Frame for commute bike

painfully slow
painfully slow Posts: 9
edited June 2008 in Workshop
Hi Chaps,

I'm a daily commuter, 10 miles in and 10 miles out of a large city. I have a blinder of a 1 in 4 hill first thing in the morning. No joking! I currently use a muddy fox (year 1991) courier frame with 26 inch wheels and nice low 26 tooth triple chainring. I carry books and stuff in a pannier and like full mudguards for all year round practicality. Problem is, my frame's really finished now. The derailleur hanger has been re-threaded twice and now two lugs for the brake cables have come off and I'm making do with cable ties. 1991 is a long time ago. My question....does anyone know of a decent steel frame I could chose. I much prefer steel as otherwise I get numb hands. I'll be using flat bars and V brakes and similar gears as above. 26 inch vs 700 doesn't matter too much although the 26 inch wheels take some hammer and this is my preference. Eyes for guards and panniers mandatory. It's for commuting so I'd prefer about £200-300.

Not a particularly roadie question and I'll cross post this in commute, but I know there's some a wealth of technical knowledge in this forum!

Many thanks. Painful.

Comments

  • alfablue
    alfablue Posts: 8,497
    How about: Surly Long Haul Trucker (£300ish), Thorn Raven Sterling (£349) or the Planet-X Uncle John or Kaffenback (£208 or £156). The Planet-X ones are for 700c but you can get some strong wheel builds (try Spa Cycles, something like Handbuilt Touring Wheels Sputnik/Deore 36 spoke wheels for £125/pr, or Hewitts) that should be every bit as good as 26" wheels, and certainly better than cheap machine built ones.
  • passout
    passout Posts: 4,425
    Planet X Kaffen back as suggested. Salsa Casserole looks nice too.
    'Happiness serves hardly any other purpose than to make unhappiness possible' Marcel Proust.
  • andrewgturnbull
    andrewgturnbull Posts: 3,861
    Hi there.

    If what you want is a direct replacement for your steel mtb, then why not try and find something second hand from the same era. There must be an awful lot of these bikes hanging around the back of sheds that haven't been ridden in years.

    Cheers, Andy
    http://www.andyturnbull.co.uk
    http://www.stirlingtri.co.uk
  • meanwhile
    meanwhile Posts: 392
    andrewgturnbull wrote:
    Hi there.

    If what you want is a direct replacement for your steel mtb, then why not try and find something second hand from the same era. There must be an awful lot of these bikes hanging around the back of sheds that haven't been ridden in years.

    Cheers, Andy

    GTs seem to come up on ebay quite often and are nice bikes - tough and fast. The restoration work can be considerable though.

    Re. a £300 road frame, I think the OP would like the Cotic Roadrat. An MTB inspired 700c design for road, cyclocross and trail. Fixed or geared, disc or v's. Versatile beast. Oh - and it's cromo. Charge make some nice cromo bikes and frames too, I think in 26 and 700.
  • meanwhile
    meanwhile Posts: 392
    alfablue wrote:
    Planet-X Uncle John

    I though that one was cromo, but I've been told it's alu.
  • alfablue
    alfablue Posts: 8,497
    meanwhile wrote:
    alfablue wrote:
    Planet-X Uncle John

    I though that one was cromo, but I've been told it's alu.
    I think you may be right, their web site is not very informative at the moment! The Kaffenback is definitely CroMo though.

    On the subject of secondhand GT bikes, I did have a Steel GT Bravado mtb some years ago - 1997 vintage (it was their top steel frame, same as on the Karakorum), I fitted rigid forks and did many tours on it - lovely bike, I have a great affection for! (My son managed to break the chainstay getting "big air" on it, 3 times! Welded twice, eventually retired it).

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