My normal road bike feels a bit fragile on the road in the winter when I want to do a road ride so I am thinking about getting the new Boardman:

https://www.boardmanbikes.com/gb_en/products/2232-adv-9.0.html

and can swop the wheels to more roady ones for lighter duties.

Other bikes I have thought of were the Whyte Wessex or Genisis Datum but my 29er is a Boardman and is excellent.

I’d appreciate any thoughts?

I’ve got one of these; https://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/107645/products/cannondale-caad-optimo-disc-tiagra-road-bike-2017-blackvolt.aspx as my winter road bike.

To be fair, it’s never felt fragile, but then I only ride it on the road..

I’ve a Vaya for anything more gravel oriented like the Boardmans up there you’ve posted up..

Guess  it depends where you want to ride?

what does ‘a bit fragile’ mean?

Handling? When roads are greasy / wet leaves etc, or just that you don’t like the thought of your best kit in all that grime?

What tyres you running on your road bike? 23’s can feel fragile and weedy. Maybe go 25′ or a bit bigger.

Check out the Pinnacle Arkose thread.

I have an Arkose 3 running 42mm tyres with discs and mudguards, it is the perfect winter bike. Rode it today on the roads around Wentwood in the pouring rain and the bike was incredibly sure footed on all of the descents.

Fragile as in unable to absorb some of the potholed and tramlined roads. Couple of my fellow riders have up to 40c tyres and no issues with our road rides.

I understand – although TBH I’m not convinced the roads in my part of the world are any better in the summer either, so my good bike is still 28mm capable / disc braked, etc.

But yes, that Boardman one looks perfectly capable although the 650b wheels would put me off a bit, make sure they’ll take 700’s with decent sized tyres for a proper road alternative if you think that you might do that.

My winter bike is a cross bike, for the same reasons – but a cross before gravel became a niche in its own right. So it takes guards, has bottle bosses, etc, as opposed to a race crosser. Check out the CRC Vitus ones, or the Arkose as already mentioned.

My winter bike is the Trek Domane, front and rear isospeed jobbie , 32mm slicks, running about 55psi. Hydraulic braking and can take wider knobblies should I want to go off road.

For a winter road bike I honestly don’t think there’s much better, handles UK back roads really well.

I’d also say that 700c and 32mm is the maximum I’d want to run on a road bike. 40mm is too draggy, even if manufacturers say the opposite. I guess for social rides or slower paced rides a gravel or adventure bike with big wide tyres would be nice and comfortable, just not for me on the road.

A friend has an earlier version, ok for riding on your own on the road a bit of a pain when trying to ride with others due to the wider spaced gearing. He tends to find on hills he can’t always find the right gear for the pace being ridden. Personally I’d not want a single ring set up on a bike primarily used on the road.

Careful you don’t fall into gravel/adventure bike territory. The geometry is very different and if your only use is road  riding, it will be dull.

Stick to a proper road bike with clearance for larger tyres, Spesh Roubaix maybe, or Genesis Equilibrium?

winter road bike – pay twice to ride and maintain a lesser bike. Makes no sense.

Who maintains their winter bike? 😉

Even if you do maintain the winter bike, you’re still only maintaining one bike as the summer bike is where it belongs, hung up in the garage or doing turbo duties.

you can get a perfectly serviceable winter bike for less than the price of a drivetrain of a good summer bike. Add in capability to take guards, etc., and it makes a lot of sense. Not so convinced if your winter bike is still a £1500 bike though……although each to their own (or bitter jealousy, you decide)

Nothing to stop you taking your good bike out on an ‘important’ ride that justifies a deep clean after, or when the weather is good. But for trudging through salty slush – I’d rather have a sacrificial lamb of a drivetrain there.

Get a single speed or convert the bike to single speed.

<you can get a perfectly serviceable winter bike for less than the price of a drivetrain of a good summer bike>

ultegra chain 30, 2 rings 90, casette 35 – dont equal new bike LoL

you don’t know how shit my winter bike is……

LOL

Yes I did check with Boardman and it will take for instance DT Swiss P1800 700.

yes, but if you can only get a 23mm tyre on with 700c wheels, you won’t particularly be solving your problem.

winter road bike – pay twice to ride and maintain a lesser bike. Makes no sense.

Why does a winter bike have to be lesser? Mine has a posh steel frame / forks, mix of dura ace & 105 with posh trp caliper brakes. It has got full mudguards, hub dynamo lighting & decent puncture resistant, grippy tyres.

well Simon if its as good as your summer bike then why buy two of the same spec? Maintain one and save a few £k. Just ride the one you got. I think by implication most have a cheaper winter bike.

well Simon if its as good as your summer bike then why buy two of the same spec?

There were a couple that came on a few of our club runs and both had identical winter and summer bikes and would always clean them at the end of a ride without fail. I really couldn’t work that one out.

well Simon if its as good as your summer bike then why buy two of the same spec?

My summer bike won’t take mudguards, has no need for dynamo lights and has larger chainrings.

This is the first year I’ve had a ‘winter’ bike. For years I just used my only bike, which was carbon, as I figured, hey, it’s made of plastic. But now I have a nice steel summer bike and I’m a bit precious about it.

I bought a £50 Raleigh hybrid with 501 tubing and traditional geometry from ebay. Great clearances for big tyres. Kept the 7sp shimano gears, added drop bars, 38mm Vittorio Hypers and mudguards, bar end shifters and and brooks saddle and I love it! It rides really well. Dynamo front wheel from decathlon has just arrived and B+M lights are on order from germany. It’s cost like £100 in total (with spares hanging round) and does weigh a fair bit. I ride it a lot and I figure the weight is helping my training for spring…..

I’m even considering taking it on the fast club ride and see how long I can last before getting dropped. Just an alternative to spending a wedge, though I get that OP might want a new bike!

I’d have 2 sets of wheels.

If you do a reasonable amount of road riding it can be very liberating to have one bike set up with good mudguards all the time, if money were no object I’d have 28mm or bigger tyres and disc brakes on mine too.

My new winter bike will be new, with ultegra hydraulics and groupset. It will also do commuting duties, night rides, wet summer rides and sportives  It will be ridden a lot, so I don’t want a heavy old clunker or slicked-up gravel bike. Does mean I might feel I need an even more specialer best bike though AND a bona-fide adventure Bike. I had to be honest to myself as to whether I’d be willing to take mudguards on and off just to ride the odd bridleway with fatter tyres and came to the conclusion I wouldn’t. I want it to be ready to go if I look out the door on a Sunday morning and think ‘guards will make the difference between going out with the road club or sulking about the weather.