Too much money!

gtvlusso

Hi all,

I am new to this so bear with me! I am doing my cyclescheme thing at work this year and have £1000 to play with - the scheme is a tie up with Halfords and Halfords will source anything I want! I need a commuter, as my old Rockhopper is near death from the 100 miles + a week it does. And I also want to do some road racing with a club and some more triathlons. What do I do? I can get a great Commuter from Boardman for £699 and get the Comp Road bike for £599 (I am happy to pay the £298 extra!). I already have an Ambrosio Guido frame that I was going to build into a bit of a town bike for doing errands where I live and leaving parked up in dodgy places! Made from parts off my Rockhopper - however, it may not be really reliable or comfortable for commuting.
Or I could buy a serious road bike and just use the Ambrosio for everything, everyday! But which road bike?! I was thinking about the Ducati Bianchi (As I already ride a Ducati 996 motorbike!) or one of the better specced Boardmans!
Help!!!! It is doing my nut!!!!!
Thanks
Geoff

Random Vince

if it helps, boardman bikes are soley supplied by halfords, any specific parts may be harder to get in a few years.

that and i don't trust halfords with much.

DavidTQ

no reason why one good road bike wont do both commuting and club stuff. I use a road bike day in day out as a commuter.

look up the planet x carbon bike designed for the cycle to work scheme and available from halfords, carbon frame and 105 components

ChrisLS

...why not ask a few questions in the race section of this forum...that fast lot over there may have some ideas as well ...welcome to the forum by the way gtvlusso...

redddraggon

My choices would be:

Planet X Carbon for just under £1000

Bianchi 1885 Veloce for just under £1000 aswell.

If you wanted to spend a bit less:

Specialized Allez (Price dependent on model, but all quite a bit under £1000)

Giant SCR (1,2,3 or 4 again price dependant on model)

spen666

gtvlusso wrote:

Hi all,

I am new to this so bear with me! I am doing my cyclescheme thing at work this year and have £1000 to play with - the scheme is a tie up with Halfords and Halfords will source anything I want! I need a commuter, as my old Rockhopper is near death from the 100 miles + a week it does. And I also want to do some road racing with a club and some more triathlons. What do I do? I can get a great Commuter from Boardman for £699 and get the Comp Road bike for £599 (I am happy to pay the £298 extra!). I already have an Ambrosio Guido frame that I was going to build into a bit of a town bike for doing errands where I live and leaving parked up in dodgy places! Made from parts off my Rockhopper - however, it may not be really reliable or comfortable for commuting.
Or I could buy a serious road bike and just use the Ambrosio for everything, everyday! But which road bike?! I was thinking about the Ducati Bianchi (As I already ride a Ducati 996 motorbike!) or one of the better specced Boardmans!
Help!!!! It is doing my nut!!!!!
Thanks
Geoff

Can you buy 2 bikes under the scheme?

gtvlusso

Hi All,

Thanks for the welcome!

Yes, you can buy 2 bikes under the scheme. The Scheme my company runs is administered by Halfords and is linked to their rules. I can buy 2 bikes and pay over 18 months - I can top up the £1000 limit with my own cash! hence the dilemma!

I must admit that I am tempted by the Planet X Carbon Ultegra for £999, but do I want to be using a carbon frame in traffic - likely to be knocked off again! I am thinking about the Boardman Comp as it has won so much praise! I could do with some distance comfort as I also am a competitive rower - not great for backs!

I am still tempted by the Bianchi Ducati (The cheap one!). Thanks for the bike Red Dragon. Would I not knacker a road bike commuting 100 miles a week + 50 or so at the weekend?

Cheers

G

Kafka\'s Doll

If you're commuting you might want panniers or a rack. Check that whichever bike you're interested in can take them.

DavidTQ

gtvlusso wrote:

Hi All,

Thanks for the welcome!

Yes, you can buy 2 bikes under the scheme. The Scheme my company runs is administered by Halfords and is linked to their rules. I can buy 2 bikes and pay over 18 months - I can top up the £1000 limit with my own cash! hence the dilemma!

I must admit that I am tempted by the Planet X Carbon Ultegra for £999, but do I want to be using a carbon frame in traffic - likely to be knocked off again! I am thinking about the Boardman Comp as it has won so much praise! I could do with some distance comfort as I also am a competitive rower - not great for backs!

I am still tempted by the Bianchi Ducati (The cheap one!). Thanks for the bike Red Dragon. Would I not knacker a road bike commuting 100 miles a week + 50 or so at the weekend?

Cheers

G

Ive been using my Giant SCR 1.0 all winter no problem at all 14 mile round trip on busy roads. Its done about 2000 miles now. Its a £850 bike its doing just fine, clean the drive train and rims regularly and its not going to be a problem. My chain still comes up nice and silvery every time I clean it, the cassette sparkles. My bike gets stored indoors at both ends of the commute so its only half an hour in the wet at a time at the most. I think the worst the wet weather does is to wear down the brake pads quicker. I love having a decent road bike for the commute, great feeling buzzing along the roads at a decent pace, far more efficient use of the legs as well.

redddraggon

gtvlusso wrote:

I am still tempted by the Bianchi Ducati (The cheap one!). Thanks for the bike Red Dragon. Would I not knacker a road bike commuting 100 miles a week + 50 or so at the weekend?

If you are on roads, a road bike is best for commuting. The road bike won't get knackered if you look after it properly, but if you don't look after it any bike will get knackered.



Even the cheapest Ducati is quite nice, how much can you get it for?

gtvlusso

Hi Red and David,

Superb - I will probably go down the road/race bike route. I don't need panniers as I often have a backpack on.
I was more worried about road salt as I go down some very busy roads in Bristol - Stored in the dry at my end, but in an open bike shed at my office - possibly stealable is another issue!
If you guys have had no issues, then I will probably get The Bianchi Ducati (at least it has an alloy frame - I will probably knacker a carbon when I fall off!). I have a cheap commuter that I am building out of an Ambrosio Guido frameset.
Just hope that I can get the best out of the race bike and it is not just a passing fad!! I do enough general mileage to justify it - would not want to park it in Bristol though!

Geoff

Mog Uk

Best thing you can add to your commuter is a decent set of mudguards, keeps the majority of the cr4p away from the 'critical' components....

gtvlusso

Forgot to reply properly - £1099 for the cheap Ducati Bike. Mudguards are essential, spoil the line of the bike, but do protect it - can I get them to fit a race bike?

DavidTQ

gtvlusso wrote:

Forgot to reply properly - £1099 for the cheap Ducati Bike. Mudguards are essential, spoil the line of the bike, but do protect it - can I get them to fit a race bike?

if the bike doesnt have frame mounts you can use race blades not as good but can be fitted to a road bike taht doesnt have frame mounts.

gtvlusso

So - in essence!

You guys think it would be fine to commute through a busy city in all weather on a Good Road/Race bike?

Thats cool with me, if thats the consensus!

DavidTQ

If you want a direct answer on that from more people post a new topic saying "is a road bike suitable for commuting" that will get some more peoples attention .

Theres a LOT of the guys on this forum using road bikes of all types for their regular day in day out commuters. Its pretty much the standard recommendation for anyone doing a decent distance on all tarmac.

But if can be more reassuring to hear it from more people, I would think asking the question directly in a thread title will get you more responses.

el_presidente

gtvlusso wrote:

So - in essence!

You guys think it would be fine to commute through a busy city in all weather on a Good Road/Race bike?

Thats cool with me, if thats the consensus!

As previously said any bike will get knackered over winter if it is used regularly and not looked after

Some people use a cheaper bike for commuting and almost treat it as disposable, i.e. little TLC and then they also don't care so much if it get's nicked.

Others will use a nice bike because they want to ride a nice bike, and will look after it so it doesn't get ruined.

Your expensive bike will be fine to commute on but it will need looking after. Ignore that and you will knacker it

gtvlusso

Will give it a shot! THX!

RufusA

gtvlusso wrote:

Forgot to reply properly - £1099 for the cheap Ducati Bike.

Careful - if the bike costs over £1000 it may rule it out of the "scheme".

AFAIK unless your employer is willing to go through the pain of applying for a new consumer credit agreement, then they will be limited to the DTI's default "max £1000" one.

Also most schemes do not allow employees to part fund the bike purchase as it would be difficult to keep the pretence of not being a hire purchase agreement if you already own part of the bike. At the end of the scheme period what would happen to the bit you own, if your employer decides not to sell you the bike?

Finally don't forget that over 50% of the bike's use has to be commuting / company business. So make sure it's seen a few times in the company bike shed if it's mainly going to be a club toy!

HTH - Rufus.