photo credit: JohnSeb

I cycle to work and back every day, a journey of about 6 miles each way. This really shouldn't be a problem, but it actually is, due to how naff my current bike is. It's a bog standard off-the-shelf mountain bike from Halfords which cost about £90. That's enough of an issue on its own – just cycling along in a straight line requires far more exertion than it should. But add to this the extra problems that it's developed…

• Seat which refuses to stay level despite tightening the nut so hard that the spanner bent
• Brakes which don't work (the front one actually snapped off one day)
• Bizarre rattling noise

…and you might arrive at the same conclusion I have: it's time for a new bicycle.

Alright then, dear dear old Lazyweb, please advise me thus. I want to spend about £200 on a new bike for cycling around town. I guess I want a hybrid, right? But I quite obviously know nothing about this, so this is me soliciting recommendations. I want to know what I should be looking for in terms of features – there seems to be a wide range of options to choose from. If you commute by cycle, please recommend (or de-recommend) your model. Or, what manufacturers should I be looking at? Is it worth buying new or can I find a good deal second hand?