versatility on the road - audax or cyclocross?
minus9ine
Posts: 13
I'm driving myself slightly batty here, going round in circles trying to figure out the way to go, so I'm going to throw myself on the tender mercies of the bikeradar hive mind:
I've commuted by bike for a couple of years and this year want to get more serious and ride more. I'm looking for one or two bikes that will cover the following uses (in no particular order):
1) 50-100 mile audax/sportives a few times a year
2) 2-3 hour rides most weekends
3) short flat commutes, 5-8 miles round trip, daily
4) off-road cycle routes (I'm in Norfolk, so we're talking sustrans routes rather than ascending mountains, but may include trips to south wales or the lake district once or twice a year)
5) family rides with a currently 18-month old toddler (so needs a child seat fitted)
My current thinking is to get a £300-500 mountain bike to do 4) and 5), and then get one bike to cover 1) to 3). This road bike will be bought via the cycle2work scheme so max. £1K.
I'm old and beardy enough that the bike must take mudguards and a rack, and I'm not particularly attracted to carbon bikes (which don't take guards and a rack anyway)
So, to cut to the chase it seems to me I'm looking at Audax or cyclocross bikes. Locally in terms of Audax bikes I can get a Kinesis Racelight T or a non-branded reynolds 531 steel frame built up to a nice spec (I've been suggested SRAM Rival or Campag Veloce/Centaur) for £1K, or maybe I could go to London and get the Condor Fratello with Sora or Tiagra. All sounds good, but I won't be able to try any of these out before buying. The only bikes I could try are cyclocrossers, specifically a Specialized Tricross, Voodoo Limba or Genesis Croix-de-fer.
My question, then (are you still with me?) is what should I look for in a test-ride of the cyclocross bikes, and what would I expect to see improved by going with one of the Audax builds? And which of the above to people think sound the most suitable or unsuitable for my proposed uses?
Sorry for the essay-length question, and thanks for any suggestions...
I've commuted by bike for a couple of years and this year want to get more serious and ride more. I'm looking for one or two bikes that will cover the following uses (in no particular order):
1) 50-100 mile audax/sportives a few times a year
2) 2-3 hour rides most weekends
3) short flat commutes, 5-8 miles round trip, daily
4) off-road cycle routes (I'm in Norfolk, so we're talking sustrans routes rather than ascending mountains, but may include trips to south wales or the lake district once or twice a year)
5) family rides with a currently 18-month old toddler (so needs a child seat fitted)
My current thinking is to get a £300-500 mountain bike to do 4) and 5), and then get one bike to cover 1) to 3). This road bike will be bought via the cycle2work scheme so max. £1K.
I'm old and beardy enough that the bike must take mudguards and a rack, and I'm not particularly attracted to carbon bikes (which don't take guards and a rack anyway)
So, to cut to the chase it seems to me I'm looking at Audax or cyclocross bikes. Locally in terms of Audax bikes I can get a Kinesis Racelight T or a non-branded reynolds 531 steel frame built up to a nice spec (I've been suggested SRAM Rival or Campag Veloce/Centaur) for £1K, or maybe I could go to London and get the Condor Fratello with Sora or Tiagra. All sounds good, but I won't be able to try any of these out before buying. The only bikes I could try are cyclocrossers, specifically a Specialized Tricross, Voodoo Limba or Genesis Croix-de-fer.
My question, then (are you still with me?) is what should I look for in a test-ride of the cyclocross bikes, and what would I expect to see improved by going with one of the Audax builds? And which of the above to people think sound the most suitable or unsuitable for my proposed uses?
Sorry for the essay-length question, and thanks for any suggestions...
0
Posts
I wanted a Kona Jake, but am ending up with a Jake the Snake (long story).
I would imagine the major difference between the audax and the cyclocross will be a slightly longer wheelbase on the audax, so may be more stable with panniers/child seat.
The CX bike can take bigger tyres so will be better off road.
If I were you (which I kind of am), I'd get a CX bike and then a set of road wheels and tyres. Use them for the road stuff, and the knobblies for the off road.
HOWEVER
If you are defo getting an MTB for 4 and 5, why even consider a CX bike? If you are riding purely on the road surely it's a no brainer to get an audax bike? The CX doesn't offer you anything the audax bike won't, and will be a bit heavier.
Lastly, if you are still looking at CX bikes, the Voodoo has no lugs for guards and a rack. You need to be looking at the Tricross Sport, Kona Jake or Jake the Snake. The Genesis does, but also has disc brakes so you have make sure your rack and panniers and seat can fit round them.
For £1000 I'm sure you could easily get a nice Audax put together. Take a look at Bob Jackson cycles for builds.
where there's two wheels, there's a way....
The problem remains though, that unlike the cyclocrosses I can't try these before buying. I am attracted to the responsiveness the kinesis is reputed to offer over a steel frame, but will the promises of the 'steel is real' brigade leave me thinking I should have opted for that? I don't think I can get the Thorn on a cycle2 work scheme, and I want something sleeker than the sherpa (I don't expect to do much if any proper touring, due mostly to lack of time than inclination). The condor looks nice and I hear very good things about it, but I'm still not clear what the extra £200 or so the frameset costs gives me over the other choices available, plus I'd prefer to support a local shop.
Without trying them, do I just go with my spidey senses? Would testing steel vs aluminium cyclocross bikes tell me something about the differences between steel and aluminium audaxes, or does geometry have more to do with it? More to ponder...
Is the generic steel frame your LBS can get the Arvis one? If not they could probably get it. It has a good reputation, sold as the Aravis from Byercycle or the Chiltern from Hewitts and different names from others. The frames are all finished in the UK and the paint quality is first class. It won't be as responsive as the Racelight, but with a carbon fork, decent wheels and the right components there won't be much in it. As an all rounder it'd probably be my choice.
http://www.byercycles.co.uk/bikeprice%2 ... R1008.html
http://www.hewittbikefitting.co.uk/uplo ... G_0062.jpg
I wouldn't worry too much about a test ride, it always takes me a couple of weeks to get used to a new bike anyway. I'd have rejected at least one of my bikes on the basis of first impressions...
As long as you get a good fit (down to the expertise of the LBS) the worst thaat can happen is you don't like the frame and swapping frames only costs a fraction of a bike price.
I won't be disposing of the Tricross, though!!!!.
AP
It is riding position, tyre volume and saddle type that dictate your comfort, and so on. You probably know what riding position suits you by now, at least closely enough that it is within range of a bike's adjustments. A road bike with space for bigger tyres will give you the option of riding on unmetalled roads and more, and can still be equipped with narrow tyres if you prefer, for road use. That said, I've taken off road excursions on 23mm slicks plenty of times without particular problems.
If you could combine your budgets, a bespoke frame by, for example, Roberts, would be in range. An all round Audax style bike, perhaps with larger tyre clearance. Such a bike will have a lifetime warranty and will last practically for ever. Given your requirements, I can't imagine anything more perfect.
PHcp and balthazar - interesting, and rarely expressed, views on testing bikes, yet they chime with my feelings pretty well (after all, I test rode my current bike, but it was the first bike I'd ridden in 10 years and I got completely the wrong size).
The lbs that offers the steel frame (which I think/assume is the hewitt/byercycles one) is a bit iffy about doing the cycle2work scheme (they, quite reasonably, don't like the 10% surcharge), so if I can't get them to do it then I'll go with the other shop offering the kinesis build. It sounds like I could be happy with either. Offroad-wise I've found a good deal on a 2008 genesis altitude mtb - this has mounts for a rack and will cover all my offroad needs. I've got a busy couple of weeks at work then I'll be placing my order for whichever roadbike I go for.
Very happy bunny.
Don't know where you are in Norfolk, but if you're in the Newmarket area you're welcome to pop in and have a look
Sounds like you need an audax bike and an MTB. Condor Fratello would be my choice for the audaxer.
Unfortunately our car decided to give up the ghost sunday so any spending plans, even on the cyclescheme, are on hold for a few months at least! gah!
So I'll have to spend the summer on my too-big sirrus and use the time to get to the point where my ability on the bike justifies a shiny new toy later in the year or early next.
keef, thanks v much for the offer. I'm in Norwich so a bit of a trek away. I've signed up for the 50-mile route of the Suffolk Sunrise in May though, so maybe see you there?
Andy
In the end the choice came down to what I could get from a cycle-to-work shop. I emailed Condor and got a phonecall back within minutes - they were great, very helpful about several things I'd asked, but when it came to the crunch they wouldn't have been able to accept my voucher (despite what it says on their website).
If I'd wanted one of their builds off the peg I could have got it via Cycle Republic in Norwich but this would mean that (a) I wouldn't have been able to go over the £1000 to get a 10-speed groupset and (b) I wouldn't have got the fitting that was a big part of my attraction to the fratello.
The lbs offering the steel frame weren't all that keen on doing cycle-to-work, so I was left with my first option, a Racelight Kinesis T built up with last year's SRAM Rival and Mavic Aksium wheels. I'm now in the process of ordering a nice shiny white one, having had some advice on sizing from Dom at Kinesis.
In a straight choice, I might well have plumped for the Condor Fratello and added £100 for Veloce or Rival but given the strictures of the cycle to work scheme it wasn't possible (and fair enough really, I'm not complaining).
If it turns out that I don't get on with the Kinesis (and I hope and expect that I will) then in a year's time I could go and buy (for example) the Fratello frameset and transfer the wheels and groupset on to it, for only a little more than it'd cost to buy the Fratello now without the cycle scheme, so I don't lose out all that much either way.
looking forward to a new bike now!