hi all,

so…"hypothetically" if you had £3-500 to spend on a road bike that has to do the following with a frequency as shown, what would you buy…tempted by a pompino but for the touring i think i'd prefer gears…

any suggestions?

commuting – every day ~22 mile round trip – want to be faster (and lighter) than current mtb with slicks. (every day)
long road ride (~10 times a year)
touring holiday (~2 times a year)

thanks!

Dawes Galaxy.

No idea on prices but off the top of my head a Kona Jake (or equivalent) or as aP says, Dawes Galaxy.

sorry, is that Hundred or Thousand?

A new Dawes Galaxy would cost well over £1000.
Something like the Dawes Horizon or Ridgeback Voyage is a bit cheaper. Or the Edinburgh Bikes Revolution Country Traveller for £500.

Or something like a Specialized Tricross would be a bit lighter/faster, but you could still fit a rack etc for touring.

i guess hundred, it was just the Galaxy comment that threw me.
Yeah, Jake is good, what about a Pomp or RR and in time sticking an Alfine on? or a Dew Drop?

cheers guys…

i guess the deal with the alfine is the friction compared with a deraillier…does anyone have any thoughts on that? does it really worsen performance that much?

Id ask that guy that just broke the round the world record. I think he had an alfine so it cant slow you down that much.

[cough] nice Ribble in the classifieds, even if I do say so myself [/cough]

I'd buy a second hand roadbike. I'd look for a proper tourer though, say a kaffenback or similar.

…the only extra friction ive noticed with my alfine is when your back pedal the bike when your off it. the pedals dont spin like on a derallieur bike.

I love mine, its different but once you take advantage of it, its good ddifferent. only negative is the jump in ratio's sometimes. goes from too easy to too hard in one click. think its only a couple of gears affected though.

2nd Hand Ribble Audax/Winter would be perfect. I sold one a few weeks ago for £300 (with Tiagra gearing) and you should be able to pick up similar.

drop bars or flar/bull horn?

also for that you def want a bike you can fit proper mudguards to and a rack, that rules out a lot of bikes unless you go for crud road guards / sks race blades etc and clip on racks.

On-One Pompetamine Alfine Comp £599

but that is a bit over budget..

so:
still over budget but you get gaurds and on offer at £599 down from £699 – only few sizes at evans though.. but a great looking bike
Ridgeback Horizon 2010

Giant Rapid on sale at £399 are Cycle Surgery

a few guys at work have Rapids / FCR – nice bikes they have rack mounts and giant do full guards to them

next one up £479

obviously there is the ubiquitous Specialized Sirrus's and Boardman hybrids

Don't forget to budget for lights if the side you're planning on going is going to be dark.