Specifically the single speed flat bar one for £635
http://www.cotic.co.uk/product/bikes/roadrat/flat_bar/

Anyone got one, seem to be pretty good reviews about.

How does it handle light offroading? Could it handle slightly more serious occassional rooty single track use?

And do you think it looks 'nickable' as it would be locked for an hour or two in an unsecure bike shed whilst I'm at the gym

No words of wisdom from the collective?

I've not ridden one, so I can't comment on the ride.

On the 'nickability' though – I was talking to a bike shop manager once who put the carbon road bike near the door, and the full sus MTBs near the counter at the back of the shop as the shoplifters he'd encountered always went for the MTBs. On that principle, I reckon that anything with discs looke inherently more 'nickable' than with rim brakes.

Hello,

My mate used his as a cross bike last year so no problem for offroad duties.

As for locking it up….buy big locks.Anything is highly nickable if a toerag notices it unattended

I had one – nice bike but no nicer to ride than my old Kona Lava Dome with some slicks on it which was a) less pretty looking and b) could be used off-road with a change of tyres and c) a LOT less expensive to buy (picked it up for about £150 second hand).

For the price of a a pure commuter, I reckon theres better/equally as good options around for less money from the likes of Kona, Trek etc

I had one for a year or so. Nice bike, pretty fast, quite comfy.

I sold it for 2 reasons – A medium was a tad too big for me really but a small would have been way to small, and it couldn't really handle the short offroad sections of my commute

Now, that's partly due to the 28mm Bonty road tyres I was using which were giving me grief with punctures, but when you've got mudguards and a rack fitted (Mine was geared not SS) is the biggest faff imagineable getting the back wheel out to fix a puncture in the dark and it was that that made me get rid of it.
If you're keeping it SS, fitting cross rubber, and not fitting mudguards it will be better, but for me the droputs are just too much of a compromise, especially with gears, sorry.

It also felt quite high up and a bit nervous offroad too. I replaced it with a £200 Carerra Subway One, which is MTB based, suits me a lot more and is hardly any slower on the road at all. If fact if you take the whole picture into account (Offroad bits, bumping up and down kerbs, cutting through traffic) it's probably faster. 🙂

EDIT
If I wanted another 700c commuter, I'd go for an Edinburgh Bicycle Co-Op Revoultion model of some sort. They do a lovely cross bike for £400, and several others including a Nexxus bike, for less money.

I've got a 'bodged' SS flat bar one, that I use all the time for work and riding around town. It's pretty nippy (for a steel frame), and handles nicely.

I have ridden with a mate in the Peak, who used his as a CX bike (with drops and crap CX brakes). He'd bump his way down Potato Alley, Roman Road and Lockerbrook without any problems, and it seemed fine. He is a pretty light rider, but I'd have though they would be fine for light offroad stuff with the right tyres.

As for it being nickable, it depends where you are leaving it. When I leave mine locked up around town I lock it with decent big locks, and have removed all QRs from seatpost, wheels etc to reduce the opportunity, but it still looks like a 'fancy bike', when compared to the usual junk that gets locked up around it.

They are excellent, there was a pretty good spec one for sale on the classifieds last week.

I have one which gets sole used for commuter duties. I have a mix of all sorts of riding, mostly road but also a couple of paths on the way route dependant.

Mine is the flat bar model, 700 wheels and some CX tyres. The rest is built out of bits from my spares bin. Old Avid disk brakes, XT chainset 1×9 gears etc. It looks a bit of a nail, but I work out in the middle of nowhere so theft isn't a huge issue.

I ride mostly DH so everything feels short and steep by comparison, but I get on with it fine. Was very cheap second hand too.

Just need to bodge a set of mudgaurds onto it, i've been chickening out of riding in the wet recently 🙁

I've had one for a couple of years, it's used daily in all weathers on a tow-path commute(and it's proper grim along the canal at the moment).

It's a 'long' flat bared model, singlespeed (42×18), sized small, think 18" steel Kona – bought as a complete bike from Cy – Bonty Select wheels, Conti Twister CX tyres, oversize Bonty 'Race' bars and stem and spesh barends. Wheels have stayed true, I've never touched the Cane Creek h/set or the external BB it came with.

Love it.

I have one (built up myself from 2nd hand bits though)

it gets locked all day at the station – so to make it evan less nickable i have

removed the head badge (easy to stick it back on in the future)

wrapped an old inner tube round the down tube where the "roadrat"sticker is – this is under the varnish so you can't remove it.

this, combined with a lack of bling bits and a decent lock means that so far it has avoided attention from thieves

stick with v-brakes rather than discs – I have had a disc brake stolen from a previous commuter whilst it was locked at the station

oh and mine is black – I like the new colours but they do "stand out" a bit more

All the new ones we've got in stock are back in black, for that very reason.

DT78 – I've got a black Med complete bike for sale if you're interested? (flat bars, geared, Fulcrum 7 wheels, Easton/Ritchey, Shimano 105, Avid single digit rim brakes + mud guards + Brooks saddle).
Email me : johndb17@gmail.com and I'll send you pics.

Cheers

I had the one sold to PeterPoddy! Used it for commuting (on road exclusively) for two years and thought it was great. Comfy, fast and fun to ride. Sold it to buy a CX bike when I moved, but I'd still have it for on road commuting.

I have commuted on mine for a few gears (with gears) and agree with the faff with punctures. You could ride slime tubes and schwalbe touring tyres (can't recall model but tough as old boots) to all but eliminate!

Done a lot of towpath type stuff and also HoNC and found very comfy. I like it because I have done a time trial, toured, HoNC, commuted, winter trainer with just a change of wheels. Only down side is the rear wheel faff – overall it saves me having extra bikes though. Certainly recommend.

I had the one sold to PeterPoddy! Used it for commuting (on road exclusively) for two years and thought it was great. Comfy, fast and fun to ride. Sold it to buy a CX bike when I moved, but I'd still have it for on road commuting

Hi Alex. It was a good bike, and it never gave me any grief. The only thing I changed really was the wheels for some tough touring ones, as those Tiagra ones just aren't tough enough for me (I think I mentioned I had some on my previous commuter when we met) and fitted a shoter stem. It was still on the same drivetrain, put it that way!
I did about 1500 miles on it, but my needs changed slightly and I was ruining it taking it offroad. I never regretted buying it, and I got nearly the same price I bought it off you for when I sold it! 😀

Thanks for your comments – I'll mail you John but I'm afraid it will have to be a good deal as I can get the bike via the C2W scheme which means I can get a brand new one for £300-400ish

I was also considering the alfined version 18 bikes are advertising for £1k on the C2w scheme.

Post removed, wrong thread! 😳

Hey good to know 🙂 Yeah the original wheels I had were a very nice – if rather ancient – set of Mavics donated by Chipps years ago. The freewheel passed away on me one dark, stormy night which made for a long old commute home!

Glad it gave you good service.

Two guys I know commute on Alfine'd hubbed bikes and they both swear by (not at) them.