We have always known that cycling is good for our health, body and mind. It improves your wellbeing and gives you the edge when keeping yourself healthy, which in turn speeds up recovery should you fall ill. When Covid-19 lockdown started and the government allowed the nation to get cycling, it went crazy. Bike shops were selling out of bikes and suppliers could not keep up with demands.
At Primera Sports we were lucky and the supply chain kept coming, our brands worked wonders and really looked after us, allowing us to look after our customers. Now after a few months of riding, the new cyclist is hooked and regular cyclists are clocking more miles than ever. So, the latest advice is to get fit, lose weight and improve fitness which will also boost your immune system.
It doesn’t matter what type of bike you jump on; you just need to get out there and enjoy the outdoors which will also help towards a healthy mind. Electric bikes are one area where we have seen customers improve fitness and, in some cases, moved onto a non-e-bike after a few months of riding.
Build your endurance with electric bikes
When first starting out, cycling can be tough and if you are carrying a few extra pounds the hills can feel hard work. Don’t lose heart as once you have a few rides under your belt your fitness will improve and the weight will start to come off. E-bike customers always come into our stores after a few weeks saying that they are out most days as it’s such fun! This will get them fitter and with a few customers losing up to 7 stone from using an e-bike, we feel this is well worth shouting from the rafters.
Some of the people we have seen lose weight and get fit have now moved over to non-e-bikes and are feeling so much happier in themselves. At Primera Sports, we often hear people say e-bikes are for lazy people – a misjudged opinion for sure. E-bikes are great fun and get people out there doing it, getting healthy and in turn, looking great.
Electric bikes come with a few power settings which change the degree of assistance you get. Run an e-bike on eco and you are going to get a good workout, you still need to pedal and the benefits are good, very good. Feeling it a little on the return leg as you hit that hill you have been dreading, click it up a notch and you’ll get more assistance. You have a choice of how hard you are going to work, the main point is you are out there doing it!
Exercise off-road with gravel bikes
Gravel bikes have been extremely popular this summer as it allows you to get off the roads with larger tyres, a good grip for added comfort and the confidence to make for a great ride. Gravel bikes start from £899 and for a custom gravel bike, you can spend up to £10,000.
So, what else do you get with a gravel bike? These bikes have a range of benefits, including:
- Fast yet comfortable
- Dropped bars which flair out at the bottom for added control on the descents
- A comprehensive range of gears to get you up steep climbs with ease.
- Larger tyres for added comfort.
- Extra tyre clearance for muddy tracks.
Test your stamina with mountain bikes
Mountain bikes have also been proving extremely popular. Our prices start from under £400 and going up to over £10,000, we have something for everyone. Recently, our range of bikes’ wheels has got slightly larger, we all used 26″ wheels for many years and never thought a change in wheel size would make a difference, now we have a choice of 27.5″ or 29″ mountain bike wheels. This has made a huge difference!
So, what are the benefits of mountain bikes? The larger wheel is faster, performs better over rough terrain as it glides over the bumps. All our mountain bikes come with front suspension which is adjustable for body weight and riding style. The more you pay the lighter the bike becomes and you get more gears. Disc brakes are standard these days on our mountain bikes, and certainly improves braking.
If you are looking for a robust bike which is capable of the commute to work and then a mountain bike ride with friends on the weekend, a hardtail mountain bike could be the answer. With the larger wheels, they feel faster than the old 26″ bikes and with such a comprehensive choice of tyres you can transform the ride to suit your needs.
As with all bikes the more you pay the better and lighter the components; entry bikes might have cable pull disc brakes, they still work great although they are a little more basic. Once you get over £500 you are approaching hydraulic disc brakes! Very smooth with very little maintenance needed.
Go faster with road bikes
Road bikes have always been popular, for the last 28 years of trading Primera Sports, we have sold many thousands of them and models are improving all the time. Road bikes start at around £750 for a leading brand with an alloy frame and carbon forks.
Road bikes perform fast and enable you to cover many miles in a day. They provide a responsive feel with 700c wheels which normally come with 25mm tyres. Over the past few years, technology has moved on and this is evident when you take a closer look at the bikes we carry in stock.
Let’s start at the stopping and going part of the ride, you are in for a treat, especially if you haven’t had a new bike for a while. On road bikes, the gear and brake lever are part of the same unit with the brakes lever also changing gears, providing full control at your fingertips. Entry road bikes come with an alloy frame, but carbon forks for reducing road vibration, as you move up the price points you start to get a full carbon frame as well as forks.
So, if you have £1500 or over to spend, you can come away with a lightweight carbon road bike with hydraulic disc brakes! At Primera Sports, we also specialise in full custom road bike builds, choose your frame and groupset and we will build you something special for your budget. Some of our custom builds have appeared in magazines as superbikes with prices of top builds coming out at £16,000.
Want a bike that will improve your fitness fast? Look no further than flat handlebar road bikes! If you are looking for an all-round bike with flat bars, we will have a few choices for you. Faster fitness bikes which are road machines but with flat handlebars are very popular. If you are looking for more of a workhorse/adventure style flat bar bike we also carry a few models in our stores. These have short-travel suspension forks for added comfort and in some cases a suspension seat post for greater comfort. Fitness bikes come with smoother faster tyres, while adventure models come with a more rugged tyre with greater tread and wider wheels. You can also fit mudguards and a rear carrier for carrying your luggage. Prices start from £500 and finish at about £2,000. All our bikes are available on 0% Finance with as little as a 10% deposit.
If you are looking for advice on buying a new bike, pop into one of our bike shops in Bournemouth and Poole and we can talk you through available options. Alternatively, give our team a call on 01202 775588 (Bournemouth) / 01202 749674. For more information on Covid-19 and cycling, read our cycling during coronavirus Q&A.
