How Much To Spend on A Bike?

Can you get a good mountain bike for under £100?

No.

A decent local bike shop, will rarely sell any adult bike for less than £150. If you buy a bike for £99, the chances are the shop will have bought it for £60. For £60, the components will be very basic and liable to go wrong. Some friends in local bike shops say that they often see these bikes bought in for repairs shortly after their purchase. The cost of repairs can sometimes add up to more than the initial price.

I guess it all comes down to what you want to use a bike for. If it is only for very occassional riding, then there is no need to spend a huge amount of money. The £150 bikes are fine for the purpose of getting round town.

One tip to consider is how much would you spend if you used other types of transport. For example, if you use the bike for commuting, think how much you would spend on car, petrol and tax. If you consider that a bike may last for several years, £150 doesn’t seem very much in comparison.

£150-£250 Range 

If you go from a £150 bike to a £250 bike there will be a noticeable improvement in the quality and comfort of the ride. It will be lighter, better made and more reliable.

£250-£400 Range

If you go up to £400 you start to get to an entry level road and mountain bike. These can have the latest features like STI gear levers. For a beginner there wouldn’t be a huge difference in performance between a £400 bike and a top of the range bike. I commute on a £400 bike (brand new). It is a trek 1000 with standard Shimano Sora groupset. It is a very good ride, – not too flashly for locking up in the centre of town, but not that much different to my racing bike. It’s also as fast as any commuting bike. I wouldn’t want to spend more for a commuting bike, the risk of getting stolen is too great. But, I would be reluctant to use anything less good. Once you get used to riding a certain type of a bike, you don’t want to goto a clunky Taiwan – plastic affair.

I also know how cheap a bike is compared to other forms of transport. Therefore, I don’t begrudge the relatively small cost of cycling.