Becoming a roadie - which bike?

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

Quoted message said:

I've decided to go for it and buy a road bike. I envisage a bit of
commuting (at least 50% - coz that's what I have to do to get the bike
cheap), but I fancy the idea of touring in the summer - panniers and
all - plus general road blasting. Am I being too greedy by trying to
get all of this in one bike? I was looking at something like the new
Specialized Tricross as a sort-of go anywhere road bike, but see that
it only has a double chainset and coming from an MTB background, this
looks a bit iffy. Budget could be anything up to £1k or so and no, I
couldn't justify two more bikes to 'er indoors.

Looks like an audax/light tourer would suit. Not as fast as an out and out
racing machine, but not too bad either.

There are a few frames out there which suit, typically advertised as winter
training/audax frames. The ones I'd be looking for have bosses for a rack
and mudguard eyes (although these may be shared with the lower rack mounts).
I'd also be looking for one which takes deep-drop (old standard-drop)
brakes, for fitting of bigger tyres and mudguards (I've got 700x28).

Frames I know about:

Kinesis Racelight-T - What I've got, I'm very happy with it. 1 1/8" forks
Dolan as sold by Ribble Cycles - takes short-drop brakes, so tyre clearance
is worse. Mudguards fit, but it's getting marginal with 28s. 1 1/8" forks

Fort - I'm not sure if you can get one with rack bosses.
Tifosi CK7 - 1" forks :-(

Triples are easy to fit.

If you're considering heavy touring, then you probably don't want to use one
of these bikes - they're fast and ok with a light load, but won't carry an
enormous load happily. Instead you want something like a galaxy. Which with
lighter tyres on is still a reasonable road bike unladen.

cheers,
clive

druidh said:

Budget could be anything up to £1k or so and no, I
couldn't justify two more bikes to 'er indoors.

If you can justify spending that much money, you could easily get two
perfectly respectable bikes, each dedicated to a different mode of
cycling - in fact, you could probably get a pair of decent-ish bikes for
about £800, or maybe even less, especially if you are prepared to go
down the second-hand route. Sure, you don't /need/ an ultra-lightweight
bike to be a roadie, but you'll find it easier to keep up with other
roadies if you are not encumbered by the extra weight of racks and
lights and so on.

I speak from experience as one who has been trying to use one bike for
both commuting and riding with the club on Sunday mornings. It can't go
on. Come next spring I /shall/ be the owner of a /proper/ road bike (I
know I'm due a handsome rebate from Mr I. Revenue, but just how good a
bike I get depends on the extent of his largesse).

d.

davek said:

druidh said:

Budget could be anything up to £1k or so and no, I
couldn't justify two more bikes to 'er indoors.

If you can justify spending that much money, you could easily get two
perfectly respectable bikes, each dedicated to a different mode of
cycling - in fact, you could probably get a pair of decent-ish bikes for
about £800, or maybe even less, especially if you are prepared to go
down the second-hand route. Sure, you don't /need/ an ultra-lightweight
bike to be a roadie, but you'll find it easier to keep up with other
roadies if you are not encumbered by the extra weight of racks and
lights and so on.

I speak from experience as one who has been trying to use one bike for
both commuting and riding with the club on Sunday mornings. It can't go
on. Come next spring I /shall/ be the owner of a /proper/ road bike (I
know I'm due a handsome rebate from Mr I. Revenue, but just how good a
bike I get depends on the extent of his largesse).

d.

Aha - but (a) you're applying logic - which doesn't work in this case -
and (b) this is being partially funded through the Bike2work scheme and
it won't cover two bikes.

druidh

druidh said:

I've decided to go for it and buy a road bike. I envisage a bit of
commuting (at least 50% - coz that's what I have to do to get the bike
cheap), but I fancy the idea of touring in the summer - panniers and
all - plus general road blasting. Am I being too greedy by trying to
get all of this in one bike?

As Clive says, an Audax style bike will do it reasonably well, but do be
aware if you go into a shop and ask to look at "road bikes" it will
often be translated into "racers".

If you're not racing or heading out with the local chain gang then it
may make sense to do it in much, much more comfort, and get a moderately
hot recumbent like an HPVel Speedmachine, Challenge Hurricane, Optima
Stinger etc. Will cost more and you'll need to find a 'bentmonger who
can work in your B2W setup, but if you're saving that much you might as
well get something /very/ nice...

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/

Peter Clinch said:

druidh said:

I've decided to go for it and buy a road bike. I envisage a bit of
commuting (at least 50% - coz that's what I have to do to get the bike
cheap), but I fancy the idea of touring in the summer - panniers and
all - plus general road blasting. Am I being too greedy by trying to
get all of this in one bike?

As Clive says, an Audax style bike will do it reasonably well, but do be
aware if you go into a shop and ask to look at "road bikes" it will
often be translated into "racers".

Pardon me for my ignorance, but what is an "Audax" style bike? Some sort
of fast/light tourer? In which case, could you please quote some
examples of commonly available models which Halfords might be able to
get a hold of?

Quoted message said:

If you're not racing or heading out with the local chain gang then it
may make sense to do it in much, much more comfort, and get a moderately
hot recumbent like an HPVel Speedmachine, Challenge Hurricane, Optima
Stinger etc. Will cost more and you'll need to find a 'bentmonger who
can work in your B2W setup, but if you're saving that much you might as
well get something /very/ nice...

I'm not sure I'm quite ready for that. In any case, I doubt Halfords
would supply.

Thanks tho.

druidh

Quoted message said:

Pardon me for my ignorance, but what is an "Audax" style bike? Some
sort of fast/light tourer? In which case, could you please quote some
examples of commonly available models which Halfords might be able to
get a hold of?

Typically a road (racing) type bike with mudguards, triple thingy instead
of a double, wossnames to take a rear rack, wider tyres for comfort and a
slightly more upright/relaxed riding position.

Some examples here:
<url:http://www.bicycledoctor.co.uk/cat_audax.html#table>

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

Quoted message said:

Pardon me for my ignorance, but what is an "Audax" style bike? Some sort
of fast/light tourer?

Yup. Or a racing bike with can take racks and mudguards.

Quoted message said:

In which case, could you please quote some examples of commonly available
models which Halfords might be able to get a hold of?

My first thoughts upon reading this were 'wtf are you going to Halfords?'.
But then I remembered you're probably doing it through some work scheme, in
which case, bother.

Dawes Audax?

cheers,
clive

Clive George said:

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

Quoted message said:

Pardon me for my ignorance, but what is an "Audax" style bike? Some sort
of fast/light tourer?

Yup. Or a racing bike with can take racks and mudguards.

Quoted message said:

In which case, could you please quote some examples of commonly available
models which Halfords might be able to get a hold of?

My first thoughts upon reading this were 'wtf are you going to Halfords?'.
But then I remembered you're probably doing it through some work scheme, in
which case, bother.

Dawes Audax?

cheers,
clive

Dawes Audax looks just the job. Should be OK for Halfords too. I ain't
gonna break it my carrying a tent etc. am I??

druidh

druidh said:

Dawes Audax looks just the job. Should be OK for Halfords too. I ain't
gonna break it my carrying a tent etc. am I??

No. it should be fine for that unless it's a canvas marquee (in which
case you'll want a trailer too).

Check the fine print of your particular B2W. The one we're looking at
here would probably involve any of several shops, including the 2 LBSs
and EBC, and it may be possible to include other providers locally.
After all, the business end of what you need is someone that will take a
purchase order from your employer and agree that the warranty lies with
you and not your work.

Further worth noting that accessories will probably be covered too (EBC
certainly seem to think they are), so if you don't have panniers yet
then then worth looking into, especially if the shop you end up with can
be persuaded to get in Ortliebs, Carradice, Altura etc. Plus your lock,
lights if those you have aren't up to speed, and so on.

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/

Peter Clinch said:

druidh said:

Dawes Audax looks just the job. Should be OK for Halfords too. I ain't
gonna break it my carrying a tent etc. am I??

No. it should be fine for that unless it's a canvas marquee (in which
case you'll want a trailer too).

Check the fine print of your particular B2W. The one we're looking at
here would probably involve any of several shops, including the 2 LBSs
and EBC, and it may be possible to include other providers locally.
After all, the business end of what you need is someone that will take a
purchase order from your employer and agree that the warranty lies with
you and not your work.

Further worth noting that accessories will probably be covered too (EBC
certainly seem to think they are), so if you don't have panniers yet
then then worth looking into, especially if the shop you end up with can
be persuaded to get in Ortliebs, Carradice, Altura etc. Plus your lock,
lights if those you have aren't up to speed, and so on.

Pete.

Thanks.

Scheme is definitely with Halfords only - but I do get additional funds
(17.5% of list price) to spend on accessories. Panniers, rack etc would
be in the mix, if, as you say, I can get what I'm after.

druidh