I’d probably ride anything if that’s all I could afford.
However I no have standards…
I have sort of been through this with building up my teenage kids bikes…you want to spend enough so you aren’t buying issues waiting to happen but not dropping a load of coin unnecessarily.
So, I think the bare minimum for me is a bike that is devoid of anything that makes me make give the “sigh of imminent frustration” when I see it. Things like multi ring front drive trains, crappy no name forks and brakes and the like.
I’d be perfectly happy riding a hardtail (alu is fine) with OK geometry, cheap 1x10 drivetrain, either a rigid fork or a Yari level fork, cheap Brand-x dropper and some half decent brakes like Shimano Deore.
Wheels are problematic. Not many options that would last under £400 after market…Shimano make some cheap but OK wheel sets…
Cheap bar, stem, saddle and grips would be fine.
Handily (pun intended) my favourite grips cost £4/$6 and the Charge Spoon saddles and their clones are $40ish.
I could cope with a cheaper harder rear tyre and bit gripper (eg Maxterra) up front.
Feb. 15, 2022, 6:03 a.m. - Dan Lees
I’d probably ride anything if that’s all I could afford. However I no have standards… I have sort of been through this with building up my teenage kids bikes…you want to spend enough so you aren’t buying issues waiting to happen but not dropping a load of coin unnecessarily. So, I think the bare minimum for me is a bike that is devoid of anything that makes me make give the “sigh of imminent frustration” when I see it. Things like multi ring front drive trains, crappy no name forks and brakes and the like. I’d be perfectly happy riding a hardtail (alu is fine) with OK geometry, cheap 1x10 drivetrain, either a rigid fork or a Yari level fork, cheap Brand-x dropper and some half decent brakes like Shimano Deore. Wheels are problematic. Not many options that would last under £400 after market…Shimano make some cheap but OK wheel sets… Cheap bar, stem, saddle and grips would be fine. Handily (pun intended) my favourite grips cost £4/$6 and the Charge Spoon saddles and their clones are $40ish. I could cope with a cheaper harder rear tyre and bit gripper (eg Maxterra) up front.