Advice Please - Bike for Mrs

[perseus]

Are Halcyon a reputable brand? Why do you think the discount on that bike is so large ... or is it just boolox??

Dunno if they are any good? Good design on paper. I have not seen these bikes around.

Front wheel hub dynamo is good. Back rack has a reasonably good design to avoid the panniers getting stuck in the wheel. Kick stand is not the best either. Girls like the chain guards. Not worth any more than £350.

I would like the one with a crossbar to still be available.

 

[perseus]

Halycon might be about £150 cheaper than the expected price.

cf: a slightly better bike:

POPIEL - Stylish Dutch bicycles - Gazelle Batavus Hub service Sparta Koga Miyata


£511

POPIEL - Stylish Dutch bicycles - Gazelle Batavus Hub service Sparta Koga Miyata

£725

 

[Rugrat]

Halycon might be about £150 cheaper than the expected price.

cf: a slightly better bike:

POPIEL - Stylish Dutch bicycles - Gazelle Batavus Hub service Sparta Koga Miyata

£511

POPIEL - Stylish Dutch bicycles - Gazelle Batavus Hub service Sparta Koga Miyata

£725

both over budget

 

[£1.99]

If you got kids, why not get her one of these!

 

[perseus]

both over budget

Just showing that the Halycon seems to be good value for money.

I use second-hand bikes. But it is much better fun cycling on a good bike that easy to maintain and is not worn out (bikes under £200 new do not last very long).

I have no experience of cycling on a Halycon.

Over the years, I have found Raleigh 20% ahead of all other makes.

I think cyclist hirers often use hub gear bikes because they do not go wrong so often.

 

[Bold Seagull]

Have Wiggle got 1 less Charge Decanter in stock yet!?

 

[Rugrat]

Have Wiggle got 1 less Charge Decanter in stock yet!?

No it's been uber tough but I decided to eliminate all those without hub gears and I'm down to the Wiggle Poppins and the Halcyon that Perseus suggested ... yes I know but it looks fairly decent.

My outstanding issues are:

Weight - I know the Perseus is 27lbs but not sure if that's heavy/light ... the Poppins will be lighter but not sure if it matters anyway
Gears - 3 on the Poppins, 8 on the Perseus. Will 3 do the job (into town/leafy Sussex lanes)
Assembly - Just found out the Perseus comes in bits, will a bike shop be happy to assemble for me or pissed off I bought it online? Need to phone

[MENTION=435]Stat Brother[/MENTION] has kindly offered (been hassled) to ask about the gears on his bike geek forum and I am waiting to see what comes back. I'd take the Poppins I think but the Mrs will expect me to go on the Sunday rides with her and I need to be sure that what she gets doesn't have me waiting around too much or pushing 2 bikes up hills

 

[hans kraay fan club]

No it's been uber tough but I decided to eliminate all those without hub gears and I'm down to the Wiggle Poppins and the Halcyon that Perseus suggested ... yes I know but it looks fairly decent.

My outstanding issues are:

Weight - I know the Perseus is 27lbs but not sure if that's heavy/light ... the Poppins will be lighter but not sure if it matters anyway
Gears - 3 on the Poppins, 8 on the Perseus. Will 3 do the job (into town/leafy Sussex lanes)
Assembly - Just found out the Perseus comes in bits, will a bike shop be happy to assemble for me or pissed off I bought it online? Need to phone

[MENTION=435]Stat Brother[/MENTION] has kindly offered (been hassled) to ask about the gears on his bike geek forum and I am waiting to see what comes back. I'd take the Poppins I think but the Mrs will expect me to go on the Sunday rides with her and I need to be sure that what she gets doesn't have me waiting around too much or pushing 2 bikes up hills

Poppins! Poppins! Poppins!

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Vote POPPINS.

 

[Rugrat]

Vote POPPINS.

That'd be a tactical vote I reckon

 

[Kumquat]

My girlfriend bought a bike recently. I pointed out that she would not be able to ride it without stabilisers and she got really upset and asked why i always take the piss out of her. I said that I only worried about her safety and if she preferred a boyfriend who would rather she fell off her bike and got run over then she could go and find one. She started crying and apologising. Honestly, what is she like?

 

[detsknil]

Just thought I'd mention as I don't think it has been, Rugrat have you looked at the second-hand market? Your money could go a lot further, don't rule it out there are some bargains to be had out there. If you don't want to, because it's going to be a gift, then fair enough.

 

[Bold Seagull]

That'd be a tactical vote I reckon

I think you'd need to research the ratio's, but the 3 speed lowest ratio gear may well be as easy to climb a hill as the 8 speed lowest ratio. It's likely the 8 speed is 'filling in' the ratio's between the 3 gears of the 3 speed i.e. there is a bigger jump from 1 to 2 to 3 on the 3 speed. I have a 7 speed Shimano Nexus hub gears on my hybrid and I always double shift i.e. I generally use 1, 3, 5 & 7 - the ratios between are too short to be of any use, however of course I am sometimes through 2, 4, 6 etc.

Anyway, the point is that ultimately you need to find out what ratio the low and high of the 3 speed gives you, because if it's similar to the 8 speed and so the other gears are simply filling in gaps, then it really shouldn't be a worry at all. My suspicion would be that both have a similar low gear i.e. the easy gear for getting up slopes etc. The 8 speed will give you a few more options and possibly a faster high gear, but I'll be honest, to be in my 7th gear on my Nexus does mean I need to be shifting at a good tilt to get any use out of it.

 

[Rugrat]

My girlfriend bought a bike recently. I pointed out that she would not be able to ride it without stabilisers and she got really upset and asked why i always take the piss out of her. I said that I only worried about her safety and if she preferred a boyfriend who would rather she fell off her bike and got run over then she could go and find one. She started crying and apologising. Honestly, what is she like?

Get rid and get one that cares that you care

 

[Rugrat]

Just thought I'd mention as I don't think it has been, Rugrat have you looked at the second-hand market? Your money could go a lot further, don't rule it out there are some bargains to be had out there. If you don't want to, because it's going to be a gift, then fair enough.

I had but wouldn't know where to start really and I've got a time limitation obviously. I think I'd need to know a bit about what I was buying too ... new, I've got somewhere to go with a problem ... off eBay becomes a bit more problematic

 

[Rugrat]

I think you'd need to research the ratio's, but the 3 speed lowest ratio gear may well be as easy to climb a hill as the 8 speed lowest ratio. It's likely the 8 speed is 'filling in' the ratio's between the 3 gears of the 3 speed i.e. there is a bigger jump from 1 to 2 to 3 on the 3 speed. I have a 7 speed Shimano Nexus hub gears on my hybrid and I always double shift i.e. I generally use 1, 3, 5 & 7 - the ratios between are too short to be of any use, however of course I am sometimes through 2, 4, 6 etc.

Anyway, the point is that ultimately you need to find out what ratio the low and high of the 3 speed gives you, because if it's similar to the 8 speed and so the other gears are simply filling in gaps, then it really shouldn't be a worry at all. My suspicion would be that both have a similar low gear i.e. the easy gear for getting up slopes etc. The 8 speed will give you a few more options and possibly a faster high gear, but I'll be honest, to be in my 7th gear on my Nexus does mean I need to be shifting at a good tilt to get any use out of it.

I think this is what I'm reading on @stats brother forum. The big issue will be getting up hills and I reckon 1st could well be the same .. so as long as she can peddle down hills and not freewheel it could be job done ... could be a bit of drag effect on that basket too though!

 

[Rugrat]

Well here's how it all ended. [MENTION=435]Stat Brother[/MENTION] had been really helpful via PM and even posted on his Bikey forum about the gears. I was less concerned by 3 vs 8 so I decided on the Poppins and emailed Wiggle on Friday with a few questions (delivery, frame size (as their FAQ had conflicting info) and weight) ... but I didn't get a response. Then this morning I was looking at NSC and I get served up an add by Wiggle saying spend £100 or more and get extra 10% off ... so I thought bugger it just go and buy. So I go through the process and when I shove the 10% code in I get a message saying that code has expired!

Now I'm well pissed off and write to them and say I need answers and what's this nonsense with the code ... no answer 5 hours later

In the meantime I go back and look at the perseus machine and phone a local shop. Nice bloke, will assemble and test it for £45 and is OK about the internet thing. I ask him about the perseus and he says it's a good bike ... reckons big discount as the UK distributor just gone bust.

So I email Discount Cycles and say I'll have the perseus but only if they knock another £45 off. Get a reply 20 minutes later saying they'll do it and ship it direct to shop

So that's it ... I genuinely tried to get the Poppin but it wan't to be.

Genuine thanks too for all the help and advice and the fun that went along with it with special mentions to [MENTION=3566]hans kraay fan club[/MENTION] and [MENTION=16159]Bold Seagull[/MENTION].

Suppose the benefit is iff the Mrs isn't happy we'll be knocking on [MENTION=153]perseus[/MENTION] door and not Stat's!!

 

[Bold Seagull]

Well here's how it all ended. [MENTION=435]Stat Brother[/MENTION] had been really helpful via PM and even posted on his Bikey forum about the gears. I was less concerned by 3 vs 8 so I decided on the Poppins and emailed Wiggle on Friday with a few questions (delivery, frame size (as their FAQ had conflicting info) and weight) ... but I didn't get a response. Then this morning I was looking at NSC and I get served up an add by Wiggle saying spend £100 or more and get extra 10% off ... so I thought bugger it just go and buy. So I go through the process and when I shove the 10% code in I get a message saying that code has expired!

Now I'm well pissed off and write to them and say I need answers and what's this nonsense with the code ... no answer 5 hours later

In the meantime I go back and look at the perseus machine and phone a local shop. Nice bloke, will assemble and test it for £45 and is OK about the internet thing. I ask him about the perseus and he says it's a good bike ... reckons big discount as the UK distributor just gone bust.

So I email Discount Cycles and say I'll have the perseus but only if they knock another £45 off. Get a reply 20 minutes later saying they'll do it and ship it direct to shop

So that's it ... I genuinely tried to get the Poppin but it wan't to be.

Genuine thanks too for all the help and advice and the fun that went along with it with special mentions to [MENTION=3566]hans kraay fan club[/MENTION] and [MENTION=16159]Bold Seagull[/MENTION].

Suppose the benefit is iff the Mrs isn't happy we'll be knocking on [MENTION=153]perseus[/MENTION] door and not Stat's!!

I'm glad you got a bike, but the Wiggle code is for 10% off £100 spent on clothing, accessories and nutrition items - not bikes. That would be silly wouldn't it, given all their bikes are over £100! I thought the Poppins was pretty much 50% off anyway?

They are crap with communication though. Good luck with the one you have got, perhaps don't ever show her the Poppins one as we know which one she'll prefer!

 

[Stat Brother]

[MENTION=3566]hans kraay fan club[/MENTION] is going to be heartbroken.
For reasons I still can't quite work out why!

Good stuff I'm sure Mrs RR will be please.
Your local feel comes across as pretty sound too.

 

[Rugrat]

I'm glad you got a bike, but the Wiggle code is for 10% off £100 spent on clothing, accessories and nutrition items - not bikes. That would be silly wouldn't it, given all their bikes are over £100! I thought the Poppins was pretty much 50% off anyway?

They are crap with communication though. Good luck with the one you have got, perhaps don't ever show her the Poppins one as we know which one she'll prefer!

Well if that's the case then they should say so I'd argue this to be highly misleading. Also when I entered the code it said "expired" rather than "not valid" or something. She'll like this bike I'm sure ... might have to get a basket for it though!!!