Bicycles

[mamamea]

Can someone tell me about bicycles?

We'd like two adult ones, and one for DS, 7. It will be his second proper bike (without training wheels), he's quite good but his bike is too small, so he doesn't go very fast.

Went to the bicycle shop but the staff ignored us. Didn't look too closely at the bikes but they had some for £3000.

I assume we want mountain bikes? We will be riding on dirt tracks/paths I suppose mostly. Not on roads, scared of the traffic.

Oh and we need somewhere to stick a 2 year old.

How much do you need to spend? Don't they do bicycles on TV shopping for about £50?

£50 pound bike will be rubbish and you won't enjoy riding it more than a few times, anyway.
You need to get on phone and ask at least 4 different shops what they would recommend for your type of cycling. Go visit in person the people who are nicest on the phone.

My guess is that you want a couple of hybrids (they are tough road bikes that suit gentle trails, should be able to get something decent for under £250 each) for you adults, and perhaps a mid-price not too heavy sort of kids bike for your DS (sort of thing we bought ourselves in Halford's for about £85).

Check carefully about compatibility (fixings, I mean), but Argos basic childseat may work well for your 2yo.

Not entirely sure you will need full mountain bikes - these can be heavy and expensive. You might be better with a hybrid if you are not going to be sticking to paths and tracks - which is a mix of a road bike and mountain bike. Most bikes will take a child seat on the back. I reckon £300/500 will buy you something pretty decent.

One of the most important things to take into account for a bike is weight - the lighter the better IME!

I would avoid the out of town shopping centre type bike shops - known for selling "bike shaped objects" in the two wheeled world! Head for an independent - a local cycling club would probably be able to recommend somewhere. Try it out before buying - any bike shop worth going to will let you try out in their car park before buying.

Good luck and hope you find something.

is this a necessary accesory?

www.cyclestore.co.uk/productDetails.asp?productID=15758&categoryID=312

I like these front-mounted ones but no idea how long you can go on using them - it says from 7-8 months so a 2-yr-old might already be getting a bit big

As the others have said, get hybrids, not mountain bikes, which can be very heavy and extremely slow going on smoother surfaces such as paths. I can happily ride my "sit up and beg" bike on paths/tracks, without problems - if you have back problems, consider one of these.

How much cycling will you do? I agree with the Hybrid suggestion, but they can get pretty expensive too. I agree with cbm that £300-500 will get you something decent, but if you dont have that kind of money and its not a frequent occurence, I'd try not to go over £200 for each adult bike. Also agree with weight suggestion. They can be beasts!

I just road tested a front mounted child seat and HATED it. I'd go for my bog standard hamax kiss rear mounted any day. My 2 year old fits in it fine and is quite happy in there. The front mounted one was a) way too tiny for him (even though it stated suitable for up to 5yrs old!!)and was a nightmare to ride - thighs rubbed on it, difficulty steering as my arms were round him and he 'got in the way'. Yuk!