winter bike

windypants

:idea: I've been looking at Aeron and Kinesis! What would you forum members recommend?

John C.

I've got a Kenesis Racelight and I love it. It needs deep drop brakes but if you get RSX and use koolstop pads they work well. This is also the bike I do most my long ( 100 + miles) distance on. It's shod with Shimano WHR550 wheels with 25mm tyres which makes it a very comfortable bike to ride. It also takes proper size mudguards and has all the bolt holes for a rack and water bottles.

meagain

This bike laughs at WINTER! On or off tarmac.



But then it does stand me at nearly 50 quid!

Mettan

Kinesis are well regarded - the Racelight T or Racelight TK would both build up into a nice Winter bike - the Aeron TR with free forks will be a bit heavier but less expensive - for a similar weight to the Aeron you could get the Ribble with free Carbon forks for a bit cheaper than the Aeron. All seem to be usable Winter options (I've got the Ribble), Kinesis being the best out of the three mentioned.

Mister W

My winter bike is a Planet-X Kaffenback. 105 groupset, full mudguards, fittings for a rack, if that's your thing, and tough enough for some light mud if you fit cyclo-cross tyres.

kingrollo

I use a decatlon 7.1 sport as a all round commutter - I have to use clip on mudguards - but this isn't a problem. Current model is £299 at decathlon.

keef66

'nother happy Racelight TK / 105 / 25mm tyres / full mudguards owner here.

I can only afford one bike (money and storage) and this is as close as I can find to a do-it-all bike

jswba

keef66 wrote:

'nother happy Racelight TK / 105 / 25mm tyres / full mudguards owner here.

I can only afford one bike (money and storage) and this is as close as I can find to a do-it-all bike

+1

There seem to be a lot of very satisfied Kinesis riders on here. Maybe we should set up a Racelight fanclub?!

Nuggs

I've just built up a TK with a 105/FSA mix.

I'm yet to ride it, but it looks the shizzle!

morrisje

And yet another happy Kinesis TK owner.
I think that one thing to remember when looking at winter bikes is that you will be riding it for 6 months a year. The type of riding you do probably won't change but you will need mudguards to stop clothes getting covered in c&*p. If you buy some old clunker it's going to make your winter an even more miserable experience. The Kinesis, Ribble, etc. are spot on as they are still good to ride but allow bigger tyres and mudguards.

windypants

What would the build cost be for a Tk complete bike with new entry level shimano or campag?

trevtherev

I will also be a happy kenesis racelight tk owner in Dec when our CTW scheme starts...can I join the club as well

JC.152

a lot of people have Ribbles so they must be alright or just their old bike
mines my first road bike from a couple of years ago a silver revolution road bike

keef66

have a look at Epic Cycles website; they do a few TK builds starting IIRC about £800. Mine was a custom build and I managed to get it up to nearly £1100!

keef66

Just had a look; £850 for the Tiagra shod TK

Also spotted the Gran Fondo; good job that wasn't there when I was shopping otherwise I might have gone seriously over budget!

www.epiccycles.co.uk

JWSurrey

Kinesis get good reviews.
There are two guys at work, one of whom I have spoken to, who is very happy with his Ribble.
Enigma Etape is a nice one if slightly pricey (Titanium)
Pearson do a full carbon audax at 1800 quid - metal dropouts with mudguard and rack mounts, plus "safer" winter angles.... c. 1Kg frame!

My current ride: Condor Fratello - superb, steel, if slightly heavier than the above options - but then when I jump on the summer bike, I'm an average 2mph faster.

Watch out for clearances - Some of the bikes above will take max. 25c. with guards - which is generally fine though I find myself thinking about a crosser for the colder end of winter.... reality is that when it's that cold/slippery I'm generally on the MTB.

giant_man

Gran Fondo scandium .........mnnnnnnnnn ............

John C.

JWSurrey wrote:

Kinesis get good reviews.

Watch out for clearances - Some of the bikes above will take max. 25c. with guards - which is generally fine though I find myself thinking about a crosser for the colder end of winter.... reality is that when it's that cold/slippery I'm generally on the MTB.

With the Kenisis having deep drop brakes you can get 28c+ tyre size on with mudguard clearance.
For what it's worth mine is a Campano.
10 speed Campag Centaur shifters
8 speed Shmano road block
XT rear mech
Tiagra front mech
26/42/52 LX Chainset.

As it is a winter/distance bike I'm not bothered about 10 speed , gear shift is heavier than 105 but it works well and it brakes better than with Sora levers. I have a Specialized BG saddle and use an Altura post rack/bag. If I could only keep one bike from my stable, this would be the one I'd keep.