New Bike advice

vurted

The frame on my 16 year old MTB has finally cracked after many many miles and it's totally unuseable. Having seacrhed the market for a replacement I'm thoroughly confused.
I need a bike for the following:

4 mile commute every day, rain snow or shine (i like to be fast too :-) ).
Occasional touring (no more than 20 miles a day as have four kids in tow)
Needs rack mounts for our islabike tag along
Strong enough to pull a two person trailer.
Be able to cope with some rough paths.

I'm leaning towards disc brakes with normal derailleur gears, but have no real rational for this.

Shortlist so far is:
Bianchi Camaleonte 2 Sport bike
Cannondale Bad Boy 650
GT Transeo 2
Kona Dew (unsure which one)
Ridgeback Storm
Planet X Kaffenback

Any comments, suggestions, or general advice?
Cheers
V
KONA Dew

Kieran_Burns

Seems to me your ideal bike would be a CX bike like the one I REALLY want:

http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCBkMode ... anguage=US

road bike style, fatter tyres, and sturdier frame with all the mounting points you need

vurted

At 700 odd quid I'm going to struggle getting the funds for that past mrs though :-(

symo

I have the Kona Dew Deluxe 2008, love it. It's my first time on 700cc wheels and I'm hooked. Commuted non-stop for the last 3 weeks since I bought it and every mile a pleasure. You may want to fit some bar ends for touring though. I have to cover a 50 metre strech which is unpaved and it's fine. However I suggest you swing a leg over all your choices and try and get a test ride. There is no perfect bike for everyone in my opinion.

Kieran_Burns

Cycle to work scheme to pay for it?

That way it is approximately 1/2 price

vurted

They have been in the process of thinking about the cycle to work scheme here for the last year, but apparently it's not a priority and won't be coming in any time soon. As I've effectively got no bike at the moment I have to get one to get to work and back, via the kids school. My bike gets kitted with an islabike tag along rack, cross bar seat and trailer hitch. Four kids, three under 6 and all sorts of carrying combinations :-)

It's got to the point I cant wait anymore :-(

sc999cs

A hard tail MTB with a change of slick tyres for commuting? 4 miles isn't far enough to really worry about a dedicated commuter. Look at your other (fun) needs first and buy the bike to match those.