First time buying a push bike- So many options what do I look for????

Question

I'm looking to buy a push bike for myself. I've never bought one before and I'm not an experienced rider!

I've looked online and there are so many types of ladies bikes, I have no idea what it all means!!! Cross country, mountain, marin, BMX, road.... HELP!

I live in a very hilly, rural area with a lot of moorland and hills and dirt tracks. (In Yorkshire!) I'm looking to pay no more that £200- £250. I'm not very fit or anything, thats the reason I'd like a bike! I won't be doing massive trails on it or anything, just a few miles a time.

What do I look for? Or can you reccomend one to me?

Help! I never thought that there would be so much choice or it could be confusing buying a bike!!!

Answer 1

Hills mean you want lots of low gears for the climbs.  Rural area means plenty of mud, even if you stay on the road but especially if you use the tracks.  If your not an experienced rider I wouldn't recommend serious off road riding.  You really want a comfortable road bike that can handle poor road conditions and the occasional cycle track.  The sort of categories you should look at are hybrid or trekking bikes.  

Something like this might be suitable

http://www.ashcycles.com/power/index.php...

Good luck, by the way, and happy cycling.

Answer 2

buy a cycle not a `push bike`That is one where you turn the pedals in a circle (hence CYCLE) instead of pushing the pedals down one at a time .You make it sound like such hard work it would put people off ever taking to the saddle .lol. A hybrid may be suitable for your needs.try to get a wide range of gears but not to many. Try to ride in a medium gear on normal roads turning the pedals at a fairly fast rate. Avoid big gears,or you will find it`s turned into a dreaded `push bike`

Answer 3

If you have a branch of Halfords in Yorkshire call in there, they will tell you what size you need and if you tell them what you are looking for as regards hills and things they will advise on the sort of bike you will need,also I think they offer a maintenance deal

Answer 4

First, decide what you want the bicycle for.

Will it be mainly used on roads or on rough surfaces?

- only get a mountain bike if you will do much off-road riding. Their robust construction and knobbly tyres make them inefficient on the road.

Will you want to carry things?

- if so make sure the bike is equiped for this, probably with a rear rack and/or perhaps a front basket. Most mountain bikes are not good as load carriers. Don't assume you will wear a backpack - why hang weight on your skeleton when it can go straight onto the bike's frame?

Do you want to ride hard and fast, or fairly slowly?

- if you fancy high-speed riding, look at a 'road' or 'sports' type bike (dropped handlebars, low weight, narrow wheels).

Will you learn how to do your own maintainance and repairs?

If not think about low-maintainance features, such as hub gears which need much less care than the commoner deraillieur gears. A high-maintainance bike plus a non-mechanical owner can mean a lot of bike shop charges for work being done.

So -

- off-road use > mountain bike

- speed > road/sports types.

- low-maintainance short rides with loads > 'shopper' or 'roadster' types.

- compromise between all these > hybrid bike.

Answer 5

Hi, i have found most bikes at halfords pretty  rubish, especially the lower end price range, getting a seconf hand better quality bike is always worth it, you should only buy from a respected shop, not out  of small adds if you don't know loads about bikes, often its better to go for less, affoid cheap full suspension mountain bikes, they are really heavy and loads dont work properly, either a rigid mountain bike or hard tail(front suspension only) would be possible in that price range. enjoy