Audax/fast tourer/winter commuter

andywgg

Looking to spend about £7-800 on an audax/winter commuter - needs to take guards ideally, and maybe a rack. Have seen the 'specials' at Ribble which give you 105 for about £600, but am also interested in which of the "off the shelf" bikes from 'Dale, Trek, Giant etc will take mudguards and a rack (any of them?), plus very interested in what you seem to be able to get from Focus via Wiggle.

One specific question - the Ribble bikes are about £70 cheaper with Tiagra, of which I've heard quite good things recently - my other bike's 105 which I like - is it worth the extra on a commuting/winter bike? I'll probably go for triple in light of this bike's touring aspirations.

Any help or suggestions?

Thanks

giant_man

Don't forget the check out the Quest audax/trainer bike: (scroll to bottom of page)

http://questbikes.co.uk/acatalog/Quest.html

and also the steel offering from Thorn, the Audax mk 3, which builds up into a very nice audax bike by the looks of it.

You have also got the Kinesis Racelight T and Tk, both nice:

http://kinesisbikes.co.uk/product.php?id=39
http://kinesisbikes.co.uk/product.php?id=40

and a few others i can't remember but there is quite a bit of choice. Hope this helps.

MikeyP

If you can stretch to the Kinesis Racelite T, there is an excellent review here;

http://www.roadcyclinguk.com/news/article/mps/UAN/2863/v/1/sp/

and owner reviews here;

http://www.roadcyclinguk.com/review/reviewProductReviews/mps/rpn/22907/prod/Kinesis-Racelight-T/rcn/109/rgn/7/v/1/sp/#60669

The frameset alone seems a real bargain, I've seen it for as little £139.

My experience of the better groupsets is that the finish holds up better to the winter weather - the Ultegra kit on my commuter looks like new after 3 winters of daily use; the original Tiagra kit was pitted and corroded after a few weeks of salty roads.

feel

MikeyP wrote:

If you can stretch to the Kinesis Racelite T, there is an excellent review here;

http://www.roadcyclinguk.com/news/article/mps/UAN/2863/v/1/sp/

.

Then scroll down to the condor fratello which is better 8)

MikeyP

feel wrote:

MikeyP wrote:

If you can stretch to the Kinesis Racelite T, there is an excellent review here;

http://www.roadcyclinguk.com/news/article/mps/UAN/2863/v/1/sp/

.

Then scroll down to the condor fratello which is better 8)

But the Condor is £400 over budget and not as nearly as pretty

What about the Enigma!

JWSurrey

You can just about squeeze in a Fratello on Xenon under you price limit.
I have one with Veloce, and it's excellent. My favourite ride, although not my best bike.
Worth popping in to Condor for a test ride though.
Photo here: http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... 0&start=45


The Racelight - I think it was reviewd in Cycling Weekly last week, and got a good review - looks nice, and a bargain price.

aracer

Another option that's not been mentioned is the Tifosi CK7. Any of these options is decent for a winter bike, and I'd suggest choice should be based on fit (hence I have a Ribble with a longish top tube, SWMBO has a CK7 which has a relatively short top tube - both the same nominal size).

robbarker

For that budget and stated use I'd go for the Thorn Audax Mk3 - you can get a built up bike with hand built wheels and Tiagra for that money.

JWSurrey

Spoke to the bloke in the office with the Ribble winter trainer this morning.
He's had it at least 12 months, and rides pretty much every day - Loves the bike - said it rides really well. He's running it on Kysriums.

andywgg

For the price the Ribble's seem pretty unbeatable - 105 and decent wheels for about £600.

ForumNewbie

Have you considered the Dawes Audax - 2006 model. I was about to say it could still probably be bought for around £700 - but I see it's now down to an amazing £550 at Spa Cycles as you can see here:
http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php ... 1b0s21p442

andywgg

Now moving towards the idea of a Kinesis Crosslight - with cantilever brakes so I then have the option of some mild off road like canal towpaths, touring and winter commuting.

With 105 triple it comes out at £820 from Wiggle including 'guards and Mavic Aksiums.

What size tyres are usual for this type of thing? Think I've specified 32s - that about normal?

feel

If you want a bit more flexibility on road surfaces you could consider a cyclo-cross.
This might be a bit over budget but it sure is a fine looking piece of kit.

http://www.mosquito-bikes.co.uk/images/ ... /PureBlood%

andywgg

Cheers - pretty sure a cross bike is what I'll get, but that fella's a bit rich for my blood! Looking at Kinesis Crosslight built up either by Wiggle, Epic or locally, but also a Bianchi Axis that Evans have got on special offer.

Any other good crossers that fit the bill (and th budget!!)?

morrisje

I'm suprised no one has mentioned Planet X yet. Their Uncle John cross bike should fit your needs:-
http://www.planet-x-bikes.com/road/inde ... AGE_id=225

andywgg

Have emailed planet x and they said the only triple they do on uncle john is flat bar (unless I've misunderstood the email) - they said the website's hideously out of date.

acorn_user

Surely a Planet X Kaffenback would be the one, not an Uncle John. Also, Dawes have an Audax sport model for under 500 pounds or so.

Also, I am honour bound to mention that 300 pounds gets you a British made frame from Ellis Brigg, Woodrup etc. Then you can choose your paint

John C.

I'll second the Racelight , love mine to the point that my best bike is now having problems justifying it's existence

andywgg

I've ecided I'd like a sort of "do it all" jobby, possibly for a little light off road (canal towpath) type riding, so a crosser seemed the best bet.