do you mean something like this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sp...nnmotorrad.jpg
just with the solid inner tubes

google "motorcycles on ice "

Thanks for the link, looks more painful than that grass... Yes, only smaller spikes for my use (mixed with pavement.)

Yeah, you're right about that. I kind of doubt she'll be doing a lot of that though?..


Heh, tell me about it, break pressure does take some getting used to. Luckily its been a while since I last launched myself.


Oh, I love how those breaks screech "get out of my farking way" :-] Two killers tho are filthy oil or air. Esp. on warm days. Not good.

I switched to Continental Gatorskins about 2 years ago. Haven't gotten a flat since.

90% iso alcohol dose wonders
so dose a cardboard shield when oiling the chain

It that the top end of the budget for bicycles? All three of those are BSO's (Bicycle Shaped Objects) and will end up being more hassle than they're worth, the tires will be the least of your concerns. What is the purpose of the bike?

Kinda makes a Walmart bike look like a Cervelo by comparison....

What made you say so, I wish to know.
Rs. 5000 is a big amount where I live.
The bike is meant for exercise (I am underweight and
trying to free myself from depression), and for leisure
time.
Roads aren't that smooth here and I wish to have a
smooth ride therefore I was looking for suspensions and
great tyre quality.

Pardon, but I didn't get much of it. When should fat tyres
be preferred and when they shouldn't be preferred and why?

What should we prefer on non-smooth roads?

I do not intend to race with this cycle nor I am
interested in any stunts so what's the reason that I
should prefer disk brakes? I don't know its benefits for
normal day to day usage.

Also, please explain the bold statement in your quote.

Sure, I won't be riding on the mountains and in the
swamps etc. but what made you guess that I won't?
Just curious..

That's why I asked if it was the top end of your budget, I was going to look for stuff at 5000. Fatter tires will not necessarily smooth out the ride nor will the suspension on those bikes. You should probably looking at bike with 700c or 28" tires depending on how they size them there larger diameter tires will go much further in smoothing out the road than any of those bikes. Second If you're not going to trail ride then look for a city type bike with 700x38/42 the riding position will be more comfortable and the tires significantly larger. The sure fire way to increase the quality of you bike is to remove the cost of the gears the bike I keep around to ride around the city has higher quality components because it's single speed there other advantages such as wheel strength, cheaper chains and the like but going into to those is relevant right now. I'll be more than happy to help you search on-line for bikes because I like bikes FAR more than tech.

TheIndependentAquarius,

With bicycles for riding on the road, you generally want the lightest and stiffest bike you can get. A heavy bike with suspension is very inefficient and not enjoyable to ride, because your energy gets wasted and the bikes instead of being nimble and responsive, are sluggish and clunky-feeling. The TYPE of tire makes big difference too. The same bike with knobby tires will be much slower and harder to peddle than if it had smooth tires.

If there are places near you where you can rent bicycles for a few hours at a time, you would do well to try renting different types of bicycles, and ride them in similar environments. That would do much more to educate you about what we are talking about (And those differences become even more apparent after you've ridden a bit).

When I was a child, I always had cheap/heavy/low-quality department-store bikes. Then, as a teen and 20-something, living in New York City, I didn't have a bike, but rented bikes on a few occasion. One rental was a very heavy 3-speed. I still remember (35 years later!) how terrible that rented 3-speed was. I had rented it to ride a route similar to the NY Marathon- but man, that ride was torture! (To this day, I've never been so exhausted as i was after that ride! I don't even remember how I got back from the Bronx to the bike rental place in Manhattan- I think I blacked-out or something!) I didn't ride a bike again after that, for a long time.

Then, one day, in my 20's, I got the urge to ride again, and I rented another bike. It was a medium-quality 10-speed Raleigh, with skinny tires- a real road bike. I couldn't believe how effortlessly that bike would just glide through the streets; and how responsive it was. It was magical! Instead of puttering along on the side of the road or on a path or sidewalk, I was riding out in traffic [I had rented it to ride in Central Park- but it rode so nice on the streets on the way to the park, and I could go so fast, that I ended up riding through the streets instead!). I loved it! I had never ridden a "good" bike before that; and although some of the bikes I had had when younger looked like that type of bike, they weren't the real thing- they just looked like it. Renting that bike made me realize the difference that the type and quality of bike can make in your enjoyment of riding; your speed; and comfort.

You'd be better off getting a good quality used bike (if such can be had in your area) than a low-quality new bike.

The type of bike you choose can mean the difference between puttering along at barely 12MPH vs. gliding along at 20MPH; the difference between being smoothquiet/reliable vs. bobbing around going "clunk, clunk, clunk" and constantly having parts break or come out of adjustment.

It's great that you want to get out there and ride- but the type and quality of bike you choose can mean the difference between enjoying riding and sticking with it, vs. hating it and giving it up in short order.

I'm not saying you have to get the best/ or an expensive bike- I ride a 17 year-old Klein, which I bought used on Craigslist and had shipped 1000 miles to me (No used market where I am now- people don't ride around here) but man, that bike is SWEET and I love it!

Sorry, I shouldn't have called them "fat" tyres but "off-road tyres" or something more descriptive like that. I'll go with what the others would advice for general city / touring use.


Pros: dependable, low maintenance, durable, safer. (They work in all weather conditions, brake pads last years plus I've broken quite a few V-brakes so I'm definitely biased.) Cons: simply more expensive.


I think Sumguy explained that well.


Based on the bicycles you chose to show us? ;-p

Nobody (except maybe some extreme mountain-bikers) needs disc brakes on a bike. Regular brakes with aluminum rims and decent brake pads will give one all the stopping power they need- even when it's wet. Some really cheap/cheesy bikes with very low-quality brakes....well, braking can be pretty poor on them [I've heard horror stories about those GMC Denali bikes...]- but better to spend the extra money on a bike with decent components, than a bike with discs.

TheIndependentAquarius, you should read some of the bike forums- like roadbikereview.com or bikeforums.net -you'll learn a lot.

I would think at some point all will have disks (enclosed) kinda like fluorescent, LED lights bulbs instead of the old junk?

Do ANY of you folks in England have any experience or know any bodies experience using these