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First off apologies if it's a common post.
I'm after a sub £300, ideally cheap as chips commuter with rigid forks. Would consider single speed freewheel. 3 miles either way and general pootling.
Seen loads on Ebay but cautious re buying 'hooky gear.' I'm in Manchester if any recommendations.
Thanks
Carrera Subway probably the obvious candidate…?
I use an older version of this for exactly the same, @£299.99:
https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/vitus-vee-city-bike-2019/rp-prod173022
£50 extra gets you gears & discs.
My only advice would be to regrease the hubs as they were a bit lacking in grease, probably the headset too.
Thank you for the quick replies.
Has anyone ever bought second hand then sand blasted and powder coated? I remember an MBUK special eons ago where they muddified an old bike and wondered how much/easy it'd be?
I've picked up a charge Cooker off the classifieds here for under half your budget, and a charge Plug for 1/3rd off the Bearbones forum! Both were rideable but needed some TLC (Cooker needed a new BB within 200mmiles and the Plug needed new brakes) but for ~£25 of parts each they've been exactly the sort of thing you're after.
eBay can be a bit hit and miss as it generally seems that the bikes are either completely worn out, priced based on being niche/desireable or attract a bidding war. The cooker is arguably a nicer bike than an Inbred, but you wouldn't get an 29" inbred on ebay for £150, ditto Plug Vs a Pomino.
New and <£300 is a bit more of a challenge. But for a 3 mile commute It's hard to look past most of halfords offerings at that price. Even gears are relatively cheap (all you're really saving is the OEM price of a deore shifter and mech, basically nothing) so dont discount whatever propper £300 MTB's they have in the sales and swap to SS when the gears are worn out in a few years.
Has anyone ever bought second hand then sand blasted and powder coated? I remember an MBUK special eons ago where they muddified an old bike and wondered how much/easy it’d be?
Yes I've had old frames powdercoated, expect to pay £50 for a decent job (prices vary massively from £20 cash to do it with a single coat of in whatever colour is currently in the machine from their last job to >£200 for something completely custom with special clearcoats).
For a commuter though, it's only really worth it if it'll add value in term of the frames longevity (i.e. is the paint the one thing stopping the bike doing another few years service), otherwise it's pretty much eating half your budget (by the time you add in a new BB and headset as it's not worth reinstalling worn ones, new cabling, and anything else a bit worn but would have lasted a while longer but you're taking them off anyway....... etc).
Orbea Kati
Excellent commuter/shopping bikes