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I am looking at buying a do it all bike, or as near as possible, something to stick a pannier on CX type for winter, road etc.
With hydraulic discs around the corner should I buy now or wait and see what comes out in the new season, don't really have a budget but could afford upto £1500.
If I got mechanical discs would they be easily changed to Hydraulic at a later date or would the cables lugs not take the hyraulics.
If you need it now buy it now, there will always be some new tech to wait for.
Admittedly hydraulic discs (actually I think it's the STI levers that are holding things up) are a good one and maybe worthwhile, but also consider your budget - if you want the latest kit it'll cost you more and with only* £1500 to spend if you go for hydraulics something else might have to give....
* Yes I know £1500 is a shed load of money to me too
I got a Genesis Vapour CX bike for £1300. Alu frame, carbon fork, BB7 mech discs. Have to say I'm very happy with the brakes, I thought about waiting for hydros but am glad I didnt, just cant see why I would need any more power.....are waaaaay better than v/calipers in the wet. Good bike.
I can't see the point in waiting for hydraulic disks. I've been running BB7s on road biks for around 4 years and they are just about perfect.
I really dig the boardman cx pro.
I thought about the Boardman but I know going into Halfords to talk about a bike I would be up on an assault charge after my last experience.
I was looking for tubes for my 29er and the guy said "are you sure its 29 they are all 26" muppet.
Anyway I digress. Yes £1500 is a healthy budget do we anticipate that hydros will be "significantly" expensive for a few years? I don't really have \a budget but I can't take the p155 as Doris let me blow the budget before Christmas on my 29er.
I am liking the Vapour, have you had a rack on it? How is it for comfort.
7 years on drops and BB7s, happy.
Depends whether you want to ride it for a year more or have hydraulics.
obviously the thing to do is to buy it and use it with mechanicals, you can always change further down the line as and when.
I got the Vapour for commuting in London traffic, has a very nice upright shape which suits. It is quite harsh at the back (compared to a Boardman carbon road bike previous) but thats remedied by running the tyres at 45-55psi. Havent had racks on it.
as an ex shop mechanic , a majority of the hybrids i saw for repairs with hydralic disks were suffering sticky heavily (crumbling) corroded pistons after winter was over !
BB7s will outlast the bike IME
How about a kinesis crosslight? frame is only £449 from fatbirdsdontfly
Could easily be built up for £1500 (mine is a little more): http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/my-crosslight-build-update-pics
I too am wondering whether to wait for hydraulics, but am swaying towards BB7's now with SRAM red/force shifters
another option could be a dirty disco for £1500, but no pannier/guard mounts
Buy now, upgrade later. The frame, forks and hubs will still take discs. hydraulic will take a while to filter through (there's bound to be some reason why you can't just use mountain bike calipers) and with any new tech there are "issues" that only come to light with use, that get dealt with later on.
As for cable guides, try zip ties, or get a nice steel frame and have some hose guides brazed on at teh time.