Need (ah, whom am I kidding, *want*) road bike

Tom Friedetzky said:

Hi, I've currently got two bikes: a rubbish one for commuting and a
fairly decent MTB for hucking in the woods. Now I'm looking to buy yet
another one for shortish road & bridleway trips, shortish meaning e.g.
40mi round-trips to the coast or similar. I was considering getting
non-knobblies for the MTB but I'm not entirely happy with the idea as
(i) the bike is a bit on the heavy side (Kona Coiler), (ii) I'd rather
not leave it unattended for too long while walking around some town or
so, and (iii) it would look stupid.

So, what I'm looking for is a decent yet not too expensive road-type
bike, definitely cheaper (and lighter) than the Coiler. I'm not
planning to race it or anything like that; it's strictly for cruising
about (the area here is quite hilly, though).

I came across a suggestion in this group mentioning the Specialized
Tricross which looks pretty spot-on. I'm hesitating mostly because what
if I find that I drop the bridleways in favour of tarmac? Would I be
much better served with a more "pure" road bike? You can probably tell
that my experience with road cycling is limited to manoeuvring my
commuter tank to and from work.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

Tom

Spesh Allez. I got an 04 and it's still going strong with no issues,
it even takes (04 anyway) pannier rack so its a good sporty commuter.
I stuck a 105 groupset on it and that has made it lighter again. It
always gets great reviews and is quoted as being the lightest most
upgradeable budget bike.

Mike

Tom Friedetzky said:

Hi, I've currently got two bikes: a rubbish one for commuting and a
fairly decent MTB for hucking in the woods. Now I'm looking to buy
yet another one for shortish road & bridleway trips, shortish meaning
e.g. 40mi round-trips to the coast or similar. I was considering
getting non-knobblies for the MTB but I'm not entirely happy with the
idea as (i) the bike is a bit on the heavy side (Kona Coiler), (ii)
I'd rather not leave it unattended for too long while walking around
some town or so, and (iii) it would look stupid.

So, what I'm looking for is a decent yet not too expensive road-type
bike, definitely cheaper (and lighter) than the Coiler. I'm not
planning to race it or anything like that; it's strictly for cruising
about (the area here is quite hilly, though).

I came across a suggestion in this group mentioning the Specialized
Tricross which looks pretty spot-on. I'm hesitating mostly because
what if I find that I drop the bridleways in favour of tarmac?
Would I be much better served with a more "pure" road bike? You can
probably tell that my experience with road cycling is limited to
manoeuvring my commuter tank to and from work.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

Since you've already got a bike suitable for bridleways, the MTB, I suggest
getting a bike optimised for tarmac and riding it on tarmac. You'll enjoy
its purity and effeciency.

What are the particular bridleways like? The ones I come accross are often
just very deeply rutted hard dried mud. I wouldn't even want to ride a
cross bike on one.

~PB

Tom Friedetzky said:

I came across a suggestion in this group mentioning the Specialized
Tricross which looks pretty spot-on. I'm hesitating mostly because what
if I find that I drop the bridleways in favour of tarmac? Would I be
much better served with a more "pure" road bike?

Only if you are planning to start racing. The Tricross is ideal for
roads and tracks, so why limit your options without good reason ?

in message <[email hidden]>, Tom Friedetzky

(') said:

Hi, I've currently got two bikes: a rubbish one for commuting and a
fairly decent MTB for hucking in the woods. Now I'm looking to buy yet
another one for shortish road & bridleway trips, shortish meaning e.g.
40mi round-trips to the coast or similar. I was considering getting
non-knobblies for the MTB but I'm not entirely happy with the idea as
(i) the bike is a bit on the heavy side (Kona Coiler), (ii) I'd rather
not leave it unattended for too long while walking around some town or
so, and (iii) it would look stupid.

So, what I'm looking for is a decent yet not too expensive road-type
bike, definitely cheaper (and lighter) than the Coiler. I'm not
planning to race it or anything like that; it's strictly for cruising
about (the area here is quite hilly, though).

I came across a suggestion in this group mentioning the Specialized
Tricross which looks pretty spot-on. I'm hesitating mostly because what
if I find that I drop the bridleways in favour of tarmac? Would I be
much better served with a more "pure" road bike? You can probably tell
that my experience with road cycling is limited to manoeuvring my
commuter tank to and from work.

I think the Tricross is a pretty good bike, period. It's perfectly usable
on the road, although if you're only doing road you'd want to put slick
tyres on it. But it has geometry similar to a traditional tourer, and has
all the bosses for mounting racks and mudguards and stuff. The fact that
it's also remarkably good off road is a bonus. It won't win races on the
road, but as you say that isn't what you want to do.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
/-\ You have discovered a security flaw in a Microsoft product. You
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| | * Be completely ignored (default)?
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Quoted message said:

Spesh Allez. I got an 04 and it's still going strong with no issues,
it even takes (04 anyway) pannier rack so its a good sporty commuter.

In a similar vein, I think it's worth taking a look at the Giant SCR
2.0/3.0/4.0, or if you want a cheaper option, the FCRs. After test
riding many, including the Allez (frame geometry didn't suit me) and the
Trek 1000 (found the frame a bit too flexible), I eventually plumped for
the SCR 2.0 and absolutely love it. Got a good price on it too, but only
because I was really after the Giant OCR 2.0 which the LBS (De Vers
Cycles in London - actually nowhere near "local" to me, but the best
price offered by a decent shop within travelling distance...) had just
run out of.

Cheers,
Brian

Pete Biggs said:

What are the particular bridleways like? The ones I come accross are often
just very deeply rutted hard dried mud. I wouldn't even want to ride a
cross bike on one.

I was thinking less of _this_ kind of bridleway (I'd definitely use the
MTB there) but more like fairly civilised surface, with perhaps some
loose gravel being the worst I'd have to face.

Anyway, looks like I'll have to do some test rides now. Thanks to
everyone for the suggestions, it's appreciated. Based on one of the
recommendations I borrowed a neighbour's Allez for a quick spin and I
liked it a lot (frame was a bit small though).

Tom