I commute year-round daily from a village in the Tyne Valley to Newcastle upon Tyne (about 7 miles).
My current bike is a Revolution Cross (either the 2012 or 2013 model, I can’t remember). It’s been fine, but it’s starting to get a bit tired (after several thousand miles) and I’d like to relegate it to use as a spare.
My ride is a mixture of gravelled and paved (tarmac) cycleways, with a couple of sections of road thrown in. The cycleways can be fairly muddy in the winter. There are some long not especially steep inclines, and a very steep short hill on my way home.
My initial thought was to buy another cyclocross bike, but I’ve been reading about gravel road bikes and that kind of thing and becoming progressively more unsure about what I want. Can anyone recommend a bike that fits the following criteria:
– Drop handlebars;
– Under £1000 (I’d be buying through Cyclescheme);
– Able to take mudguards;
– Able to take panniers if I do any touring on it;
– In total, the journeys take me about 35 minutes, which isn’t bad, but it’d be good to shave some time off the journey, so perhaps I can find something a bit ‘quicker’ than the Revolution?
– There’s sometimes a lot of glass on my route. The only tyres (I’ve tried several) that have stood up have been Schwalbe Marathon plus, so I’d need something that could take a set of these.
Thanks!
