I'm going to buy a bike to try and get fitter but don't have any idea what to buy so looking for any advice. Will be using it to ride to work, roam around the local country park and down the side of the canal etc. Would I be better with hybrid or a mountain bike? Also my budget is £300 maybe £400 max at a push. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I've just gone down that route actually.

I live in Leeds, so it's pretty hilly, but I bought a used Puch Clipper road bike circa 1980 for £50 on gumtree, took it to a local bike shop and got it converted into a single speed free wheeler. Cost £75 to do that, with new back wheel and tyre. Lightest, fastest bike I've ever had the pleasure of riding - the hills are making my legs work as well, which is good!

Mountain bikes, most of the time, are useless if you're just riding it work. You end up wasting energy dragging the extra weight around.

Certainly a hybrid designed specifically for commuting if you are sticking to roads, made-up paths, canal paths etc, don't be persuaded by big knobbly tyres as they are as effective as riding with your brakes jammed on when on hard surfaces.

I'm always impressed by the range that the Edinburgh Bike Co-op offer (they aren't the cheapest though) and Halfords (don't laugh) have a good range in their Carrera brand in the price range you're looking for - look at the tyres though, they need to be road tyres, slight tread no more, can't emphasis that enough.

The first "serious" bike I ever bought was a Puch and it would have been around 1980, you haven't bought my old one though because that ended up seriously mangled (as did my chin and hands) when I went over the handlebars on it one day

I recently bought a bike, second hand, for cycling to work and around and about. I bought an Orange Gazelle, sit up and beg style bike, for £175 as I constantly had neck ache with the forward lean required on my other bike which is a 1980's "Milk race" with drop handle bars ( bought that at car boot for a tenner and had it serviced , total cost £30, and ten years good use from it so proved to be a bargain).
Depending what you're looking for I'd recommend one of the Gazelle bikes, not the cheapest but great bikes and comfy to ride. If you can get one second hand at a decent price they'll give you years of service.
As for the getting fit, I'd not cycled for a year or so but soon found I'd no need to keep looking for the lowest gear at the slightest incline. Another plus is you tend to see so much more when cycling, I still get a thrill at cycling past the Minster here in York and taking in the view! Invariably it's also quicker to get around this place by bike and I love the smug feeling as I cycle past the queuing cars on Bootham and other notorious traffic hot spots in York.
The final plus is after six months of using it and leaving the car at home I no longer need to fill the car up as often as I did and suspect it's paid for itself already.

I bought a mountain bike last year just for a bit of general fitness and odd ride to work, A cheap one and I regret it now and wish I'd spent a bit more on a decent hybrid or road bike.

I'm forever wondering why people are going past me on the canal at such faster speeds and then I realise that I've got big chunkky wheels and a heavy frame to drag with me too. I occasionally ride upto haigh hall and going up the hills is a killer.

I adore my hybrid bike. It's a Specialized Globe:



Big wheels for speed and maneuverability but chunkier than a racer for robustness on tracks and potholes. Light and effortless to ride. Cost £350 but paid extra for mudguards and lights. Mine's a ladies', but I'm sure the bloke's version's just as good.

The Dawes Discovery range is also pretty good for your price bracket.

Apart from the road tyres thing, which are a must, you'll be glad of a rear rack too if you're going to commute more than say five miles on it. A backpack soon gets sweaty and uncomfortable. Much better for doing your shopping on too.

Nowt better than overtaking a road bike on a beat up old proper bike loaded down with shopping whilst wearing flip flops.

Two questions would be how far is your commute, and what is the state of the canal paths you're looking at riding?

I regularly commute 5-6 miles each way on a hardtail mountain bike. I've toyed with getting a hybrid, road bike or a singlespeed for the commutes, but I'm not realistically going to knock more than the odd minute off the journey. Sometimes I'll put road tyres on, but where I live I do have the option to detour via some red grade MTB trails and poorly maintained canal/riverside paths on the way home to give a more enjoyable commute.

Check if your workplace does the ride to work scheme

They take it back out your wages over a year but you save approx 25% with Tax deduction

I bought a bike a few years ago when this was a really good deal as I effectively paid about 70% of what the bike cost though I think since then things have changed. I checked it out before buying my latest bike a few months ago and was told it's only worth it if you're buying something costing over a certain amount ( not sure but think it was £500).

I've just got a bike on the bike to work scheme, this week in fact. Went for the full £1000 limit since its effectively a tax free loan. Will end up costing me around £700 over 18 months. Went for a full carbon road bike in the end as I intend to use it with the local cycling club too. Echo what others have said about mountain bikes, unless you are actually going to go offroad, i'd avoid them and go for either a cross or road.

I wouldn't bother with the bike to work scheme, the bikes are all full RRP and you can get much better deals as well as a far wider range of bikes buying end of season stuff or even more heavily discounted, nearly new bikes on ebay etc.

The most modern race bike I have (I collect/ride retro for the most part) I paid £600 for, it was nearly new condition wise and had Shimano's top end Dura Ace racing groupset, the frame was also top end it would have cost £3K new 12 years ago equivalent to £4k+ now.

Yes for some it is the only way they can afford to buy an expensive bike but the savings you can get over buying new with virtually no wear is incredible.

Mine wasnt, picked up a £1650 jamis for £950 from evans cycles. One of the few shops that does allow you to choose sale bikes as well as full price. Either way, if you dont earn the higher tax bracket, you still effectively get 32% off a full RRP bike. Thats a pretty good deal. Especially if you dont want to shell out a lump of cash in one go.

That's very fortunate, most BTW schemes don't allow you to choose discounted bikes though I agree the 32% does allow you a certain attraction to the oft limited range available.