My singlespeed winter bike for commuting is nearing the end of its life and I had always expected to change it of a 4S Disc, but I'm wondering about saving some cash and going for the London Road. Will build it up 1x11 with hydraulic discs and tubeless wheels with 25mm tyres.
I've read a few threads and there are mixed comments - some iffy finishing and a bit lardy, but then again, I've got crap finishing on my old Kinesis Pro6 (paint scratches easily and the bottle bosses are both knackered). Any real world weights and experiences of these to help sway my decision?
Any thoughts, or anything else to consider? I'm veering towards frame only as I have preference for bits, and have some finishing components from another bike).
Did all my road riding, touring, Ride London and then TNR on a built up £150 1x10 LR, passed to son for a commuter, did another. I love em!
Built up a RLT9 but was no better to ride than the LR (and cost a lot more) I passed that on.
25s is a waste though. Get some 35+ tubeless on there.
I've got a 2014 Charge Plug 3, the steel one. There were a load of Plug 5 frame only listings on eBay a while back, if they are of interest to you? There was a thread on here about them. I like mine, but it is a bit heavy.
Alternatively what about the Merlin Axe? http://bikes.merlincycles.com/search#?w=axe
Like a London Road, but without potential seat post issues?
Got a 4S to replace a Racelight T that I did 1000s of miles on - http://www.kinesisbikes.co.uk/Blog/Archive/June-2015/50000-miles-on-a-Kinesis-Racelight-T
And it is great. Lively to ride, fairly light and built to last. Works very well for me.
I've owned a Kinesis TK3 (now called 4s) and a Planet-x London Road and I much preferred the TK3. It just felt a lot faster and more lively, stiff and comfy in the right places, I took the mudguards off at the weekends and got some respectable race results on it (though only cat 4!). It's not a really a fair comparison as the TK3/4S is designed as a fast road bike, the London Road is more of an all round commuter (though i used them in the same way).
Another option might be the Sonder Camino Al.
https://www.rutlandcycling.com/320628/products/2016-cube-attain-sl-disc-road-bike-black.aspx
Spend £100 on other bits and get them for free using the "spend100" promo code.
I recently bought a 58cm Attain GTC Pro Disc (sadly out of stock now at Rutland and Pauls by the looks of it), fits me great with an endurance upright setup, I'm ~5'10" with ~32.5" cycling inseam (torso of someone typically ~6'1").
i quite like some planet x on one stuff - just built up a bish bash bosh and is a great frame but the quality related issues with the london rd would kill it for me - another option - plus keep emailing discount codes
[url] http://www.ribblecycles.com/au/ribble-cgr-frameset/ [/url]
I had a 4S Disc, which I ran alongside a commuter bike for a year.
In the end, I consolidated back to a single bike for all my commuting, road and touring needs (Surly Straggler, using two sets of wheels).
The 4S was a great ride and surprisingly comfortable. I'd definitely pick another Kinesis frame based on the experience; I'd love a Tripster ATR, if it weren't so hideously expensive.
However, for my needs, the 4S was a little too road-focused and ended-up being used too little.
I think there's a gap for an evolution of the 4S, with space for wider tyres and mudguards, plus more substantial pannier and mudguard fittings. Perhaps an alloy Tripster ATR?
London Road is ok, I've been commuting on one for a year or so. I didn't fall foul of any of the build quality issues so can't comment on them, but the one thing I will say is that the front end is annoyingly short so there's a big overlap between my toes and the front wheel. Especially annoying when it is wearing mudguards.
I think there's a gap for an evolution of the 4S, with space for wider tyres and mudguards, plus more substantial pannier and mudguard fittings. Perhaps an alloy Tripster
Looking at what Bruce has been riding for the last year I think Kinesis are probably ahead of you on this point...
Thanks all- some useful comments.
Will need to check out the toe overlap on the LR as I ride smallish frames and won't want to catch my toes on the mudguards when track standing etc.
I guess I am looking for almost a fast road bike - my commute is 17mi each way on good country B roads, hence the 25mm tyres on my current bike. I ride my proper carbon road bike to commute when it is dry in the summer and I do have a CX bike for racing etc., but I don't want to spend every weekend rebuilding that to swap between roles.
Off to check out some of the other suggestions, but if anyone hears of a cheap 4S disc for a 5ft7 rider, shout up!
LR Owner here (Two Years now), very happy with it for the £150 I paid, but it ain't perfect and I'm glad I didn't pay more.
I had to find an odd sized seat post to accommodate it's shonky seat tube, therefore I could never recommend it knowing how keen STWists normally are on stuff like build quality and finish...
As someone mentioned it above I did find myself looking at the Ribble CGR Frame the other day, it looks like they've finally jumped on the discs and drop-bars bandwagon, and it appears pretty decent VFM...
and There's the Charge Plug 5 frames going cheap on ebay still too if you wanted cheap steel, but you'd need to source a fork.
Arkose.
Edinburgh Bike Co-Op currently have a lot of their Revolution frames on ebay...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/Bike-Frames/22679/m.html?item=182561549359&hash=item2a81842c2f%3Am%3AmWzpyQMCMPnkXJHtKnyj7cQ&var=&_ssn=edinburghbicycle
Loved my london road , no issues with seatpost etc, bit of overlap on a small frame which caught me out once and binned me off !
also have an arkose ,so had to make a decision to keep one, and the arkose stayed
I have similar thoughts but was looking at the Full Monty instead of the London Road. I had an Arkose and it was fine as a winter bike but just for the road it was sluggish - not down to the more relaxed geometry compared to my rim braked road bikes, but noticeably slower on commutes.
Didn't want to get a Full Monty and find out it was a similar story. The 4s is quite a chunk more money and I'd be disappointed if it was the weight of discs and chunkier build that generally accompanies disc brake bikes.
The new Kinesis rim brake frame looks good but I was trying to get away from rim brakes for winter.
If you are looking at PX frames, don't forget to check http://www.planetx.co.uk/c/q/deals/bundles?sort=price-asc , you could get a Full Monty bundle for £360 for example.
Commuting? I'd say Arkose Alfine.
https://www.evanscycles.com/pinnacle-arkose-alfine-8-2017-adventure-road-bike-EV275630
But you said you'd prefer frame only, and they're only listing the 2016 framesets only at the moment. And the 2017 frame/fork might be the one to go for as that combo allows 45mm tyres vs 40mm of the 2016 and earlier.
I'm think of selling my XL London Road in Stealth Black if that would suit you. It's a good one (tolerances etc.), and could sell whole bike or just the bits you want.
I'm think of selling my XL London Road in Stealth Black if that would suit you. It's a good one (tolerances etc.), and could sell whole bike or just the bits you want.
Too big for me. Thanks though
I got a very good deal in a CAADX Ultegra 2016, which came in at about £130 more than the 2x11 SRAM London Road.
Not sure the 2017 is as well suited for commuting though and it was a complete bike.
I'm impressed with my On One Bish Bash Bosh. It does everything very well. Commuting, road and trails.
Great green colour
Clean internal routes
Competitive price
A bit different
[url= https://goo.gl/photos/8QC1kBmHFVbCa6u49 ]BISH BASH BOSH![/url]
BISH BASH BOSH also available in dull grey.....
"Clean internal routes" but an odd opening under the BB which if it doesn't fill with mud might with ice? - it works but I'm not sure
No rack mounts
having said that racks are way out of fashion (as are triples 🙂 )
enjoying mine must speak to the council about reseeding....
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When I meant clean, I was aiming at more of a visual thing. Easily sorted with some heli tape.
I think mine has full rack and guard mounts as its the 'version 2' frame (thats what I was told anyway). They sneaked a design change later on apparently..
[url= https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4161/33943509473_40f50d3abf_k.jp g" target="_blank">https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4161/33943509473_40f50d3abf_k.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/THtmMX ]20170323_123318[/url]
yep that BISH BASH BOSH! has a proper rack mount on the rear drop out, a nice update