sulleymonster

Hi - First post here so firstly a big hello to all I haven't owned a bike since I was around 10, a trusty Peugeot mountain bike, 27 years later I am about to getting into riding again. I live in London so have decided on a Hybrid bike for short commutes via road and street , shopping runs, fitness rides and hopefully some off road trails when visiting friends in the country.

As a complete newbie I didn't want to spend a fortune in case the bike isn't used as much as I'd like to use it or the idea of biking everywhere isn't quite as perfect as in my dreams. I had been looking at a few bikes online and really liked the look of the Trek ds range and the Genesis skyline 30. Both brand new are way out of my price range so was looking to pick up one of them in the end of year sale when the 2019 models are released, until then just pick up a secondhand Trek FX cheap. I almost bought a cheap FX3 from gumtree but the seller seemed slightly shady so I decided to steer clear of it. It was however in my price range of around £150.

I have managed to find a lightly used skyline 30 2017 model for £390 from a genuine seller so I am seriously considering going for it as I won't have to purchase a 'tide over' bike or spend around £700 for the 2018 model in the sale.

I just have a few questions for any owners out there, please ignore the ignorance of a newbie ! :

1) this seems like a very good price considering that they were around £640 in the last sales when still available.
How do genesis bikes hold there value in case this experiment doesn't work out ?

2) the most important question is sizing. I can't make head nor tail of the Genesis sizing guide as a newbie. I
realize that the sizing charts are rough guides only but what size do you ride and how tall are you ? The bike I
am looking at is a large and I am 6ft - proportional leg to torso. Would this be size I am looking for or an XL ?
There is no is way to try the bike before purchase either with the seller ( to far away ) or without ordering into an
Evans store.

3) Whats your verdict on the bike itself ? The reason I was drawn to the skyline is that it is apparently as near to a
mountain bike that you can get with a hybrid. Any info on going off road with it or in mountain bike scenarios ?

4) What is the fork made from - Genesis Alloy Urban w/ 1-1/8" Alloy Steerer ?

5) anything I should be looking out for when buying a second hand skyline ?

Many thanks

hokiefyd 

Welcome! Many of us are from the United States, and the "Genesis" brand is applied to a number of cheap big-box bikes. I Googled yours, and it seems like the Genesis brand is totally different in the United Kingdom!

The bike itself looks great. It has quality mid-range parts throughout and should be a very solid ride. You're right that the size is the most important. You may just need to go see it and take it for a test ride. A quality seller should understand and appreciate that you want to size it before you buy it. It does look like it'll feel and ride somewhat like a mountain bike -- if that's what you're used to, you'll probably find something to like here.

The fork is an aluminum alloy fork. You could replace that with a chromoly steel or carbon fiber fork at some point down the road if you want. Aluminum alloy forks are typically (but always) the firmest-feeling fork blade material in terms of ride compliance, but you can always change this if you end up not liking it. This bike would not be the best for a lot of off road riding. Smooth gravel or smooth forest trails would be okay, but you wouldn't want to be doing a lot of "mountain bike" type stuff with it.

For that, check out the Cube Nature Pro. Someone mentioned this bike in another thread and, though I haven't heard of Cube before, it looks like they have a UK presence, and it's closer to a traditional mountain bike than the Genesis is. It also has much larger tires (44mm vs. 35mm), which would be much better suited to off road trails (and less suited to urban commuting).

As with most things in life, a bicycle represents a compromise. Be honest with yourself regarding the ratio of street-to-trail riding you'll be doing. If you really do think that trail riding will represent a majority of your riding, than something closer to a mountain bike would probably be best. If you think that that would be something you did only once every few months, than I'd probably concentrate more on a nice urban/city bike. You could always find an inexpensive used MTB for dirt trails on the weekend if you find that you miss that. Or...for the type of riding you would be doing, maybe the Genesis would work better with some larger tires with a bit more tread. I don't know how large of a tire you could fit on the Genesis...maybe you could get a 38mm or a 40mm tire in there.

Cheers!

sulleymonster

Newbie mistake number 1. Always check the country of the forum !

Thanks for taking the time to reply as I found your post very useful. Hilariously on the Genesis website information page they have a short paragraph explaining that they are not the same Genesis as the brand sold in wall mart or the Austrian bike brand Genesis and offer direct links to both !

Genesis is distributed by sportsline UK a division of Madison ( who own shimano among others ).

I think honestly at the moment that mountain biking is definitely a second priority and as you say a cheap 2nd hand bike can be picked up easily. If I was to change the tyres to a 40mm would the bikes frame without suspension handle MTB or dirt trails ? or would I be pushing my luck ?

I checked out the cube nature pro and prefer the Genesis as while the CNP is more suited to MTB it still looks like that the Genesis would be better suited to the city. A then a dedicated MTB for the off road stuff one day.

hokiefyd 

In my opinion, even the stock tires would be "fine" off road, to an extent. Because they're slightly on the narrow side, you'd need to keep them inflated pretty high to avoid pinch flats, and that will make them less comfortable on dirt or gravel than a larger tire. Suspension shouldn't have any impact on bike capability. It may have an impact on comfort, but your predominant road use would indicate that a rigid fork is probably best for your situation.

I'm attaching a picture below of some off road trails that I do with my bikes. The most street-oriented bike I have uses slick 35mm tires, not unlike the Genesis you're considering. The bike in the picture below is wearing 42mm tires (actually about 39mm inflated), and it soaks up the bumps and roots okay. Using the rating system at singletracks.com:

https://www.singletracks.com/blog/mt...culty-ratings/

...the stuff I do with mine is mostly green circle...sometimes maybe closer to blue square...but never more than that. On some trails with larger roots, I'm pretty careful with where I put the bike tires and I sometimes walk it if I think I would risk damage to tires or wheels. It's just not worth the risk in my opinion, to the equipment.

Where on the scale would you say your trails are?

sulleymonster

Yes I would be the same as you maxing out at blue square. The trail in your picture is very similar to the ones by my house. They are short and can be avoid by using the streets but I'm sure they would be more fun to ride through ! Maybe I need to see what the max tire size that I can get on the Genesis before puncturing on day one. Thanks for the info.