Hi All

I’ve been asked by a mate to recommend a hybrid bike in the region of £300 to be bought as a present.

My initial thought was Pauls cycles / Edin coop, but beyond that I don’t know. I guess the best advice would be try something and choose what feels nicest, but are there particular bikes I should suggest, or avoid?

Cheers

The Carrera Subways at Halfords always look good value for money

Actually, just had a quick look and you can get a Voodoo with Shimano discs for £350. Bargain!

Voodoo Marasa

That’s not a hybrid, it’s a rigid 29er 😉

In all seriousness that does look like a good buy.

There was plenty of choice at Decathlon when i went there last week.

Good spec for the money as well and at least you get to poke and prod the bikes unlike internet purchases.

I’m tempted by their £199.99 HT 29er to replace my ss hack bike.

They had a decent rigid commuter hybrid for £250 i think which seemed reasonable. Take a look at their website for what’s on offer.

workmate bought a similar priced carrera and hated it, ended up taking it back (it had fallen to bits on several occasions within a week of purchasing) and swapped it for a Marasa on my recommendation.

With the exception of the tyres (which offer little puncture protection)he’s ridiculously happy with it.

The current Courier Race from Edinburgh Bike isn’t quite as good as the old one, but it’s still very good. Built for imperviousness rather than light weight, to be fair, but anything that can survive my brother’s riding is doing well, and it’s not slow.

Current crop of Subways doesn’t seem brilliant tbh. The older ones were ace but not convinced by the current ones.

But, if the budget can creep up slightly, there’s the excellent Gryphon Hybrid. Old one had slightly wonky geometry, it was a road bike with flat bars on after all. New one is designed for the job. It’d be my first call.

Ridgeback seem decent- haven’t ridden one but my old boss loves his.

I’ve got the Voodoo Marasa and its good vfm. Just change the tyres, as the stock ones are very draggy.

my mates just bought one of these
http://www.rutlandcycling.com/40350/Diamondback-Contra-2011—700c-Hybrid-Bike.html
and it looks brilliant for the money ,light n all ,shimano hydraulics ,deore trans bit of a bargain .

If he is tall, I have a XXL Trek 7.6FX going for about £350 – a couple of years old but good condition and with custom made heavy duty commuter wheels for the more sturdy man.