Audax bike recommendations wanted

[iakobski]

My LBS has just told me that my old bike is beyond economical repair,
due to so many components being worn. So I'm after a new bike for
commuting (20 miles/day).

As I've recently moved out of town, my commute is now on the open road,
and I found I was riding with my fore-arms on the bars most of the way.
So for the first time I reckon I should get dropped bars. A road bike
looks good, except there's no way of putting a rack and guards on, and
a traditional tourer would be good if I was thinking of going touring
and wanted the comfort. These "Audax" bikes look like just the job -
close gears, short, stiff frame, fast, lugs, etc.

So never having ridden anything like this I need a bit of advice. My
options at the moment are:

1. Bianchi San Remo (2000 model). Campagnolo gears, sort-of STI (thumbs
for release) cantilever brakes, £620.

2. Orbit Helium (2004 model). Shimano Tiagra gears, road-style brakes,
STI shifters, £620.

3. Dawes Audax (wait for delivery). Aluminium, Shimano Tiagra/105 mix,
all the latest stuff, £760.

1. and 2. are in different shops but both appear to fit me exactly,
both are as light as a feather. Is there a problem with the Bianchi
being so old? Have things moved on or am I getting a bargain?

I honestly know nothing about this sort of bike and would welcome any
helpful comments. Thanks.

 

[Peter Clinch]

iakobski wrote:

> As I've recently moved out of town, my commute is now on the open road,
> and I found I was riding with my fore-arms on the bars most of the way.
> So for the first time I reckon I should get dropped bars. A road bike
> looks good, except there's no way of putting a rack and guards on

Depends on the bike. Some have eyelets that will allow this, others
don't. If you're not carrying much then something like an SQR bag may
provide enough storage space, especially combined with a bar bag.

> a traditional tourer would be good if I was thinking of going touring
> and wanted the comfort.

Oh, don't you like comfort then?

If not, don't consider a recumbent, for a reasonably quick hack on open
roads on a daily basis you can do a lot worse than a moderately sporty
recumbent. You'd probably have to up the budget though.

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 protected] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

 

[Simon Brooke]

in message <[email protected]>,
iakobski ('[email protected]') wrote:

> My LBS has just told me that my old bike is beyond economical repair,
> due to so many components being worn. So I'm after a new bike for
> commuting (20 miles/day).
>
> As I've recently moved out of town, my commute is now on the open
> road, and I found I was riding with my fore-arms on the bars most of
> the way. So for the first time I reckon I should get dropped bars. A
> road bike looks good, except there's no way of putting a rack and
> guards on, and a traditional tourer would be good if I was thinking of
> going touring and wanted the comfort. These "Audax" bikes look like
> just the job - close gears, short, stiff frame, fast, lugs, etc.
>
> So never having ridden anything like this I need a bit of advice. My
> options at the moment are:
>
> 1. Bianchi San Remo (2000 model). Campagnolo gears, sort-of STI
> (thumbs for release) cantilever brakes, £620.
>
> 2. Orbit Helium (2004 model). Shimano Tiagra gears, road-style brakes,
> STI shifters, £620.
>
> 3. Dawes Audax (wait for delivery). Aluminium, Shimano Tiagra/105 mix,
> all the latest stuff, £760.
>
> 1. and 2. are in different shops but both appear to fit me exactly,
> both are as light as a feather. Is there a problem with the Bianchi
> being so old? Have things moved on or am I getting a bargain?

I don't see why there should be any problem. Development of the
Campagnolo Ergo system (which is at least as good as STI) has been
incremental, and there should be no problems getting replacement parts.
As to whether it's a bargain, it depends partly on the groupset.
Veloce, which is what's on the 2003 model, is sort of middle of the
range for Campag, but Campag don't make ****. If you're getting Centaur
or Chorus, then it is a bargain.

The only thing to be slightly wary of is that at some point Campagnolo
changed their cog spacing slightly, and pre-change Ergo levers won't
work well with post-change cassettes and vice versa. Unfortunately I'm
not sufficiently an anorak to tell you exactly when this happened but I
think it was pre-2000.

--
[email protected] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
Windows 95:
You, you, you! You make a grown man cry...
M. Jagger/K. Richards

 

[Pete Biggs]

Simon Brooke wrote:
> The only thing to be slightly wary of is that at some point Campagnolo
> changed their cog spacing slightly, and pre-change Ergo levers won't
> work well with post-change cassettes and vice versa. Unfortunately I'm
> not sufficiently an anorak to tell you exactly when this happened but
> I think it was pre-2000.

Unfortunately I am that much of an anorak that I know the year of change
for Campag 9-speed was 2001, but don't let that one point put you off the
bike, iakobski.

It's not the cassette spacing that changed but the 9-speed Ergo cable pull
and rear mech geometry (slightly). Ideally it's best to stick with
pre-2001 if changing either one of these two components--they can be found
on the second-hand or new-old-stock market. Alternatively the levers can
be modified to 2001 spec, or change both together. No problem with the
rest of 2000 Campag kit, and no worries if it's 10-speed (ie. 10-speed
cassette).

Sorry I can't offer much more advice on the three bikes, I would guess
they're all good. Go with your own hunch: what feels best to you,
particularly when it comes to size&shape of the frames, then the
brake/gear levers--the levers are the only substantial practical
difference between Campag and Shimano groupsets.

Re brakes: I've found dual-pivot road brakes work better than cantis,
though maybe I never really got cantis adjusted optimally.

~PB

 

[wafflycat]

"iakobski" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...


1. Bianchi San Remo (2000 model). Campagnolo gears, sort-of STI (thumbs
for release) cantilever brakes, £620.

I have a Bianchi San Remo and I love it. It's my everyday bike for rides
long & short. I've cycled it in France, Germany & Italy as well as miles &
miles round home. Summer 2004 it served me well on a cycling tour of
Brodeaux when it was fully loaded with panniers stuffed full of clothes &
supplies for a holiday of nearly three weeks duration.

Alterations I've made to the bike - got mudguards, rear rack for panniers,
different saddle, bar bag mount and Minoura spacer bar to act as mount for
front lights.

See

http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/wafflycat/detail?.dir=311f&.dnm=5302.jpg&.src=ph
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/wafflycat/detail?.dir=311f&.dnm=ddef.jpg&.src=ph
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/wafflycat/detail?.dir=67b2&.dnm=dd16.jpg&.src=ph
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/wafflycat/detail?.dir=67b2&.dnm=f3f2.jpg&.src=ph

Cheers, helen s

 

[iakobski]

Thanks everyone for the advice.

Hadn't thought of a recumbent - will dwell on it, but don't think the
budget will stretch that far. Definitely something for the future,
though.

I suppose my worry about the Bianchi was that a few years ago the
quality of components was going up and the prices coming down, so that
a new model might have better stuff for the same price. I have been
fairly heavy on rear mechs in the past, but should get at least 10K out
of it, especially now I'm not riding in in town. At that point changing
levers at the same time would be reasonable (you're right it is a 9
speed).

Waffly, I'm impressed - I hadn't thought of using a bike like that for
proper distances. That's why I said I wasn't looking for comfort [wink]
- I do 10 miles each way and prefer speed to comfort! Guards and a rear
rack will go on straight away, and probably swap the saddle.

 

[Pete Biggs]

iakobski wrote:
> I suppose my worry about the Bianchi was that a few years ago the
> quality of components was going up and the prices coming down, so that
> a new model might have better stuff for the same price.

That hasn't happened with Campag stuff. Apart from 10-speed becoming the
norm for the higher groups, and the odd slight exception, there's been no
major leaps forward in quality of components. It's all pretty much the
same as it was five years ago, actually. Same will be true for most of
the other components on the bike.

By the way, the 2001 change with the 9sp Ergos and mechs was more about
harmonising the design of the mech with the 10sp version rather than
improving function.

Good luck with whatever bike you get.

~PB

 

[Arthur Clune]

Pete Biggs <pwrinkledgrape{remove_fruit}@biggs.tc> wrote:

: That hasn't happened with Campag stuff. Apart from 10-speed becoming the
: norm for the higher groups, and the odd slight exception, there's been no
: major leaps forward in quality of components. It's all pretty much the
: same as it was five years ago, actually. Same will be true for most of
: the other components on the bike.

Depends how you define "no major leap forward". The clumative changes are
significant IMO. I'd have no worries about buying a bike a couple of years
old if the price was right though.

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune PGP/GPG Key: http://www.clune.org/pubkey.txt
It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness

 

[wafflycat]

"iakobski" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Thanks everyone for the advice.
>
> Hadn't thought of a recumbent - will dwell on it, but don't think the
> budget will stretch that far. Definitely something for the future,
> though.
>

I occasionally borrow my recumbent from my son ;-)

> I suppose my worry about the Bianchi was that a few years ago the
> quality of components was going up and the prices coming down, so that
> a new model might have better stuff for the same price. I have been
> fairly heavy on rear mechs in the past, but should get at least 10K out
> of it, especially now I'm not riding in in town. At that point changing
> levers at the same time would be reasonable (you're right it is a 9
> speed).
>

Have to say the components on mine are good - and the bike was second-hand.
Mind you, I have an excellent personal bike mechanic!


> Waffly, I'm impressed - I hadn't thought of using a bike like that for
> proper distances. That's why I said I wasn't looking for comfort [wink]
> - I do 10 miles each way and prefer speed to comfort! Guards and a rear
> rack will go on straight away, and probably swap the saddle.
>

Basically it's what it was designed for - an Aidax. In the original Bianchi
catalogue which lurks somewhere in the dusty recesses on my library, the San
Remo was described as an Audax bike. I am more than happy with mine over
short & long distances, fully loaded with bulging panniers or no load other
than my fat rear end [1]

Cheers, helen s

[1] Rear end is considerable smaller than it used to be - still large, but
not as eclipse-inducing as it was

 

[Pete Biggs]

Arthur Clune wrote:
> Pete Biggs <pwrinkledgrape{remove_fruit}@biggs.tc> wrote:
>
>> That hasn't happened with Campag stuff. Apart from 10-speed
>> becoming the norm for the higher groups, and the odd slight
>> exception, there's been no major leaps forward in quality of
>> components. It's all pretty much the same as it was five years ago,
>> actually. Same will be true for most of the other components on the
>> bike.
>
> Depends how you define "no major leap forward".

[Campag] An example would be the latest high-end hub design, which was
radically different to previous Campag hubs, but that was around in 2000!,
and has not changed since. There's been nothing like that degree of
quality improvement with any other component either. Some of the
components have been slightly tweaked, some are the same! Ok, there have
been major introductions like Veloce 10-speed and compact chainsets but
that's not a change in basic /quality/ to the main stuff.

> The clumative changes are significant IMO.

Not for the Veloce and Centaur groups, IMO.

~PB