Advice: getting back on the saddle

[u/endoftheuniverse42]

Back in my early twenties, I did a lot of cycling on a trusty Giant mountain bike, mostly on canals and woodland tracks. Started renting a place that didn't allow bicycles so had to stop. Now bought my first house (yay) and looking to get back to cycling.

There are a few snags though - bicycle storage. I'd like a bicycle which is lightweight and fairly easy to disassemble so I can get it inside my house (don't want to dox myself but essentially to get to my place there's a busy driveway owned by other people, so navigating a bike through there could be tricky). I really, really don't like those foldable bikes with tiny wheels; for some reason always found them hard to ride!

Any suggestions or tips? I've got a fairly flexible budget, and want to know how much to save up for a new bike.

[u/BigRedS]

I don't want to ask you to dox yourself, but I'm having trouble envisaging a car park that you could manhandle a folded up bike of some sort through, but couldn't just push a non-folded one through. Usually folding bikes are about storage, not so much lugging convenience.

Up on its back wheel a drop-bar bike is generally narrower (if a little longer) than a human and so fits through all the gaps a human would, it's such a normal way to move bikes around for that reason. For a flatbar the bars are likely to be above roof-height anyway.

[u/8track420]

That's a really tricky situation, I think disassembling and reassembling every time you ride would get annoying quickly, do you think it would be possible to carry the bike all in one piece but above your head? sounds daft but if you can do that it may be worth looking into a lightweight road or hybrid bike that you're able to lift easily

[u/markvauxhall]

 don't want to dox myself but essentially to get to my place there's a busy driveway owned by other people

However in this set up there is usually an easement for your access. If you can't wheel a road bike through, which is barely 45cm wide, then arguably they aren't fulfilling their obligations under the easement.

I'm getting into r/legaladviceuk territory but I'd have thought in that situation it's arguable that they are substantially interfering with your rights under the easement. What if you had kids and needed a pushchair? 

I'd speak to your conveyancing solicitors and ask them what easements are in place for access to your property, and for an opinion on whether or not there is a breach.

[u/Poshporter56]

I'm not sure but I thinks there are collapsible mountain bikes.

[u/liamnesss]

If you have to take a bike through a narrow space where you don't want to hit stuff, there are two ways to tackle that. First is to carry the bike with the top tube (if it isn't a step through frame) up on your shoulder. This makes you + the bike a narrower overall package and it's also easier to control the bike compared to pushing it alongside you. Alternatively, you can push the bike along vertically. This is achieved by simultaneously pushing the saddle forwards while pulling up on the handlebars. That's how I tend to get a bike across places like narrow bridges that aren't wider than a person's width.

I can't imagine there isn't a half decent way to get a bike through if people are able to walk freely through the driveway for other purposes (e.g. deliveries).

[u/Ill_Yogurt_4659]

Just get a road bike with quick release wheels. Also you say you bought a house so why do you need space for your bike? Can’t you just leave it in the garden or build a shed ?