Dawes or Specialized ?

In message <[email hidden]>, Neil M
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

OK, today is the day. Should I go for the Dawes Discovery 601 which I can get straight away or wait
possible many weeks for the new batch of '04 Specialized Sirrus Sports/Experts.

Decisions Decisions!!

You might want to read this about the Dawes first. tinyurl.comjmt3Open ↗

The Giant FCR range is very good. See tinyurl.comjmt6Open ↗. Most other manufacturers also have
something similar. (See Ridgeback amongst for examples.)
--
Michael MacClancy

www.macclancy.demon.co.uk

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

In message <[email hidden]>, Neil M
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

OK, today is the day. Should I go for the Dawes Discovery 601 which I can get straight away or
wait possible many weeks for the new batch of '04 Specialized Sirrus Sports/Experts.

Decisions Decisions!!

You might want to read this about the Dawes first. tinyurl.comjmt3Open ↗

Hmm, Sean can't spell pedal.

Colin

In message <MPG.19a18558d5ccb039989b56@localhost>, Colin Blackburn
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

In message <[email hidden]>, Neil M
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

OK, today is the day. Should I go for the Dawes Discovery 601 which I can get straight away or
wait possible many weeks for the new batch of '04 Specialized Sirrus Sports/Experts.

Decisions Decisions!!

You might want to read this about the Dawes first. tinyurl.comjmt3Open ↗

Hmm, Sean can't spell pedal.

Colin

He likes Bromptons though, so he does have redeeming features.

tinyurl.comjmviOpen ↗
--
Michael MacClancy

www.macclancy.demon.co.uk

Michael MacClancy said:

In message <[email hidden]>, Neil M
<[email hidden]> writes You might want to read this about the Dawes first.
tinyurl.comjmt3Open ↗

This is their description of the problems: "Go on, hit me with it... Within a month, the screws
holding the peddle-straps had either loosened or fallen off, the finger-grooves on the end of the
handlebars had snapped - and the crankset needed to be replaced (at a cost of £65) after the
loosely-fitted peddles burrowed into the grip. Perhaps I was unlucky - but it's not really what you
want from a £500+ bike."

"Peddle-straps"? "finger-grooves on the end of the handlebars snapped"? "loosely-fitted peddles
burrowed into the grip"?

The author is, perhaps, a little Grauniaddled.

--
Jim Price

jimprice.dsl.pipex.comjimprice.dsl.pipex.comOpen ↗

Conscientious objection is hard work in an economic war.

Colin Blackburn said:

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

In message <[email hidden]>, Neil M
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

OK, today is the day. Should I go for the Dawes Discovery 601 which I can get straight away or
wait possible many weeks for the new batch of '04 Specialized Sirrus Sports/Experts.

Decisions Decisions!!

You might want to read this about the Dawes first. tinyurl.comjmt3Open ↗

Hmm, Sean can't spell pedal.

Also sounds as if the most expensive fault - the chainset - had been caused by the pedals not being
tightened enough, which was probably carried out at the dealer, not by Dawes themselves.

John B

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

Quoted message said:

OK, today is the day. Should I go for the Dawes Discovery 601 which I can get straight away or
wait possible many weeks for the new batch of '04 Specialized Sirrus Sports/Experts.

Decisions Decisions!!

--
Neil M

Buy neither they are both dreaded Hybrids !

Graham

Graham said:

Buy neither they are both dreaded Hybrids !

What's so dreadful about hybrids? Aside from the obvious, like they're not as comfy as a recumbent
or don't fold as small as a Brompton, a hybrid represents a good "do everything reasonably well"
basic design. If you want one bike to do everything and can't afford the likes of Moultons or
Birdys, they're an obvious starting point IMHO.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net [email hidden]
dundee.ac.uk~pjclinchOpen ↗

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

Quoted message said:

You might want to read this about the Dawes first. tinyurl.comjmt3Open ↗

Moral: make sure you go to a decent bike shop - not least because the crankset replacement was
evidently a direct result of faulty setup at the shop, so should absolutely not have been
chargeable.

FWIW, every Dawes I have ever had has been entirely satisfactory in a Ronseal quick drying woodstain
kind of way. The best thing about a Dawes is that when things wear out the bike is usually worth the
cost of replacing the worn-out bit with a better quality one.

--
Guy
===

WARNING: may contain traces of irony. Contents may settle after posting.
chapmancentral.comchapmancentral.comOpen ↗

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

Quoted message said:

Graham said:

Buy neither they are both dreaded Hybrids !

What's so dreadful about hybrids? Aside from the obvious, like they're not as comfy as a recumbent
or don't fold as small as a Brompton, a hybrid represents a good "do everything reasonably well"
basic design. If you want one bike to do everything and can't afford the likes of Moultons or
Birdys, they're an obvious starting point IMHO.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells
Hospital Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net [email hidden]
dundee.ac.uk~pjclinchOpen ↗

Hybrids do everything badly and nothing well, they are for people who can't make up ther mind
about anything. They want to go fast but don't want a "road" bike, and they can't be bothered
sticking a set of slicks on a "Mountain Bike".

Graham

Just zis Guy said:

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

Quoted message said:

You might want to read this about the Dawes first. tinyurl.comjmt3Open ↗

Moral: make sure you go to a decent bike shop - not least because the crankset replacement was
evidently a direct result of faulty setup at the shop, so should absolutely not have been
chargeable.

FWIW, every Dawes I have ever had has been entirely satisfactory in a Ronseal quick drying
woodstain kind of way. The best thing about a Dawes is that when things wear out the bike is
usually worth the cost of replacing the worn-out bit with a better quality one.

Had just one problem with my dawes audax - shop discovered one of the sti shifters well - wasn't.
Didn't matter what they tried, it wasn't working (can't remember if it was intermittent, or total
knackered). Shop put new shifter on f.o.c. I guess that's an advantage over getting it from an LBS
rather than one of the online merchants! Other than that, only slight peculiarity is a tendancy to
jump off middle chainring onto granny when in the lowest gears, but at the moment putting it down to
one of those things/slight adjustment needed.

Other than that, been VERY happy with it. Once I'd changed various bits to get it to fit me better
(being short but long-legged, and the bike being the smallest size frame for the audax they did, it
was far too stretched out for me).

Velvet

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

Quoted message said:

What's so dreadful about hybrids?

Quite. Mike Burrows reportedly said that a hybrid is marketing speak for what in our youth would
have been called "a bike."

--
Guy
===

WARNING: may contain traces of irony. Contents may settle after posting.
chapmancentral.comchapmancentral.comOpen ↗

"Graham" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:bh8136

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Hybrids do everything badly and nothing well, they are for people who can't make up ther mind
about anything. They want to go fast but don't want a

"road"

Quoted message said:

bike, and they can't be bothered sticking a set of slicks on a "Mountain Bike".

I made up my mind instantly - I wanted a hybrid. A road bike would not cope with the off road
tracks, foreshores, gravel tracks and ex rail lines that I commute on.

A MTB with slicks is too undergeared to take full advantage of good tarmac. The whole point of a
hybrid is that you can mix your commute as you want and not be tied down to one route by the type of
bike you are using.

--
Simon Mason Anlaby East Yorkshire. 53°44'N 0°26'W simonmason.karoo.netsimonmason.karoo.netOpen ↗

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

Quoted message said:

Michael MacClancy said:

In message <[email hidden]>, Neil M
<[email hidden]> writes You might want to read this about the Dawes first.
tinyurl.comjmt3Open ↗

This is their description of the problems: "Go on, hit me with it... Within a month, the screws
holding the peddle-straps had either loosened or fallen off, the finger-grooves on the end of the
handlebars had snapped - and the crankset needed to be replaced (at a cost of £65) after the
loosely-fitted peddles burrowed into the grip. Perhaps I was unlucky - but it's not really what
you want from a £500+ bike."

"Peddle-straps"? "finger-grooves on the end of the handlebars snapped"? "loosely-fitted peddles
burrowed into the grip"?

The author is, perhaps, a little Grauniaddled.

--
Jim Price

jimprice.dsl.pipex.comjimprice.dsl.pipex.comOpen ↗

Conscientious objection is hard work in an economic war.

I couldn't understand what he was on about either.

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

Quoted message said:

Hybrids do everything badly and nothing well, they are for people who can't make up ther mind
about anything. They want to go fast but don't want a

"road"

Quoted message said:

bike, and they can't be bothered sticking a set of slicks on a "Mountain Bike".

Or you could say they do everything well but nothing brilliantly :-)

And that they are for people who know they do not want a 'racer' or a bouncy MTB but do want to get
out and explore the country lanes, bridle ways & cycle tracks. Oh -- and unlike the dedicated few
they really do not want 3 or 4 bikes (per person) cluttering up the place.

I don't have a hybrid as such -- though I use my tourer for most things except proper cross country
when the hardtail comes out.

T

In message <[email hidden]>, Graham <[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

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

Quoted message said:

Graham said:

Buy neither they are both dreaded Hybrids !

What's so dreadful about hybrids? Aside from the obvious, like they're not as comfy as a
recumbent or don't fold as small as a Brompton, a hybrid represents a good "do everything
reasonably well" basic design. If you want one bike to do everything and can't afford the likes
of Moultons or Birdys, they're an obvious starting point IMHO.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells
Hospital Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net [email hidden]
dundee.ac.uk~pjclinchOpen ↗

Hybrids do everything badly and nothing well, they are for people who can't make up ther mind
about anything. They want to go fast but don't want a "road" bike, and they can't be bothered
sticking a set of slicks on a "Mountain Bike".

Graham

Ouch! You must be a truly great person sitting up there on your pedestal proclaiming about other
people supposed inadequacies. I guess there are many people who would not buy bikes if hybrids
didn't exist. They don't want racing bars because they find them awkward, particularly the braking.
Putting slicks on a mountain bike doesn't turn it into a hybrid either.

--
Michael MacClancy

www.macclancy.demon.co.uk

Quoted message said:

OK, today is the day. Should I go for the Dawes Discovery 601 which I can get straight away or
wait possible many weeks for the new batch of '04 Specialized Sirrus Sports/Experts.

I've been looking at the Discovery 601 too. Where can you get it straight away from?

If anyone has some suggestions for alternatives, I'd like to hear them. I'd like something that's
closer to a road bike than an MTB, but with a wider (particularly at the low end) range of gears
than road bikes usually have - I'm currently unfit and struggle up hills! The 601 seems to have the
sort of range I'm looking for, so anything similar to that, I'd like to know about. Thanks.

Simon Kempster

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

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

OK, today is the day. Should I go for the Dawes Discovery 601 which I

can

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

get straight away or wait possible many weeks for the new batch of '04 Specialized Sirrus
Sports/Experts.

I've been looking at the Discovery 601 too. Where can you get it straight away from?

The company thats dealing with my insurance replacement can get me a 601 straight away. Also my
local LBS - Olympic Cycles in Nottingham has one in stock.

Neil M.

Graham said:

Hybrids do everything badly and nothing well

A good hybrid will do everything reasonably but nothing brilliantly,=20 which isn't the same at all.

Quoted message said:

they are for people who can't make up ther mind about anything.

Bollocks(TM). In many cases they're for people who know very well in=20 their mind that their wallet
and/or available storage space will only=20 extend to a single cycle, so they look to one that will
cover as many=20 bases as possible. A tourer is another option to do similar, but it does some
things=20 better, others worse, than a hybrid. You choose, you lose.

I prefer a specialist tool for every job, so have 4 bikes and unicycle=20 and plans to buy more
(Burrows 8-Freight probable next purchase).=20 That's all right for me, I have some spare income and
a garage without a =

car. Not everyone does. If I had one bike for everything it would=20 probably be a Birdy Grey. They
cost about =A31500, not an option for a=20 lot of people.

Quoted message said:

They want to go fast but don't want a "road" bike, and they can't be bothered sticking a set of
slicks on a "Mountain Bike"=

=2E

Stick a set of slicks on a current MTB and have gearing and suspension=20 that's optimised for
off-road, where you won't be spending much time.=20 Not too clever. Most people want to get about
moderately efficiently in fair comfort,=20 but aren't *too* concerned with absolute speed. So a bike
that will=20 take mudgaurds and a luggage rack makes a lot more sense than an out and =

out racer.

Pete. --=20 Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Medical Physics,
Ninewells Hospital Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net [email hidden]
dundee.ac.uk~pjclinchOpen ↗

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

Quoted message said:

Ouch! You must be a truly great person sitting up there on your pedestal proclaiming about other
people supposed inadequacies. I guess there are many people who would not buy bikes if hybrids
didn't exist. They don't want racing bars because they find them awkward, particularly the
braking. Putting slicks on a mountain bike doesn't turn it into a hybrid either.

Exactly. Let me see, I'll put slicks on my MTB, perhaps fit 700C wheels while I'm at it. I'll then
fit a cassette with a 11t small cog and maybe alter the frame geometry a bit and add mudguards.
What have I got? This perhaps:

simonmason.karoo.netzbike.htmOpen ↗
--
Simon