I'm after a new bike to act as my winter bike, rough track / canal / bridleway cruiser and future light tourer. As I'm keen to buy it from my local shop for the after sales support I'm looking at Trek, Whyte (and Focus) at under £1k. The bikes are not in stock and would have to be ordered so no test rides.
[url= http://www.whytebikes.com/2014/product.php?xProd=117&xSec=121 ]WhyteDorset[/url]
[url= http://www.trekbikes.com/uk/en/bikes/road/cyclocross/crossrip/crossrip_elite/#/uk/en/model/details?url=uk/en/bikes/road/cyclocross/crossrip/crossrip_elite ]Trek CrossRip[/url]
I'm struggling to decide...suppose my concern more on the Whyte is how strong / suitable it is offroad, it is described as "Cyclo Cross durability with pure road geometry" but not sure if the Trek would be any better.
Crossrip: Stronger (heavier) / more suitable (is it?). Good warranty / support. Cross top brakes. Review suggest the Hayes brakes are good. But...'only' Sora 9 speed, think the weight is around 12kg compared to near 10kg for the Whyte (allegedly) , really not taken with the blue colour ! Bit unsure on the geometry...56 frame has a 58.4 effective top tube which sounds long.
RD7 Dorset: Lighter (but is this at the expense of strength), Tiagra 10 speed, Pro Max brakes bigger unknown name than the Hayes on Trek.
Aaargh...so anybody used / abused either of these bikes with any tales to tell.
I've got a 2013 Whyte Saxon Cross (similar geometry) and I'd suggest you try the Dorset for size, my Medium is quite long (5ft 10 rider) and I sometimes wonder if a small would have been better, although I did the Exmoor Beast (65miles) at the weekend without problem.
Edit: I've just double checked the Whyte geometry and its not as close as I thought. 😳
Thanks - that's a nice looking bike anyhow.
I've had a sit on a crossrip and bear in mind the front end is quite high, should be good for off-road control.
I've just bought one of [url=http:// http://www.ukbikesdepot.com/m117b158s862p8095/SARACEN_Hack_2_Cyclocross_Urban_Bike_2013 ]these[/url]]these which doesn't have quite as high a front end but stills feel like it should be fairly relaxed on the rough stuff, not had chance to ride it in anger yet though.
I have a crossrip great bike on the road or off-road mine is a 2013 dark grey.Brakes take a while to bed in.Not keen on the 014 blue coloured one.Good tough bike with life time warranty.
Thanks..I much prefer the 2013 colour. I think I'm going to go with the Trek as I know the warranty / support is good and also I think (but not sure) that the Whyte is max 28mm tyres and I'd like to keep the option to go a little larger (And still get guards on).
I've got the Trek Crossrip, (not the Elite, so a nice matt black) in a 56 - as 5' 8" female that may sound a bit big, but I do have 33" inside leg measurement and I like big bikes. I especially like the high-ish front end, having not ridden drop bars before. Done a couple of thousand miles on it and love it.
That's reassuring to know that at 5'8 the 56 is okay as I was concerned about the long top tube. I'm about 5'11+ but inside leg is only about 32 but the standover figure looks fine.