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Chalfont, Beaconsfield, Denham and Gerards Cross are nice but you'll be paying a premium for good links to London on the Chiltern line that you say you don't need.
In general places inside the M25 won't be particularly biking-friendly unless you're a closet roady or you want to travel to Heathrow by bike.
Slough should be added to your "don't do it" list.
Amersham, Chesham and Berkhamsted or the surrounding areas might be worth considering, but again you pay extra for the rail links. Avoid Hemel Hempstead.
What's wrong with Whitton? I've a mate who lives near there, didn't seem all that bad to me.
[i]Avoid Hemel Hempstead. [/i]
And Wycombe is 'interesting'...
If you are serious about your riding then there is only 1 answer...
Dorking, westcott, holmbury, peaslake etc - nothing else compares...
I don't know the Surrey towns very well so I'll not comment on those but of the berks,bucks and Oxfordshire locations I'd go for Marlow as the best all round place on your list.
It's a decent sized town so will have a bit of variety about it, just on the edge of the Chilterns so you've got road and offroad cycling covered.
The commute into Heathrow would be pretty easy as your likely going to be on the M4 and barring accidents the M4 flows pretty well up to the Heathrow junction, plus if there were a problem there's other quick routes in. You could conceivably cycle from Marlow to Heathrow if you fancied.
Agreed that Slough should be on the 'to be avoided' list but then I'd also put Maidenhead and Bracknell on that list too.
freeridenick is right.
if you going to the hassle of driving 45 minutes to work, you might as well have the benefit of great riding on the doorstep. It'll be dead easy to meet fellow bikers living nearby too.
Look at the areas around Guildford - Dorking - Leatherhead triangle. Popular areas of Leith/Holmbury/Pitch hill which are south of the a25 between Guildford and Dorking, where Peaslake, Holmbury st mary are.
I've been to Bracknell, seems ok to me.
If you are serious about your riding then there is only 1 answer...Dorking, westcott, holmbury, peaslake etc - nothing else compares...
That is 4 answers.
Bracknell is not at all pleasant to look at but Wokingham is right next door, still handy (as in 3 miles away) for Swinley. Might be expensive though 🙂
http://www.primelocation.com/uk-property-to-rent/details/id/JCAL999000362/
In the country (40 mins to LHR off-peak) and within 1/2 mile of a number of bridleways - and walking distance to the pub.
One thing you don't say is whether you'll still have any links up North. If you do, don't underestimate the additional time to get there from anywhere south of London (unless of course you're flying!). Dorking to the M1 can be an hour on a good day, more like 2 at a bad time. An accident on the M25 can make it a bit longer - M25 J7 to J25 once took me 5 hours...
As rio said if you want the Chilterns (ie Stokenchurch) then also Amersham, Chesham etc. I wouldn't go to High Wycombe or Bracknell. I know a lot of police officers who live there as it's cheap but they all think it's a dive, only way for them to get on the property ladder. Yes it's close to Swinley but Chilterns gives you FAR more options. I can't comment on the other side of London I'm afraid. Chilterns ace though except in winter 😉
If I was renting somewhere and thinking about the commute to work it wouldn't involve 45 minutes on the M25 or indeed any driving at all.
And your list has some most amusing likes/dislikes.
Nothing wrong with Whitton, and the Action Bikes are great. I might be biased having lived on the Hounslow/Whitton border all my life, but i don't see anything wrong with most of the area.
Feltham is apparently getting gentrified but i would avoid, likewise Isleworth, central/west/east Hounslow. Hampton/Hampton Hill is nice.
Yes, obviously Chiswick is a hole too.
Way too much generalisation here. Choose how far you want to commute, how much you want to spend and that'll narrow down your choices.
I worked in Chiswick, it was ok. High St was a fairly decent place to eat, shop and drink. Ok so it's not Richmond but we're hardly talking millionaire's row here are we?
Didsbury
Despite many opinions to the contrary I have never thought Didsbury was that nice ok but not mega nice - not that i can talk as i live in Woking - direct bus to Heathrow though.
As for stuff round heathrow it all potentially horrible/nice at the same time. e.g. Staines can be both horrible and nice depending on which street you are on.. Ligh****er is ok though a bit dead - but handy for riding places.
*slurps coffee from apartment overlooking Richmond Bridge* 8)
For similarness to Didsbury i.e. distinct small towny feel with some nice nightlife type pubs and bars I'd say Marlow. Has then bonus of being 20 mins from Heathrow off peak if you blat down the M4 but you can take the back roads at peak time and do it in 30. Expensive though.
But for similarness to Didsbury i.e. posh suburb with easy access to Motorway and proximity to city center at the same time you need to be looking inside the M25, Chiswick, Strawberry Hill, Richmond, Twickenham, Kew etc. And again, nice places round there aren't cheap.
For similarness Didsbury i.e. nice place to live, then list is almost endless. I'd be looking for somewhere cheap, close to the airport on a short lease and then move when I had a better idea of where I liked and where was close to my mates.
And to all the Sheffield haters, I give you The Peak District.
Choose how far you want to commute, how much you want to spend and that'll narrow down your choices.
45 minutes (possibly stretched to an hour) and £900/month. Would prefer to have somewhere nicer with a longer commute than somewhere next to the airport. As I said, I'll be commuting at off-peak times so rail / bus isn't an option.
Despite many opinions to the contrary I have never thought Didsbury was that nice ok but not mega nice - not that i can talk as i live in Woking - direct bus to Heathrow though.
If you ignore the office block centre of Woking and look to the outer parts, its ok. Also it places you more or less between, Swinley, tunnel hill and the Surrey hills.
Pretty good access to the M25 which avoids the M3. The M3 can be an absolute bitch getting from the slip road onto the M25 during peak times and quite often during off-peak times.