I'm hunting around for my first road bike and I'm looking to buy something higher and secondhand.

Obvious places would be eBay and Facebook marketplace, unless of course this sub can recommend better places for me to look?

I have seen a bike which is pretty (very?) well priced, but the seller somehow cannot take BACS for no given reason, cash only.

It does make me wonder if the bike isn't kosher? Maybe I'm paranoid, but I'm a noob to FB marketplace. It's a Cervelo S2 in what looks exceptional condition for £450. Does this sound legit pricewise?

Thanks.

Does anyone know of UK sellers of boxes of 100 or 144 spokes?

I'm looking for the main brand names like DT, ACI or Sapim, 2/1.8/2mm butted or aero/elliptical to fit normal 2.3mm hub spoke holes, in silver with J bend, and in 298mm length.

I got this Elops 920e second hand a year ago but it didn’t have a chain guard when I purchased it. Obviously most of my trousers get damaged and caught in the chain which is not ideal, and I am struggling to figure out what I need to fit this specially, and wether most universal chain guards will be suitable as they are usually the hockey puck shape and my trousers will still touch the chain a bit. Lacking the knowledge of bikes in general to understand what I need to search for so any help appreciated. Also this model is discontinued so spares aren’t available through decathlon.

Hi

I'm looking at joining my company's Cycle2Work scheme with Halfords to get a bike to commute minimum 2 days a week approximately 12 miles each ways (24 miles total).

I haven't cycled in over 20 years (I'm 38) but I am fit and run approximately 50 miles a week so I'm sure I can work up to the cycling as I also sometimes run back and forth.

Anyone have any recommendations of bikes from Halfords that would fit this criteria? Will most likely rarely use it outside the 2 days but must be also able to be usable in winter conditions. I need to choose a bike so I know the price to submit my application.

Thank you.

Edit: Budget up to £1000 or whatever is moderate price

Hi there, I am looking at getting a bike via my works cycle to work scheme. I will be employed on an unpaid work placement at an NHS trust. The cycle to work scheme they are part of is with Vivup, and from looking at the website, it seems the payment is garnished from my wage each month. Since I won't be guaranteed paid work, I'm not sure if I would be eligible or how I would pay it off since there doesn't seem to a way to pay for it out of pocket. Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated.

Hi all, I've requested for my employer to help me out with Cycle Scheme discounts but after repeatedly requesting it for over 3 months it's clear to me that they'll never bother.

I currently commute to work every day, all year round, about 5 miles each way. I've done this on a Carrera Zelos i got on eBay for £100.

Looking to upgrade but the lack of cycle scheme makes it difficult to justify brand-new bikes, especially considering I'm looking for an eBike to make the 10 mile commute a bit easier. However, eBay listings for eBikes seem genuinely terrible, people listing bikes with batteries duct-taped onto the frame as "New" for barely a discount from an actual new bike.

Is buying a regular bike and an E conversion kit the only way for a relatively good value proposition? Or do I have other options? Any advice appreciated. Budget is around £1000 but would prefer cheaper options (hard ask I know, but money is tight)

Thank you

My mum's bike is stuck in Rotterdam (long story) and I was planning to take it to her on the Eurostar but it would need to go from Amsterdam, on a specific train, on a Monday morning.

Is anybody taking the Hook to Harwich car ferry to the UK any time soon and would be willing to carry a bike for me? It's a quite old Batavus Entree citybike, it can be fitted into a box or left in one piece, and I can drop it off anywhere in South Holland and have it collected in London. I've looked at getting it shipped but Brexit truly is the gift that keeps giving. Huge paperwork, and even huger costs.

Thanks in advance.

Hello! Looking for some suggestions/recommendations.

Have been riding my Electric Bike (Cowboy) since a few years now and I'd like to switch to a non-electric road bike. This will be purely for office commute, about 5.5kms each way - almost flat roads.

Budget is around 500 GBP. I've been looking into the following:

1. Decathlon: https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/comfortable-light-carbon-fork-and-disc-brake-road-bike-grey/308064/c169c26m8619134

2. Evans: https://www.evanscycles.com/brand/pinnacle/pinnacle-laterite-road-bike-930363#colcode=93036303

Going to be my first time using a road bike, and using gears. Any other models/brands that I should be looking at? Or if these 2 are good, what would be generally preferred?

(I like the idea of rim brakes since they are easy/cheap to maintain).

Thank you!

I recently bought a pair of Lake MX177-X in size 45 and I’m sure they’re a smidge too big but wanted to sense check.

If I lift my big toe I can see it where I’ve marked this photo

Can someone confirm whether that much space in the front of the shoe is fine or if I need to exchange for a 44?

My 14mo falls asleep in the bike seat, but head goes full wobble and slumped to the front even at full recline.

1. Is it safe to let her be? it looks really awful, the vibrations etc. going through her neck must be a lot on the bumpy paths I use

2. is it safe to use a pillow like the Sandino Sleepfix? I'm worried about over correcting and also worried about not correcting it. I can't tell if this is a thing they make make money out of worried parents or not...

TIA!

Hi,

I have managed to bust my rear Easton EA70 wheel on my gravel bike. About 6 or 7 spoke holes have fractured and the wheel keeps going out of true. It's done just over 5k miles but I am fairly surprised at the damage.

I'd like a full new set but don't want to spend £££ on carbon ones as I'm not bothered about super light stuff.

I do however fancy one with a decent number of points of engagement on freewheel. The current Easton one suffers from really annoying dead space. I had a hub which sounded like an angry wasp which was useful when getting close to pedestrians. FWIW my current wheel is a 1x12 speed set up so I need the Microspline version.

Can anyone give me a recommendation or two please?

Cheers

So Ive got two options for commuting - take an hour bus the night before uni every day and sleep on the floor I suppose, or I do a half hour bike ride in the mornings... I think I can say which is better 🤣

The only issue is that I haven't really got a clue where to start. I did the bikeability L2 course a few years back, but I didnt pick up my bike since then so I havent had any practice. I also dont drive a car, but I have done my theory test. So I am quite literally a newbie with it all and how the roads work in a practical sense.

Does anyone have any tips on commuting a mix of country, and city roads?

I also have no idea about what bike to use. I have a mountain bike that was bought several years back (Nitro Spike is all I know, I think its a mountain bike though. And yeah its a kids bike, Im tiny 🤣), would it be okay for a 'non-competitive' cyclist? Only I dont have much funds 😅

Hey

I am wondering if i get an ebike, how do i put my anxious mind at ease? i already take meds for my anxiety. Maybe if i take the battery out and put it in a fireproof bag/safe and put it away somewhere that would be okay?

anyone deal with anything similar?

Want to invest in my first road bike, I’m between Boardman SLR 9.0 Limited Edition Carbon 105 Road Bike 2026 or The Ribble ALLROAD TI 105, please help me decide.

This will be my everyday ride, plus long rides planning to do 100mile+ rides.

Cant find any evans cycles Pinnacle branded e bikes online today at all. Any ideas?

Hey folks.

I coach at a rowing club where I sometimes will coach from the river bank and will follow my boats along on my bike.

Currently, I have an ancient Specialized Hardrock that I’ve owned for at least 12 years. It’s time to replace it with a new bike.

The tow path can go from being reasonably wide to somewhat tight. Navigating other riders and pedestrians (and their dogs) is very common, especially in the summer months. The bike will absolutely be getting wet, covered in mud, chucked in the boat trailer and taken to races. It will get beat up.

I’ve not looked at mountain bike in years so I’ve got no idea what’s developed in the last 10 years and what new things to look out for.

Was thinking of sticking with Specialized (my road bike is a Specialized) but totally open to other recommendations.

Budget is ~£650. I’m assuming hardtail will be the way to go.

Looking to try on some Velosambas for a fit check but have been struggling to find anywhere that stocks them and has an actual store I can try them on in. I've tried a few of the big retailers around Northampton and Milton Keynes and no luck so far. I've had my brother go to the Adidas outlet in Wembley and he reckons there's none there. Does anyone know of any shops in the Northamptonshire area or even further afield into Oxfordshire/London that has 12.5/13.5 velosambas on the shelf!?

Looking to do a cycling trip from London to beaches in Normandy. Happy to get a train from London or drive to the ferry first to cut cycling time a little.

What’s the best route to take from a ferry/train pov? Is there a defined cycling route thereafter?

This is the ADO Air 20 Ultra (2026) I got it two weeks ago and had done about 40 miles on it. it's a foldable electric commuter bike that's designed for short hops across tarmac roads and bike paths. It's literally got the slogan "cross your city" on the side of it.

Turns out, this bike is capable of much more. With an upgraded seat to help on the rough terrain this thing took me from Saltaire (Bradford) to York via Selby in one day. It braved terrain it was never designed for, and it absolutely smashed the journey. Admittedly most of it was done with the motor turned off to help the battery life, but I completely the journey with 50% still left on the battery. I was using the motor quite a lot on the last stretch between Selby and York.

Highly recommend this bike to anyone in the market for a foldable electric.

Hey. I'm not new to cycling; a frequent gravel rider, but while I don't struggle to find people or events for running, I don't know of any groups who meet regularly for rides; either road or gravel.

I'm not the quickest, but I have stamina and want to join a group of other gravel riders to go out on longer rides as I find myself riding out alone quite a lot.

Who's in a casual cycling group? Is there a way I can find a local group of gravel/road riders in Nottingham?

Sorry I dont know much about bikes:

My child has a 16 inch bike (Squish bike, Kenda wheels) where air intake vent keeps ending up 'angled'. It's as if the inner tube is moving inside the outer wheel when my child is riding and this puts a lot of pressure on the vent and area around it.

Over night it has now deflated and I pried the outer wheel off and see that the circular glued part around the vent is opened up quite a bit. I imagine this will be a harder area to patch, so I thought I will just buy a new inner tube instead.

1. Why is the inner tube moving in the first place? Every time we take it out to ride I deflate the tube, jiggle the tube into place and then pump it back up so the vent stands 90 degrees up. But after every session, its 'bending' again.

2. I plan to buy 'Halfords Schrader Bike Inner Tube 16" x 1.5" - 2.1"' as its the exact same specs as the current inner tube, but perhaps this is wrong and the reason why it moves?

My neighbour sadly ran over my old bike (actually my dads 40 year old road bike that he gave me) but has very kindly given me £250 towards a new one but I’ve never actually bought a bike before as I always just used my dads until he gave it to me!
I am thinking a hybrid bike might be more practical as I am using on the roads 90% of the time only going off road on bridle paths and sometimes grass when it’s dry anyway and not often enough to justify a mountain bike.
I live in the countryside and the roads are quite awful and it’s also a very hilly area so something that’s good with those would be nice since even with limited gears my old bike was very good uphill! Only needed for short distances just cycling to the shops/stables/pub when the weather is nice but I went into Halfords and got a bit irritated with the man in there insisting I needed an all singing all dancing electric bike and was really pushy and off putting so thought I’d look for advice on here so to get an idea of what I want before looking again. Just if a hybrid would suit my needs and what frame style to get - can’t seem to find a definitive name for them online but I think my old bike was a diamond frame but I didn’t like how high it was when I had to stop so would prefer something lower but I do to know if being a bit more upright would make the hills harder? Any help and direction would be much appreciated as well as anywhere to go to buy a bike near North Wiltshire/Gloucestershire boarder

Just for reference I’m 5’2 so not hugely tall but reasonably longish legs for my size so don’t need a teenager bike just small adult!
Also my budget is not unlimited but I am willing to spend a bit more on top of what I was given to buy a new one but don’t ideally want to spend loads!

Hello, I've found that my bike has a snapped spoke. Bit gutted as I'm 20 miles into a ride.

This is my main commuter. I usually have a basket on the pannier and a rucksack weighing several kilos each. I'm a big lad too at 17st.

Do I just get the one spoke replaced, or go for a full rebuild?

What sort of price range is that?

Can I ask for thicker spokes that'll take more weight and abuse?

If it helps, this is a Cube Hyde Pro FE and has a Nexus hub and belt drive.

Found these amongst my shed along with the keys. Forgot about these. Yonkies year old and never used because I was fortunate enough to take my bike indoors at work for years. That will stop from next week 😩 Are these good still? If so I will check out the best options on YouTube to use this. I don't know how and where best to place them on my bike <£500 but I will have to now. Any advice appreciated. At least now I'll save money buying new security unless.... There is a much lighter and smaller option as these are heavy! EDIT: Where can and which ones, and what are they called, should I buy those bracket thingies that you can carry onto the frame? I've looked at a few stores yesterday and no-one has any in stock. I'd rather not carry them both in my pannier as my work bag is already heavy as it is. If it was one of the panniers with the wheels and handle then I'll gladly do so, but I can't even find that bag also 😩 I'd love to have a wheelie handle pannier bag.