Quick question for anyone who knows these things – a female colleague wants to get a bike, it has to be from Evans due to the deal with our health insurance.

She’s after something for everything – commuting, shopping, getting around and exercise, and looking to spend around £600 (i.e. £300 to her after the discount we get).

I would guess she is around 5’10” so anything in the sale in her size and at the right price point would be ideal.

Anyone able to point me in the direction of the better offerings from the big E?

Hybrid. Good brakes. Low maintenance. Has to have mudguards and rack included in price.

Send her to Evans to size up and choose. Fit (and colour) is everything.

Kona Coco looks rather nice for the money – http://www.evanscycles.com/products/kona/coco-2014-womens-hybrid-bike-ec055908

Discs, mudguards, etc. Plenty of other good options though, including Evans’ own Pinnacle ones.

Don’t forget they’re doing free accessories too (£50 worth on a bike at that price) which would cover decent mudguards for a hybrid without them.

Advise her to do her research beforehand so she knows when they’re making it up just to sell her what they have!

Advise her to do her research beforehand so she knows when they’re making it up just to sell her what they have!

Fair advice for any retail purchase really..

This would be my (slightly biased) recommendation based on feedback and vfm. Light, easy to handle, quick and takes bigger tyres, guards etc easily. At 5’10” any of the mens bikes would be an option in a M size, maybe a saddle swap if needed.

Neon Three Womens

Cheers all – Jameso, that’s the exact one I concluded was the one to go for having looked into it myself. Looks very good spec for the price, also puts my £2k road bike to shame weight-wise!

Personally, you can call me old-fashioned, but I would be looking at a fairly traditional “hybrid” model with hub brakes and gears. You didn’t say how far the commute is. If I presume she isn’t going to be lycra’d up and hammering it, a Pashley Penny or Britannia would be my choice. Not light, but nice to ride. The dawes is cheaper with derailleur and V brakes. Bobbin are midway between the two and compete with Pashley on price really.

She’ll need 5 speed hub or 7 speed derailleur (hub is out of budget), chainguard and a large frame size (they come in two sizes).

Basket is always nice, I like the Rixen and Kaul Klikfix.

She’s 5’7″ – I’m clearly useless at gauging these things… Sort of between medium and large in that Neon 3. I’m thinking medium (for flickability, naturally)…

Hang, on she has asked your advice, because she thinks you know about bikes? But you clearly don’t because you have come to a forum pretty much saying that.

Go back to her, tell her the truth that you know nothing about bikes, and that she should post on STW. Or would that ruin your false persona of being the office guy who knows about bikes

M womens probably, yes. Maybe a small or med in mens, geo charts are on the site with reach, stack and ETT to compare. Have a look at the Californium if the Pashley/Bobbin style with hub gear appeals but the weight of them doesn’t, the Cali is pretty light. 3spd hub or 7spd mech only tho currently.

FunkyDunc – Member

Hang, on she has asked your advice, because she thinks you know about bikes? But you clearly don’t because you have come to a forum pretty much saying that.

Go back to her, tell her the truth that you know nothing about bikes, and that she should post on STW. Or would that ruin your false persona of being the office guy who knows about bikes

Thanks for the suggestion, Funky. Weirdly I don’t have an encyclopaedic knowledge of Evans’ product range. Thankfully we’ve managed to muddle on through, though, so my web of lies hasn’t claimed any victims yet…

Jameso, cheers – very useful.

Pashley Poppy or Princess might be just within budget.

I do quite like the look of the more trad styled ones like those and the Kona above, but I reckon the lightweight and styling of the Neon 3 is more her cup of tea. I’ll mention the alternative aesthetic though and see what she reckons.