Selfsufficientish.com

I am getting a bike

Any tips?

I can't get one from a shop - there are no local bike shops here and it would mean spending a Saturday afternoon in halfords being patronised by the pre-pubesent staff and having to calm a crying toddler... so I will get it online.

As it will be for me and shortie to get around I want a new one... for safety reasons. JohnM will be getting one from freecycle and/or a skip I will need a child seat and space for shopping in a basket or what have you...I have decided against a trailer since Stoney's accident.


Has anyone got a bike online?

Can you reccomend a make or a company or a style

I have been thinking of a Raliegh Town and Country Savannah... maybe

how about this place - Edinburgh Cycle Co-operative

Booger Shirlz beat me too it!

I bought my velocipede from Edinburgh Bike Co-op 12 years ago and it is still going strong (or hanging upside down from the garage ceiling strong )

They might not be the cheapest, but 12 years ago they were good quality. They will also take it back after a few weeks and service it (or they used to!) because the cables stretch and they tighten everything up for free.

I have not been in the shop in a few years but it was often quite difficult to get served - mixture of being very busy (weekends esp) and only a few staff on. Might have changed now though.

I would certainly go back if I was in the market for another one to hang from my garage ceiling!

Thurston Garden wrote: I bought my velocipede from Edinburgh Bike Co-op 12 years ago and it is still going strong (or hanging upside down from the garage ceiling strong )

I've heard of dancing on the ceiling but that's taking things to new heights!

Thanks, I had a wee look at the site and it does look pricey... but then I could end up shelling out more if I got a cheaper bike and had to repair it every 2 months

Thanks

Has anyone got any experience of child seats on bikes?

Andy's bike is from the Edinburgh Co-op, too...

I practically grew up on one of these bike seats - but I don't know much about the modern ones.

We went for a trike for a number of reasons.

The compact length, compared to a trailer bike, is a major advantage on winding roads and around the village. It's also much easier to talk to the boys (and with them on front of me, keep an eye on them). I'd be more comfortable with a trailer where visibility was better, where most of the riding was on cycle tracks instead of roads, and where there was more room to manoeuvre. (One of the local mums has a trailgator and it's a real handful to manoeuvre and park.)

Good weather protection was also a must in choosing a bike as we ride in almost all weathers (gales and heavy snow are to be avoided). The boys are well protected from wind, road muck, hail, bugs, rain, snow and anything else. (I get a little grit or ice-blasted at times. )

Safety is very good with the trike, as the crash showed. The front compartment of the Kangaroo Bike has a massive sub-frame plus a roll-over hoop. Despite being hit hard in the side by a Transit, then rolling over, the passenger compartment did not deform. The seats have rigid frames with hammock-type seating and seat belts, while the boys wear helmets while they're inside. I'm quite confident they would have been uninjured had they been in there at the time of the crash.

I'm much less confident about the safety of a bike with child seat. We have one but if the bike drops on its side, for any reason, the child's arms, shoulders, head and neck are very exposed. Should they instinctively put an arm out as the bike falls, a serious injury is likely. We're not put off by this, but riding the bike with child seat means adopting a more cautious and slower approach. On the Kangaroo bike I can be more assertive, ride harder (and faster) and be much less concerned about what the passenger is doing.

Oh, and don't think a trike is inherently more stable than a bike! I've had a couple of near misses due to the handling peculiarities (each style of trike/bike/upright/recumbent has its own handling foibles) and another when the chain came off at speed (ie 25mph or so).

Thanks Stoney

I agree with what you say about the safety aspects of the kangaroo an a child seat, but, for us there are benefits of having a more compact child carrier.

All of the 3 roads out of our village are used by very heavy trucks from the quarry which is just outside our village. I would not want to be cycling on the road with them speeding past so I will keep to car free paths. The route that I will take to the shops, library and playgroup has paths or unused pavements the whole way. It is longer than the route I usually walk, but it is safer from traffic.

With a bike, I can cycle to the train station (7 miles away... I haven't worked out how long it will take) and I can take the bike on the train and cycle at the other end too.

We will also be using the bike when we go on holiday/ visiting family.




I currently personally have no transport (bar Shanks Pony) and a bike will make it much easier for E and myself to get about the area.

The kangaroo is a much better car substitute, and safer when use on the roads, but for us a bicycle with a baby seat will be more practical.


By the way I am looking at this bike at the moment

25 mph - on a trike??? I admire your nerve, but I hope your roads are long and straight ...

MKG wrote:25 mph - on a trike??? I admire your nerve, but I hope your roads are long and straight ...

More likely to have been downhill...

The problem with trikes and trailers in this country are the cycle paths. Not designed for anything but ordinary bikes - so no elderly and disabled in mind (quite a few of them would use trikes on the Continent), and difficult to access with small children. But then, in the country you don't have cycle paths anyway.

Sorry - can't help myself ...

Did you know that a lump of Tarmac was receiving treatment under the Mental Health Act for being a bit of a cycle path?

MKG wrote:Sorry - can't help myself ...

Did you know that a lump of Tarmac was receiving treatment under the Mental Health Act for being a bit of a cycle path?

I've been clocked doing a whisker over 20mph—uphill. It was in the 20mph zone outside the local school.

Okay, it was only a mild gradient but I was still quite pleased.

When the chain came off, I was coming down the slope off Dunnideer but was slowing as a car had started to pull out in front of me, not realising how fast I was going.

I've passed elderly drivers a couple of times along that stretch. They get a heck of shock when I pull out and whizz by.

I do the 2.5 miles into the village in 7min, 30sec with no tail wind, and it's not downhill all the way.

The only downside is that some of the local mums like to perv at my legs...

Stonehead wrote: The only downside is that some of the local mums like to perv at my legs...

Oh, come on - it's probably the only entertainment they get in their lives!

ina wrote:Oh, come on - it's probably the only entertainment they get in their lives!

All too true, I'm afraid!