Hi,

I want to buy a commuter bike on the cyclescheme, It must be able to handle hills as I will be commuting from Caerphilly to Cardiff and back. I’ve considered a Charge, any ideas? Cheers

I’d just buy any old road bike that has mudguard mounts, assuming you want to do the commute on road. I have a Trek 1200 (called a 1.2 now) and it does the job for a 16 mile each way hilly commute.

If you have spare money, a dynamo front hub wheel and a dynamo front light are by far the best things for commuting. Much better than battery lights.

Charge are jolly trendy, but you do pay money for that trendyness, and it kind of depends whether you want something that is racy but mainstream, or something that is a lot like an old ten speed racer.

Any road or CX bike with rack/mudguard mounts surely?
CX bike will allow you to drop down through the Castell Coch woods and along the Taff Trail which would be my preferred way of going because most of the roads round there are horrendous.

Second the dynamo hub for commuting, best thing I’ve bought all year
If your worries about hills just get a compact or triple

Talk nicely to your LBS and they’ll probably swap the cassette for something a touch more hill friendly when you buy it.

Touring bike could be the answer – it’ll more than likely have a triple chainset and a wide spread of gears, and it’ll have bosses for (or maybe even come with)mudguards and panniers.

If my memory serves Caerphilly to Cardiff is 8-10miles dependant on route.A tourer lets you carry your clobber on the bike as opposed to your back and it will also be (provided you fit the right tyres) quite happy with a bit of off – road.

I use mine on an almost daily basis for a similar distance, and ok its not the fastest bike out there (engines not what it used to be either) but its very, very nice to ride and with the panniers and racks it doesn’t matter what I need to take to and from work its more than capable of carrying the load.

Whatever you decide full mudguards are (IMO) a must – they’llkeep you drier and the bike cleaner.

CX, tourer or hybrid. Drops or flats with bar ends.

Rear rack, panniers and mudguards.

A compact double chainset and V-brakes or discs. Cantis(well set-up) are rubbish after about 5 minutes.

Been look myself recently, Rutland have some good deals on Charge Zester, and Forme Al Fresco with hydraulic discs/27deore gears etc
http://www.rutlandcycling.com/44933/Forme-Al-Fresco-Men-s-Hybrid-Road-Bike.html
The new Decathlon road bikes look interesting too, can’t work out if they’ve made bigger clearance for mudguards though?
http://www.btwin.com/en/sport-road-bikes/14207-triban-5-a.html

Thanks all, probably go for a CX bike as I think it will handle the bad roads and some trails better!

I didn’t think Caerphilly to Cardiff was hilly on the taff trail?

It does get mucky though, so I converted my missus’ bike to single speed, she seemed to manage well, and it was a good option.

I’d also recommend a 28c tyre for comfort, and to better deal with leaf litter.

Pop into Castle Bikes or the Bikeshed, both are full of nice chaps, and Bikeshed do lots of commuter bikes.