New Commuter Bike
Hello members of BikeRadar.
I am 19, a shade under 6ft, and a shade above 11 stone.
I have been doing a Mon-Fri commute of 5 miles each way for... nearing 7 years now.
I have grown up doing this on 2 bikes, a full suspension bike of my youth, and over the past 5 years a 21 speed Powabyke... An electric. (Pic: http://www.adts.info/rally/participants/29-powabyke.jpg)
I did this because my Dad bought it for pub runs, and it was a better bike for my commute than my Barracuda was.
The Barracuda died from severe frame bending over the course of years, and is now long gone, and the Powabyke's heading the same way too. The electrical bits of it no longer with us, having been repaired by both the shop it came from, and myself many many times, its reached the point where there's just no more point
The reason there's no more point is, as my legs are pretty strong these days, i ride faster without the battery on the bike than the motor could ever take me.
The electrics are gone, and now, the rear wheel's gone too.
The tyre's are pretty shot, the tubes could do with replacing before they become more patch than rubber, oh, and the shifter cable for the front derailleur recently snapped as well, making it... pretty much un-ridable.
So obviously its time for a new bike, i refuse to spend any more money on extending the life of that bike.
The bike i would like would be used daily, just over 10 miles Mon-Fri, and atleast 4 miles Sat/Sun, and that's without any recreational riding taken into account.
I'm an all weathers rider, and ride pretty hard, so it'd have to be very robust, but at the same time, i want something very light (I've had enough of riding with the equivalent of almost 3 car batteries strapped to my bike).
My ride involves a lot of hills, and some road surfaces leave alot to be desired, so a frame with a little give in it might be a good idea as well.
Its obviously been a long time since i've bought a bike, so BikeRadar... What do you suggest?
I'm looking to spend less than £700 as well... will this be an issue?
I like the look of the Specialized Tricross, which looks like it'd be pretty nippy on the road, and i've heard from a few reviews its good at taking bumps... But what does DR think?
Any advice for this obviously confused young rider would be much appreciated as this is obviously going to be one of my main investments for the coming year.
I am 19, a shade under 6ft, and a shade above 11 stone.
I have been doing a Mon-Fri commute of 5 miles each way for... nearing 7 years now.
I have grown up doing this on 2 bikes, a full suspension bike of my youth, and over the past 5 years a 21 speed Powabyke... An electric. (Pic: http://www.adts.info/rally/participants/29-powabyke.jpg)
I did this because my Dad bought it for pub runs, and it was a better bike for my commute than my Barracuda was.
The Barracuda died from severe frame bending over the course of years, and is now long gone, and the Powabyke's heading the same way too. The electrical bits of it no longer with us, having been repaired by both the shop it came from, and myself many many times, its reached the point where there's just no more point
The reason there's no more point is, as my legs are pretty strong these days, i ride faster without the battery on the bike than the motor could ever take me.
The electrics are gone, and now, the rear wheel's gone too.
The tyre's are pretty shot, the tubes could do with replacing before they become more patch than rubber, oh, and the shifter cable for the front derailleur recently snapped as well, making it... pretty much un-ridable.
So obviously its time for a new bike, i refuse to spend any more money on extending the life of that bike.
The bike i would like would be used daily, just over 10 miles Mon-Fri, and atleast 4 miles Sat/Sun, and that's without any recreational riding taken into account.
I'm an all weathers rider, and ride pretty hard, so it'd have to be very robust, but at the same time, i want something very light (I've had enough of riding with the equivalent of almost 3 car batteries strapped to my bike).
My ride involves a lot of hills, and some road surfaces leave alot to be desired, so a frame with a little give in it might be a good idea as well.
Its obviously been a long time since i've bought a bike, so BikeRadar... What do you suggest?
I'm looking to spend less than £700 as well... will this be an issue?
I like the look of the Specialized Tricross, which looks like it'd be pretty nippy on the road, and i've heard from a few reviews its good at taking bumps... But what does DR think?
Any advice for this obviously confused young rider would be much appreciated as this is obviously going to be one of my main investments for the coming year.
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Comments
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I ride a tricross in the winter months for commuting 27 miles a day and sunday rides.It is a very comfortable bike and reasonably strong. Mine came with allterrain tyres which I swapped for shwalbe marathon plus tyres 32mm. They are faster than the original tyres, but by no means racing tyres. I went for puncture protection and durability.It's possible to fit full mudguards and a rear rack and panniers if required which is good for winter conditions and saves having a rucsack on your back.Mine's done 9600 miles to date. It needed new wheels at 7000miles and a new headset and ,bottom bracket at 8000 miles which I was a little disapointed with. But I suppose for £700 and riding in all weathers there will always be worn out parts to replace.Mine has a compact chainset on although I think they do a triple now , which i would probably prefer if I bought another one. Overall, very pleased with the bike.0
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Cheers Ash, very helpful post, i'm liking the feel of this board.
The fact there's eyes left for mudguards seems brilliant, because although i'm not a huge fan of mudguards... i like them alot more than mud all over my face! So that's a plus.
My current bike has done well over 10,000 miles by now, which is mad thinking back on it... Oh the memories...
Would you recommend the tricross for my sort of riding then?
Or does anybody else have any good alternatives?0 -
think the tricross is certainly worth a roadtest to see if you like the bike. My only concern would be at 24lbs it's not a flying machine, but more of a trusty allrounder. Capable of light offroad stuff and trails as well as road.Giant do a good range of bikes.The scr3 £465 and scr2£525 always get good reviews. Also look at the Specialized allez sport £699. These are all available at www.edinburghbicycle.com go to the site, click onto webshop and view the range of roadbikes.Gives you all the specifications,prices,sizes etc.May be worth a look, just to see what's available to you, if nothing else.They will be a little nippier than the tricross, but not sure if they will be as resiliant and put up with as much abuse/ rough roads.0
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just seen there is a thread in the General Commuting Forum which may help you. IT's called "new commuting bike, road or hybrid?" worth a look
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I use a tricross & am completely happy with it, although I put gatorskins on instead of the supplied ones. Latest mod is shimano hollowtech chainset as part of replacing a worn out bb. It rides very well, takes a lot of buzz & crash out of the road (when its out of use, I pinch the bairns Allez, which is lighter, more agile, faster & gives me backache). As for mudguards, I keep them on the hybrid, which comes out in the rain & salt. And as for how fast the bike is, the harder you press, the faster you go, whatever you ride, and its all good training!0
