. I live in a hilly area. It has 24 gears, and I need every single one, but can keep going. Hills are good exercise!