Planet X Uncle John good commuter/tourer?

Drunkenmunkey

Looking at getting a decent commuter/ play thing/ light xc and in two years a tourer that'll take me to Finland.........don't ask, drunken night in the pub.......

Anyway thinking of the Uncle John with MTB gearing and fat as poss' tyres.....what do peeps think? Too stiff?

Thanks!

jpembroke

It's a great bike - I race on one - but if I were i'd get a tourer; much better for, er, touring.

jedster

I like mine for commuting (guards/rack/dyno hub) but it's only really suitable for credit card touring (no bosses on the rather nice forks). Depends what you want it for but if you are doing proper touring I guess there are better options.

meanwhile

I was thinking of getting one myself as a general purpose bike. Beside the comments already made I was scared off by people who obviously like the bike talking about different ways of taming the harsh ride for non-racing. I decided that a Cotic Roadrat made more sense, but haven't bought it yet because I'm waiting for B2W. Could be just what you want - cyclocross bike with disc and v mounts but lots of brazeons for racks and fenders, cromoloy frame so should be spring.

If you do buy the UJ, let me know what you think!

You might also want to look at a Kaffenbach, Crosscheck, LHT, maybe a Karate Monkey. All cromo and said to be springy, lots of mounts, versatile.

woodford2barbican

the Kaffenback is excellent for commuting...

jpembroke

I do miss my old Blue Dragon Kaffenback and it was a top commuting bike. Not especially fast on climbs but a proper work horse of a bike. I also did a few 80-100 mile rides on it and it was really comfortable. Better than an Uncle John for commuting/touring IMO.