The Student Room Group

Cambridge + bikes, the inevitable.

So can you rent a bike locally for a decent price? Is a bike worth it if you're dead centre (St. John's) and would you really need it? I also recall on the train from london to cambridge some guy actually boarded with a bike and parked it near the doors through out the journey... isn't there some sort of rule against this on the trains (say I was to bring my own from london). Oh and lastly, road bike or mountain bike?

ps: are wicker baskets compulsory. :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

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Reply 1
I wouldn't rent a bike, most bike rental places are quite a few quid a day, so it quickly means its quickly worth buying
Although you might be ina central college plenty of lectures happen at sidgwick site or you might get a supervisor at girton. Sport facilities are often a bike rather tahn walk away..
Most trains allow you to take bikes on if you book in advance/off peak

I couldnt have managed this year without a bike, and most people do use them, it just saves a few minutes. Though in ctain circumstances you can manage
Reply 2
Intelligentsia
So can you rent a bike locally for a decent price? Is a bike worth it if you're dead centre (St. John's) and would you really need it? I also recall on the train from london to cambridge some guy actually boarded with a bike and parked it near the doors through out the journey... isn't there some sort of rule against this on the trains (say I was to bring my own from london). Oh and lastly, road bike or mountain bike?

ps: are wicker baskets compulsory. :rolleyes: :rolleyes:


Myself and most of my friends coped just fine without a bike last year - realistically, everything in Cambridge is ridiculously close, so unless your college is a far-flung extremity such as Girton or Homerton (which it isn't) or your facultly is yonks away, there probably isn't a need. See how you go for Michaelmas without one, and if life seems tortuous without one, buy one :wink:

Different trains have different rules regarding transporting bikes, it depends on train company/route/time of day.

And lastly - are there any mountains or serious off-road tracks in Cambridge?
brunswick

And lastly - are there any mountains or serious off-road tracks in Cambridge?


Thanks both of you. Do you reckon Engineering has alot of "off site" lectures?

Oh about the mountain/road bike... can you actually get a decent looking road bike you wouldn't be ashamed of riding around in? :p:
Reply 4
I'm at Trinity and I've never ever felt that I wish I had a bike, because everything was easy to walk to! I suspect that if you're central then it really is just a personal preference depending on how quickly you want to get to lectures, where they are, etc.
I've been meaning to ask this too. Is it worth it for me seeing as I'll be at King's and lectures are at Sidgwick so obviously a tiiiiny walk. Is there anywhere else that a bike might be useful for to travel to? And it's a mountain bike, is that not 'ye olde' enough? :p:
Reply 6
Intelligentsia
Thanks both of you. Do you reckon Engineering has alot of "off site" lectures?

Oh about the mountain/road bike... can you actually get a decent looking road bike you wouldn't be ashamed of riding around in? :p:


Engineering is all pretty much on-site.... it's also pretty much a straight walk from your college and will take you all of 5 minutes, less if its 8.55am and you're still in bed :p:

There are some non-rubbish road bikes around - if I ever get a bike, I'm having this one;

Reply 7
Jigglypuff
I've been meaning to ask this too. Is it worth it for me seeing as I'll be at King's and lectures are at Sidgwick so obviously a tiiiiny walk. Is there anywhere else that a bike might be useful for to travel to? And it's a mountain bike, is that not 'ye olde' enough? :p:


A broom is far more appropriate :p:

If you're planning on doing lots of sports then you might need a bike - walking is a nice warm-up/cool-down for getting to Kelsey Kerridge IMO, but some people prefer to bike. For team sports, we normally get a taxi to and from the sports ground, but again you can bike if you're a sadist.
Reply 8
I pretty much did without my bike in first year - I was living in Mem Court and lectures were a nice 10 minutes walk away (we didn't go to Lensfield road in first year!) I only used it for going to my weekly Brownie meetings.

Then for the last two years I've lived at the Colony, which is slightly further out (and started having lectures on Lensfield road!), and it became much easier to cycle - it saves 10-15 minutes on some journeys, and although competing with hundreds of other cyclists at 8:55am is annoying, it's still much nippier than walking. I also took up rowing in 2nd year and there was no way I could have made it from the boathouses to lectures in time!

Nobody cares about what type of bike you have; there is everything from top of the range to barely-held-together rust buckets. As long as it gets you where you're going, it doesn't matter!
Reply 9
A fifteen minute walk seems considerably longer than a five minute cycle ride when you have a nine o'clock lecture and the extra ten minutes can be spent in bed. I can't think of any circumstances in which I could happily manage without a bike, but then again not everyone is as lazy as me about walking.
Reply 10
I'm thinking of getting a bike, but only because I want the exercise. I walk everywhere at the moment so I want to keep some sort of a routine going! Since i'm going to Sidney I wont have much of a trek to my lectures/the shops etc, so riding around a bit seems like a nice idea :smile:
Reply 11
i'd get a bike. Engineering dept from johns is a good 5-8 min walk which will become a pain the longer you're there! Also as you get used to cam, everything becomes relative (ie the engineering dept is the other side of cam as opposed to a 5 min walk)
Reply 12
An expensive bike is likely to get nicked, save cash by gettinga cheap one, otherwise its bye bye bike, buy buy another!
Oh yeah what about bike security and parking?.. and can you ride along those sort of pavement roads filled with tourists?
Reply 14
im going to be at jesus n doin natsci so i will be in the downing block a lot so will it beworth takin a bike down?! ive got one already so it wont cost me any extra lol
Reply 15
Intelligentsia
Oh yeah what about bike security and parking?.. and can you ride along those sort of pavement roads filled with tourists?


There's a sort of one-way system in the city centre, but yes, you can cycle in the pedestrian zones in certain directions. Invest in a bell, unless you don't want to give the tourists any warning! :wink:

All the main faculty sites have huge bike racks for locking your bike to, as do all the colleges. There are also stands in town. I only know two people who've had their bike nicked, both of which were during Strawberry Fair week.
Reply 16
CamSPSer
An expensive bike is likely to get nicked, save cash by gettinga cheap one, otherwise its bye bye bike, buy buy another!

Nicked......by who...
Reply 17
Rogery
Nicked......by who...


Bike thieves?
Reply 18
ljlindley
im going to be at jesus n doin natsci so i will be in the downing block a lot so will it beworth takin a bike down?! ive got one already so it wont cost me any extra lol


yup i'd recommend it. Even if you don't use it for lectures, you'll probably need it for something else.
Reply 19
Helenia
Bike thieves?

Yeah....I was kind of under the impression that Cambridge was a thief-free utopia..