Commuting bike pics

Ben6899

I built the Dolan to a budget. My Cadex frame had seen better days and I needed a new 2nd bike to see me through November-April.

The Dolan obviously comes with a great reputation, but I did look at other options as well. At the end of the day it was a great price with carbon forks, headset, seat pin and seat collar included and little things like the seat tube being the right diameter for my band-on front mech (so I didn't have to buy a new one) helped to seal the decision.

So, bearing all that in mind - that pennies were the main driver - I am absolutely chuffed to bits with how the frame rides. It is comfortable and responsive and light enough for the required duties. I wouldn't think twice about recommending a Dolan frame to a friend (or stranger on an internet forum).

paul_mck

Hi all my boardman hybrid

Mavic Ksyrium wheels
SRAM X0 shifters and rear mech (2x9)
SRAM 11-28 Cassette
SRAM Red crankset (52-36)
Shimano 105 brakes
Shimano 105 front mech
Shimano 105 SPD-SL pedal
Dura-ace 9sp chain
Prolite all carbon forks
Ergon GC3 grips and bar ends
Spoon charge saddle
FSA carbon seatpost and stem

godders1

Godders1 wrote:

SimonAH wrote:

Nice tool - but serious handlebar rotation, I take it do don't spend a lot of time in the drops?

Ben6899 wrote:

At a glance, the frame looks too small. But we're all built slightly different, so I'll leave it there.

I am a bit of an odd shape- 5' 11" but with fairly long legs proportionally (34" inseam) hence the amount of seatpost showing. A bigger frame and the reach would be too long.

The reach is already a bit more than ideal (hence the bar setup). I'm thinking of reducing the stem length and getting some compact/shallow drop bars.

As it is the bike's actually very comfortable on the hoods/tops but as observed the drops are a bit out of reach.

I've finally got round to fitting a shorter stem and compact bars (FSA vero).





Definitely an improvement in comfort and useable drops at last!

Ben6899

That's better.

rjsterry

Yukirin wrote:

here we go, then.
My one and only except for the written off raleigh from last year.
Japanese steel frame and forks (has Japanese shop/service stickers under the bb)
components are various Japanese brands - araya, nitto, suntour etc. Except the spec romin saddle and the px al30 wheels with Blizzard sport tires which have been my only upgrades.
14 speed, 52/42 - 24/13 if I remember right.

No idea on weight. I'm led to believe its good for a steel frame by the people that pick it up though.

Oh my! That is pretty. And old school rings too. <sigh>.

Initialised

Photo doesn't do it justice, it's way scruffier in real life.

corshamjim

This is my Pashley Paramount which I've been commuting the 4 miles or so to work on for the last three years. I can't resist tinkering with it so I think I've replaced nearly everything now except for the frame & forks of course, the bottom bracket, headset and seatpost.



I'm still not 100% happy so I'll shortly be replacing the brake levers with Retroshift and fitting to them a nicer 3-speed Sturmey-Archer thumb shifter.

Ber Nard

Just finished turning my second bike into this:



Very pleased with it so far.

Rob

Ben6899

Looks familiar...

Nice bike sir. What size frame?

Ber Nard

Thank you very much. Your build inspired me to get on with it.

It's 56cm c-t.

Rob

JamesFree

My Commuting Langster (and yes I have stuck a gold chain on it)

Santa cruzing

may as well whore it in here as well as the Equilibrium thread

welkman

My CAAD 8 built over xmas as a training bike. This has now largely replaced my Jake as a regular commuter as I am doing long runs home a couple of nights a week to get some interval training in.



IMG_0153 by welkman001, on Flickr

I got the frame from a nice chap from this forum along with the seat post, forks, headset and bb. Sora groupset came off ebay cheap, it was really filthy but cleaned up fine. I brought some cables, chain, cassette and wheels from a dutch bike shop. Total build cost about 300quid which I think is fairly good going.

One thing that is a bit annoying is the headset; it has a cone at the top which is about 2 inches high and seems to be part of the upper race? Can this be replaced or binned?

corshamjim

Those wheels match the frame well - in fact it all looks very well coordinated - very nice!

clarkey cat

wet weather bike... been getting quite a bit of use lately.

roger_merriman

Until I can sort out a replacment commute bike, my commute bike is this

Downhill tyres don't make it the fleet of foot! on the other hand it smooths over speed bumps and such.

hopefully get a new SS soon.

willy b

CC - What are those guards?

davis

willy b wrote:

CC - What are those guards?

SKS Chromoplastics, unless my eyes deceive me.

clarkey cat

correctomundo

kevess

clarkey cat wrote:

a nice pic.... Hampton Court Bridge this evening

Only a month late!!!

Nice one CC; bike and bridge

jae-so

mine, new to cycling

domgears

My Commuter,
2009 Giant TCR Advanced 3 (bought second hand for 375 GBP)
Full 105 components (later upgrade to Ult 6700)
Mavic Aksium Wheels (later upgrade to ?)
Stock saddle, stem & bars (later upgrade to Fizik Aliante & carbon stem/bars)
Exustar pedals (later upgrade to speedplay)

tailwindhome

domgears wrote:

My Commuter,
2009 Giant TCR Advanced 3 (bought second hand for 375 GBP)

Lucky Barsteward!

domgears

TailWindHome wrote:

domgears wrote:

My Commuter,
2009 Giant TCR Advanced 3 (bought second hand for 375 GBP)

Lucky Barsteward!

Yup, I guess I am, he was already asking a ridiculously low price at 600, however having spent almost 20 years in sales and knowing considerably more about bikes than him I managed to haggle him down to 375.

There are a lot of people here that are "all the gear, no idea" for an example got to this site and take a look at some of the bikes being sold, note that all the Dogma's are originals, not China copies.

http://www.togoparts.com/marketplace/li ... gories.php

willy b

What a deal, nice bike too! Not a UK model though is it?

New commuter is this now, got to say I bloody love it!

Allez Mark

Not strictly the commuter, but I did use it for work one day to show it off to a few of the lads.

Planet X Pro Carbon Sram Red
Fulcrum 3 Wheels

memsley89

Morning/Afternoon...
this month has been mental, eh!?

benjii19

GT by benjii19, on Flickr

I think I got this in '98 not 100% sure though. Not been out on it as much as I should have but am doing now by using it for getting to work and back.

domgears

willy b wrote:

What a deal, nice bike too! Not a UK model though is it?

New commuter is this now, got to say I bloody love it!

Thanks Willy,

No, its a Taiwan model, I am in Singapore and there is only 1 dealer for Giant and he gets them directly from Giant Taiwan.

P.S. nice steed, looks reliable and throable, not throable as in throw away, as in you can throw it into corners and filtering with confidence.

Does anybody know if "Race Blades" will fit on my Giant TCR Advanced?

matt@theforce

My wet weather ride


My dry weather ride