Another newbie commuter looking for advice

Dr Darth <[email hidden]> wrote:

: I've got up to about £700 to spend (a bit more if I save up for a
: little while). A friend who's a very keen cyclist recommended a
: Cannondale Bad Boy Rigid. Any opinions or alternative
: recommendations?

Nice bike. The only downer would be the nicking thing, but if you've
got secure parking at both ends then why not?

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune http://www.clune.org
"Technolibertarians make a philosophy out of a personality defect"
- Paulina Borsook

Arthur Clune said:

Dr Darth <[email hidden]> wrote:

: I've got up to about £700 to spend (a bit more if I save up for a
: little while). A friend who's a very keen cyclist recommended a
: Cannondale Bad Boy Rigid. Any opinions or alternative
: recommendations?

Nice bike. The only downer would be the nicking thing, but if you've
got secure parking at both ends then why not?

Don't forget to budget for things like:

Lights,
clothing (shorts, waterproof, gloves)
luggage (panniers/rucksack)
pump (get a track pump for home and a small pump for emergencies)
tools for basic maintenance.

Good luck.

...d

Dr Darth said:

Hi there,

I've had a hunt through the archives and couldn't find what I was
looking for - apologies if this stuff has been covered a million times
before.

I'm looking to get a bike to commute from Wimbledon to the City
(moving to Wimbledon in the next couple of months). Ideally I'd like
something a little sturdier than a road bike so that I can take it on
holiday, but it will be doing the vast majority of its miles in
London.

I've got up to about £700 to spend (a bit more if I save up for a
little while). A friend who's a very keen cyclist recommended a
Cannondale Bad Boy Rigid. Any opinions or alternative
recommendations?

Oh, I've got underground parking at work so no security issues.

Cheers,

Darth.

The main question you have to answer is whether you're ever going to want
to take it off road or not. If you're not going to then, IMO, there's no
point having a mountain bike with the Cannondale's weight and low gearing
in London. You'd be better off with a lighter hybrid / straight barred
racer. Ridgeback, Giant and Bianchi and others make nice ones. Look at

http://tinyurl.com/6b4z9

for a good overview - I have no connection with AW Cycles other than being
a customer!

One thing you should consider is how you want to carry luggage, if any.

--
Michael MacClancy
Random putdown - "He has never been known to use a word that might send a
reader to the dictionary." - William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway)
www.macclancy.demon.co.uk
www.macclancy.co.uk

in message <[email hidden]>, Dr Darth

(') said:

I've had a hunt through the archives and couldn't find what I was
looking for - apologies if this stuff has been covered a million times
before.

I'm looking to get a bike to commute from Wimbledon to the City
(moving to Wimbledon in the next couple of months). Ideally I'd like
something a little sturdier than a road bike so that I can take it on
holiday, but it will be doing the vast majority of its miles in
London.

I've got up to about £700 to spend (a bit more if I save up for a
little while). A friend who's a very keen cyclist recommended a
Cannondale Bad Boy Rigid. Any opinions or alternative
recommendations?

Cannondale make lovely bikes. Mine (a Jekyll) is easily my favourite
bike. The frames are things of beauty - exceptionally well made. But
there is a considerable price premium, and every bike thief knows the
name. There's no specially wonderful technology on the Bad Boy Rigid,
so if a a rigid fork hybrid is what you want then this isn't going to
be best value for money. If a Cannondale is what you want, get one with
some outrageous Cannondale technology, like the Bad Boy Ultra.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; IE 3 is dead, but Netscape 4 still shambles about the earth,
;; wreaking a horrific vengeance upon the living
;; anonymous

Dr Darth said:

Hi there,

I've had a hunt through the archives and couldn't find what I was
looking for - apologies if this stuff has been covered a million times
before.

I'm looking to get a bike to commute from Wimbledon to the City
(moving to Wimbledon in the next couple of months). Ideally I'd like
something a little sturdier than a road bike so that I can take it on
holiday, but it will be doing the vast majority of its miles in
London.

I've got up to about £700 to spend (a bit more if I save up for a
little while). A friend who's a very keen cyclist recommended a
Cannondale Bad Boy Rigid. Any opinions or alternative
recommendations?

Oh, I've got underground parking at work so no security issues.

Cheers,

Darth.

I recently bought a Specialised Sirrus Elite and am very pleased with it.

"Michael MacClancy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Dr Darth said:

Hi there,

I've had a hunt through the archives and couldn't find what I was
looking for - apologies if this stuff has been covered a million times
before.

I'm looking to get a bike to commute from Wimbledon to the City
(moving to Wimbledon in the next couple of months). Ideally I'd like
something a little sturdier than a road bike so that I can take it on
holiday, but it will be doing the vast majority of its miles in
London.

I've got up to about £700 to spend (a bit more if I save up for a
little while). A friend who's a very keen cyclist recommended a
Cannondale Bad Boy Rigid. Any opinions or alternative
recommendations?

Oh, I've got underground parking at work so no security issues.

Cheers,

Darth.

The main question you have to answer is whether you're ever going to want
to take it off road or not. If you're not going to then, IMO, there's no
point having a mountain bike with the Cannondale's weight and low gearing
in London. You'd be better off with a lighter hybrid / straight barred
racer. Ridgeback, Giant and Bianchi and others make nice ones. Look at

http://tinyurl.com/6b4z9

for a good overview - I have no connection with AW Cycles other than being
a customer!

One thing you should consider is how you want to carry luggage, if any.

--

Or if you want something that can do light off road I've been looking at the
following in your price bracket or a bit under;
Dawes 701, Sirrus Comp, BIANCHI Camaleonte 3 (very light off road).

Will be testing the Dawes and Sirrus this week hopefully. Really like the
look of the Camaleonte but I suppose the look will be ruined once I put
mudguards and a rack on it so I probably wont go for that.

--
Tumbleweed

email replies not necessary but to contact use;
tumbleweednews at hotmail dot com

(Dr Darth) said:

Hi there,

I've had a hunt through the archives and couldn't find what I was
looking for - apologies if this stuff has been covered a million times
before.

I'm looking to get a bike to commute from Wimbledon to the City
(moving to Wimbledon in the next couple of months). Ideally I'd like
something a little sturdier than a road bike so that I can take it on
holiday, but it will be doing the vast majority of its miles in
London.

I've got up to about £700 to spend (a bit more if I save up for a
little while). A friend who's a very keen cyclist recommended a
Cannondale Bad Boy Rigid. Any opinions or alternative
recommendations?

Oh, I've got underground parking at work so no security issues.

London commuting bike... I'd buy something like the Rotor Mission City
and Tour on this page:

<http://www.kinetics.org.uk/html/rotor_bikes.html>

which is a lot more money than you're suggesting... but worth it in
the long run I suggest.

It has a Rohloff speedhub and a Schmidt SON dynamo (and associated
lamps) which are good features for a bike that you want to ride year
round and not have to worry too much about stuff going wrong. There's
a good rack, which you'd also want (you'd need some panniers - Ortlieb
are the biz). Flat bars are my preference for urban commuting, I guess
you might prefer something with drops? The hydraulic brakes are nice
to have, but may be a bit unecessary - not sure really. Not sure
about the saddle and pedals. Some people love Brooks sadles - never
tried one myself. It's worth getting into spds. But no doubt you could
negotiate different saddle and pedals when ordering.

in message <[email hidden]>, Michael

MacClancy (') said:

Dr Darth said:

I've got up to about £700 to spend (a bit more if I save up for a
little while). A friend who's a very keen cyclist recommended a
Cannondale Bad Boy Rigid. Any opinions or alternative
recommendations?

The main question you have to answer is whether you're ever going to
want
to take it off road or not. If you're not going to then, IMO, there's
no point having a mountain bike with the Cannondale's weight and low
gearing
in London. You'd be better off with a lighter hybrid / straight
barred
racer.

While I agree that the Bad Boy would not be my first choice for this
application, you'd be very, very lucky indeed to find anything
*lighter* for the price. Actually, of course, if he wants a Cannondale,
_the_ Cannondale for this application is the Street Rohloff
<URL:http://www.cannondale.com/bikes/04/ce/model-4SS5K.html>

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; Want to know what SCO stands for?
;; http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20030605

[email hidden] (Dr Darth) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Hi there,

I've had a hunt through the archives and couldn't find what I was
looking for - apologies if this stuff has been covered a million times
before.

I'm looking to get a bike to commute from Wimbledon to the City
(moving to Wimbledon in the next couple of months). Ideally I'd like
something a little sturdier than a road bike so that I can take it on
holiday, but it will be doing the vast majority of its miles in
London.

I've got up to about £700 to spend (a bit more if I save up for a
little while). A friend who's a very keen cyclist recommended a
Cannondale Bad Boy Rigid. Any opinions or alternative
recommendations?

Oh, I've got underground parking at work so no security issues.

Cheers,

Darth.

I bought a new Marin Sausalito hybrid for a bit less than that money 4
years ago for my daily commute in London. I love it. It's very fast
(relative to a mountain bike), and very comfortable (front and seat
suspension).

Was stolen after a year, so I bought an identical one the next day.
Two and half years after that, the frame cracked, but the Marin
importers replaced it for free.

Despite those hassles, I'd buy another one tomorrow.

James

There's a lot of good advice here - thanks a lot to everyone.

After thinking about it overnight and having a long discussion in the
pub I've gone off the Bad Boy Ultra, primarily due to value for money.
The choice is now between:

Ridgeback Nemesis (although slightly concerned about internal hubs in
general)
Dawes 701 (seems nice and light)
Specialized Sirrus Elite (have seen some criticism of Armadillos in
this group)
Revolution Continental Race (looks like great value for the price)

Would be interested to hear if anyone has ridden the Revolution
(http://www.edinburgh-bicycle.co.uk/catalogue/detail.cfm?ID=19267)

Darth.

Dr Darth <[email hidden]> wrote:
: The choice is now between:

Have a look at the Kona Smoke as well then if you are looking at this
sort of kit.

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune http://www.clune.org
"Technolibertarians make a philosophy out of a personality defect"
- Paulina Borsook

"Tumbleweed" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Will be testing the Dawes and Sirrus this week hopefully. Really like the
look of the Camaleonte but I suppose the look will be ruined once I put
mudguards and a rack on it so I probably wont go for that.

Would be very interested to hear what you think of the Sirrus. This
range looks very good - although I'm not sure I can justify the Comp
as my first commuting bike!

Darth.

in message <[email hidden]>, Dr Darth

(') said:

There's a lot of good advice here - thanks a lot to everyone.

After thinking about it overnight and having a long discussion in the
pub I've gone off the Bad Boy Ultra, primarily due to value for money.
The choice is now between:

Ridgeback Nemesis (although slightly concerned about internal hubs in
general)
Dawes 701 (seems nice and light)
Specialized Sirrus Elite (have seen some criticism of Armadillos in
this group)
Revolution Continental Race (looks like great value for the price)

Would be interested to hear if anyone has ridden the Revolution
(http://www.edinburgh-bicycle.co.uk/catalogue/detail.cfm?ID=19267)

I haven't, but Edinburgh Bicycle Coop have an excellent reputation for
value for money.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
"The result is a language that... not even its mother could
love. Like the camel, Common Lisp is a horse designed by
committee. Camels do have their uses."
;; Scott Fahlman, 7 March 1995

Dr Darth said:

Ridgeback Nemesis (although slightly concerned about internal hubs in
general)

It depends what you have in mind for the bike, but for a general purpose
hack/commuter I'd sooner have a hub. Basically you have zero
maintenance of the gears to do, they'll last far, far longer before they
need to be replaced and so will your chain (perfect chainline the whole
time). You can change gear when you're not moving which can be really
handy if you've pulled up sharply for some reason in a high gear or are
stop/start in traffic.
The downsides are of a bit of extra weight, which is generally pretty
moot on a commuter bike, and a lower range of gears, but that's also not
generally as big a problem as a lot of people think. I get around
Dundee fine on a 3 gear folder, and Dundee has quite a selection of
topography. I do like the 27 speed derailleur on my tourer for all day
trips with loads, but I can't see much reason for that sort of setup on
a commuter: just paying money for something not really useful on that
sort of trip and which will cost a lot more time and money to maintain
and replace. Around London commuting 27 speeds is about as necessary as
a Land Rover to drop kids at a suburban school.

Quoted message said:

Dawes 701 (seems nice and light)
Specialized Sirrus Elite (have seen some criticism of Armadillos in
this group)
Revolution Continental Race (looks like great value for the price)

For the job you have in mind at this sort of price I'd have a good look
at the Orbit Orion City 7 (see
http://www.orbit-cycles.co.uk/orion3.shtml). It also includes good
quality built in hub dynamo lighting, which is fuss free and means
you've always got lighting when you need it, and there are mudguards and
a rack in the price too, which is a good idea on a commuter unless you
/like/ wearing rucksacks and being sprayed with a film of water and oil
every time the road is wet. It wouldn't be as sporty as the others
you've listed, but in my book a much better commute machine optimised
for the job of getting you from A to B through traffic without breaking
records. Everything on it is not only useful but right for the job at
the price.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

"Dr Darth" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Tumbleweed" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Will be testing the Dawes and Sirrus this week hopefully. Really like

the

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

look of the Camaleonte but I suppose the look will be ruined once I put
mudguards and a rack on it so I probably wont go for that.

Would be very interested to hear what you think of the Sirrus. This
range looks very good - although I'm not sure I can justify the Comp
as my first commuting bike!

Darth.

Havent yet seen the 701 but saw a 501,wasn't too impressed with the look of
the Dawes, didn't like the cables on the top tube or the bendy back bottom
forks (is that what they are called? I'm a newbie as well :-) This may be
petty but thats what I thought anyway the Spesh was a much 'neater' looking
bike.

Now for the Sirrus. GOOD news, liked everything about it (saw an Elite), BAD
news, none in stock anywhere including at the factory and there wont be any
until next years model in about 10 weeks time. So I can either wait until
Sep/Oct or hunt around other bike shops to find someone who has a Sirrus
Comp of the right size in stock.

On the upside, if I'm waiting until then, it gives me a reason to go the the
bike exhibition in london end of Sep. (I'm certainly not going there if I
just bought a new bike , bound to see something I wished I bought instead).
So I think I'll go to the exhibition in Sep.

--
Tumbleweed

email replies not necessary but to contact use;
tumbleweednews at hotmail dot com

"Jeremy Collins" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Tumbleweed said:

So I think I'll go to the exhibition in Sep.

Have you got any more details about this?

http://www.cycleshow.co.uk/

--
Tumbleweed

email replies not necessary but to contact use;
tumbleweednews at hotmail dot com

Dr Darth said:

There's a lot of good advice here - thanks a lot to everyone.

After thinking about it overnight and having a long discussion in the
pub I've gone off the Bad Boy Ultra, primarily due to value for money.
The choice is now between:

Ridgeback Nemesis (although slightly concerned about internal hubs in
general)
Dawes 701 (seems nice and light)
Specialized Sirrus Elite (have seen some criticism of Armadillos in
this group)
Revolution Continental Race (looks like great value for the price)

Would be interested to hear if anyone has ridden the Revolution
(http://www.edinburgh-bicycle.co.uk/catalogue/detail.cfm?ID=19267)

Darth.

Hi

I bought a Ridgeback Switch when I moved to Reading - as a town bike, it's the business. Not comfy over more than 10-20 miles, though.

If you want to go on holiday on your bike, have you considered a tourer? Not as good at stop-start traffic as an MTB, but tough as old boots! Lots of choices for £700 here. Dawes Galaxy (I might be selling a Galaxy frame soon if you're interested), Thorn club tour (never ridden one but I'm told they're excellent) and many others.

Let me know how you get on.

Chris

Tumbleweed said:

So I think I'll go to the exhibition in Sep.

Have you got any more details about this?

--
jc

Remove the -not from email

(Dr Darth) said:

Ideally I'd like
something a little sturdier than a road bike

There is no point in getting an MTB unless you are doing real off-road
stuff.

Sorry for just making your list longer but Robin Thorn at www.sjscycles.com
does some very nice 26in wheel tourers. These start at £699. They are very
well put together and make good all-rounders.

Ian