The Trust that I work for has finally got its act together and as from April 09 will support the Bike to Work Scheme. Since the number of bikes to own is widely accepted as n + 1 (where n = the number of bikes you already have) I'm considering utilising said scheme. I'm thinking about a fast commuter/road bike; possibly a cyclocross bike.In fact I am quite taken with the Genesis Croix de Fer, on an initial and brief encounter. The only other bike on my list, ATM, is the, ubiquitous, Cotic Road Rat.
Since I've never, no, really, rode a bike with 700c wheels or drops any advice/thoughts would be welcome.
get a proper road bike not an overpriced hybrid. if your commute is short and you have some off road paths to ride get a cross bike.
get something that fits properly which means being sold a bike by a proper shop not halfords/evans.
when i sat on the adjustable fitting bike the first thing they said was "so you're a mountainbiker then?" if i had chosen the bike i thought would fit me it would have been totally the wrong size.
it doesn't matter how nice the bike is if it doesn't fit you.
ditto,
road bikes will take a suprising ammount of punishment, I used to go biving on mine, the last couple of miles to the camp were invariably off road (who wants to sleep next to a road?)
Unless your going cross racing whats the point?
Agree with Mr Smith - just been through a similar process, and the fit is all important, much more so than in MTB. One brand's 58cm is not necessarily the same as anothers. Also there is a lot of difference between the geometries - some have a more racy feel, others (compact frames) have a more relaxed geometry and may be better for longer rides. Again without stating the obvious get a test ride.
Don't rule out Halfords of Evans as they both stock some good bikes e.g. Boardman at Halfords. When I was going round all the bike shops for a few months looking at different brands the local Evans had much more interested and informed staff than a few of the independent LBSs.
If you are using it to commute you might need to get something which can fit mudguards.
Lots of useful info and threads about this on BikeRadar and Roadcyclinguk forums.
Chhos the bike on what use you will put it to, otherwise you may not use it much.
That top ridgeback Flight looks nice, virtually a Croix d'Fer with flat bars. Looks tasty, just add bar ends.
Or I ordered a Focus cross bike with discs last year (that I had to cancel) which is cheaper than either and with good kit & frame.
I'd like a 'cross bike, but not for general road transport purposes - for that I'd recommend a bike designed for the purpose, ie proper drop bar'd road bike to which you can fit mudguards. Once you've used guards, there's no turning back!
I've got a Kinesis Racelight Tk, which I find a great bike - comfy, fast, attractive, versatile.
Any road bike will get you along un-made roads/tracks, but you need plenty of pressure in the tyres to avoid flats.
For commuting or mucking about I'd choose a hybrid or a cross bike. Kerbs, paths, bad potholes aren't so much fun on a proper road bike. Anything over 6 or 7 miles tho on proper roads, I'd get a road bike.
Flat barred hybrids tend to have real V brakes which are better than cross cantis or road bike brakes, in my experience (flameproof suit on). Partly because when you're on the hoods on roadie brake levers you don't get as much leverage as on the drops; however you want to be on the hoods most of the time cos it's more comfortable and you can see around traffic much better.
Having said that, I've just converted my Dew to drop bars - why? Dunno really. Will see how I get on with the brakes, but might have to change the bars back.
Please. No more whybrids!
I think the Croix de Fer is the bike I'd go for. As said you need to consider exactly what you're going to use the bike for.
I've not ridden a 700c road bike for about 20 years and reckon that if you're not used to a lightweight road bike you won't really notice the extra few pounds of the Croix de Fer. I currently commute 7 miles each way on my mountain bike with knobblies, mostly along a disused railway line which can get muddy, but has a few miles of tarmac at the end. I also reckon I'm much more likely to do a bit of light touring than a road race, and the Genesis is quite a bit lighter than most touring bikes.
Also check how much your Trust will give you. My Trust has a £500 limit.
It will be used for commuting (10 miles on and off road) and longer road rides.
What's wrong with hybrids?
Get something you can put a rack and mudguards on. I found a proper racer with no mudguard/rack mounts a bit of a pain as the SKS raceblades are a bit annoying, and using a rucksack in racy position was no fun at all.
Just started using my new kaffenback with a rack and pannier and its a big improvement.
What? Apart from being slow on the road and rubbish off-road?
What's wrong with hybrids?
It's only an image problem. IMO the average hybrid is comfier than a road bike on the road, faster than a mountain bike on the road, and will glady deal with firetracks and towpaths as well as any mountainbike 🙂
If your commute doesn't involve either high speed road riding or heavy going offroad, why have a machine that specialises in either and sacrifices the other when you can have a machine that does a perfectly acceptable job of both?
Comfier than a road bike? Eh? How can restricting your positions to a choice of one be more comfy?
Plus a road bike is perfectly capable of rolling down a towpath if you fit slightly larger rubber.
glenp as you seem to have a dislike of hybrides whats your take on flat bared road bikes? as they can offer advantages in traffic.
toxicsocks what trust do you work for as mine is bring this in in April as well.
More upright position - less stretched out - more comfy.
The main issue is the tyres though really, but proper road bikes can't take bigger tyres.
Comfier than a road bike? Eh? How can restricting your positions to a choice of one be more comfy?
More upright position - less stretched out - more comfy.
That was my thought. Contrary to the belief of most serious cyclists, having your back perpedicular, rather than parallel to the floor is more comfortable for the vast majority of the cycle commuting public 🙂
Personally, I'd take a cyclocross bike over anything else if I had a few off-tarmac miles chucked into my commute. But then I would, because I'm a serious cyclist. Someone who chooses to spend his sundays up muddy hills in wind, hail, rain and snow rather than watching Top Gear repeats on Dave, thus I'm not really representative of the vast majorit of people 🙂
What? Apart from being slow on the road and rubbish off-road?
They are faster than an MTB on road and better than a road bike off road. That's kind of why they are called hybrids. It's just a flat barred road bike with bigger tyres and lower gears. What's wrong with that? Or you could say it's a 29er with thin tyres. Would that make it sound more attractive?
Hybrids aren't always sit up and beg shopper types you know. I'd get a decent one for urban riding since flat bars are better for traffic - not least because you can sit up and see at the same time as being able to grab the brakes full hard when you need to stop in an emergency. Plus you get V brakes which are a lot better than roadie calipers.
And yes my road bike can only take 23c tyres. Which are truly crap offroad - even if you pump them up hard the grip is still terrible.
Why does road bike mean flat back? Just set your road bike up for the kind of riding you want to do - sensible drop to the tops of the bars (rather than super-low), sensible reach to the hoods etc. Then you still have loads of hand positions, you still have a comfortable reach etc, but you don't have to ride around on a compromised bike.
A decent Audax type frame will take 28mm tyres if you want, plus mudguards, plus rack. And will be quicker, more comfortable and much less embarrassing than a whybrid.
Regular road brakes are perfectly adequate btw - "long drop" for 28mm tyres/mudguards.
Plus a road bike is perfectly capable of rolling down a towpath if you fit slightly larger rubber.
Perfectly capable on 23c IME.
+1 for Molgrips and hybrids. I've never really got why people rave about the Road Rat and slate hybrids. Sure, mine isn't as fast as my road bike on the open road- but I'm not on the open road, I'm in the middle of Birmingham. And it's not as good offroad as an MTB- but I'm not going off road, only along the canal path. Suits me fine.
A decent Audax type frame will take 28mm tyres if you want, plus mudguards, plus rack.
Sounds a bit like a hybrid to me.
When I'm done tweaking my hybrid you won't be able to tell it from a tourer, hybrid or a drop-bar 29er. So bugger off.
You seem to think of bybrids like this:
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When I am thinking more like this:
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The PhD is a seriously nice bike. The perfect city machine. I firmly believe (having ridden both lots) that flat bars are loads better for the city.
W
I'd go with the Croix de Fer, just because it seems to get up the nose of the front pannier merchants:
http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?t=18303
The nice thing about CX bikes with bosses is that with a bit of swapping of guards, racks and tyres they can fulfil a really wide range of duties. Touring, road riding, commuting, and definitely racing (a mate recently finished top five in his first ever CX race on a RoadRat). As Molgrips says, flat bars are ace for traffic, but for touring and roadying you want drops.
As a 6'2" bloke with 34" inside leg I thought I'd need a 60cm frame...........er, no. Both the CdF and Spesh Tricross felt like gates, bloody big, stretched out gates at 60cm.The 58cm CdF felt just about right. With, perhaps,a bit of faffage regarding the stem (length/elevation) it could well be perfect - or is this just my lack of experience with drops/road/cx geometry?
Kona Sutra.
700c wheels. Drop Bars. Disk Brakes. Rack and Pannier mounts (front and rear). "Relaxed" riding position.
Road geometry will feel well weird to a MTBer I think. Hence the hybrid idea 🙂
Rat. You need a Rat.
Not the caged variety, the Cotic variety.
Surprisingly heavy though.
My old steel roadbike has taken a years punishment towing a kids trailer with 2 little people aboard. And its on 23c's.
owenfackrell - LeedsTHT, for my sins. 🙁
