I know what type, material and spec bike I want but what is confusing me about road bikes is the accepted norm of having a Sunday best.

When I bought my MTB I bought the bike I wanted which matched my style and routes but spent quite a bit.

I can only afford one bike at a time, but I do like nice bikes.

I would feel some what aggrieved riding a £400 hack with a wicked £2000 bike in the garage.

What is he wattling on about, well is there such a thing as a Sunday best all year round bike?

Isn’t it more a case of having a winter trainer so that your racer doesn’t get spoilt by all the muck, grime & road detritus?

In other words you can only afford one expensive bike at a time…

Yeah, that’s the idea.

But I’m asking is there a good / Sunday best which will stand upto the winter?

just check that the bike you want takes raceblades, if it doesn’t have eyelets for full guards

Well, I only have one road bike; it has clearance for mudguards and slightly fatter tyres. I wash it occasionally and keep it maintained. I ride it all year round but I don’t race it. At the end of the day, you choose what you want and if one bike is enough then one bike is enough. You can only ride one at a time. Having said that, I have several mountain bikes…

Back in the day your ‘winter trainer’ would be a fixie hack bike, but now people’s second bike is quite decent.
Roadies do like a nice clean sparkly bike so won’t ride their best bike unless the weathers good. If Mountain bikers did we’d never ride our good bike.
Get as good a bike as you can afford because road bike componants last longer than mountain bike components do just be prepared to clean your bike more often (the sound of a dirty, gritty drivetrain train and brakes is really annoying).

sounds like a cielo, a robin mather or that type of build to me! Well made, desirable, year round bikes.

As already said. The winter bike will take some abuse from the wet/salt winter roads. It will take its toll on components & paintwork. The 1st ride on the summer bike is nice too after all winter on a bike 5-6lb heavier.

Cannondale Synapse – enough clearance and eyes to fit mudguards. Get a set of nicer wheels for summer or stronger wheels for winter, job done. I bought an Alloy 105 and love it, have no compulsion for a Sunday best (or at least not too much hankering for a Colnago!).

But I’m asking is there a good / Sunday best which will stand upto the winter?

All bikes stand up to winter, I manage o.k. with my pegoretti, I just fit raceblades and get on with it.

I have titanium training bike which used to be my Sunday best bike. I also have a Carbon Scott CR1 which is now my Sunday best bike which mainly gets used for sportives and special rides.

I put several thousand miles into my training bike every year and most of the componentry on it is functional rather than expensive. It is so nice when I do ride the Scott because the higher spec. and lighter weight is so noticeable.

You could argue that I should ride the Scott all the time and just replace bits as they wear out but it is also useful to have a spare bike in my opinion. The training bike has been off the road for a few weeks at times for various reasons and so it is useful to have another bike when that happens.

I have tried both ways and personally I would always go for the £400 hack and best bike approach because there is nothing worse than riding your £2000+ bike on Winter roads covered in salt and seeing it slowly ground away.

I bought myself a Sunday Best road bike a couple of months back, I’ve spent the first 3 months of this year being treated for cancer and I think I deserved a treat. I now have to get fit to try and justify it. 😉

I have a best bike with best wheels for club rides, sportives, and masters racing. I bought a used race bike for racing/crashing and winter. I ride a fixed wheel with full mudguards in the winter and bad weather.

Depending on budget, a decent alloy road bike such as a CAAD8 or Defy will do both. They can both take mudguards for winter, and with a change of wheels feel pretty special come summer. Just depends on how much you will ride.