Commuter bike advice please

baloolla
baloolla Posts: 48
edited March 2009 in Commuting chat
Hi,

I need some advice on which bike to get for my summer commute. It is around nine miles half across the south downs and half on road. I have a budget of up to £1200. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Ben

Comments

  • cjcp
    cjcp Posts: 13,345
    At the risk of asking a stupid question, what's the other half like? Is it something a cyclocross bike could deal with?
    FCN 2-4.

    "What happens when the hammer goes down, kids?"
    "It stays down, Daddy."
    "Exactly."
  • stevedb55
    stevedb55 Posts: 52
    Maybe I'm being silly but doesn't it say half on the downs and half on the road........ ??
  • cjcp
    cjcp Posts: 13,345
    :lol: If it's a track though, you might be able to get away with a cross bike. Not been across the downs though, so don't know whether you have designated tracks to ride on.
    FCN 2-4.

    "What happens when the hammer goes down, kids?"
    "It stays down, Daddy."
    "Exactly."
  • Feltup
    Feltup Posts: 1,340
    Yes but off road can mean anything from fire tracks to rocky hell descents. If the former or at least half decent tracks then a cyclocross bike would be fine. I ride my single speed cyclocross through Swinley Forest and get funny looks from all the mtn bikers :D
    Short hairy legged roadie FCN 4 or 5 in my baggies.

    Felt F55 - 2007
    Specialized Singlecross - 2008
    Marin Rift Zone - 1998
    Peugeot Tourmalet - 1983 - taken more hits than Mohammed Ali
  • Crooky
    Crooky Posts: 604
    Take a look at the Ridgeback 05 (there's a review on here somewhere) It's around the price you mentioned and looks fast. Also you can stick mudguards on it, something a lot of so called commuter bikes don't have.
  • Rich158
    Rich158 Posts: 2,348
    Feltup wrote:
    Yes but off road can mean anything from fire tracks to rocky hell descents. If the former or at least half decent tracks then a cyclocross bike would be fine. I ride my single speed cyclocross through Swinley Forest and get funny looks from all the mtn bikers :D

    I bet you do. There was a cyclocross race at my local off-road track a while back, it was a bizarre juxtaposition of lycra clad roadies sweating it out on one track, and the armour clad Dh'ers clearing a 20ft race double on the adjacent track. The spectators soon learnt not to stand on the jumps when they found 45lb of DH bike tearing towards them. iirc we all gave each other funny looks, and there was no cross talk between the two disciplines, it was like the DH'ers were scared of being infected with a lycra fetish and vice versa.

    In answer to the original post I'd go for something like the Trek 8000 if you want to indulge in some mountainbiking (proper off-roading) at the weekends, or a cyclocross bike if you like getting funny looks from mountain bikers.
    pain is temporary, the glory of beating your mates to the top of the hill lasts forever.....................

    Revised FCN - 2
  • stevedb55
    stevedb55 Posts: 52
    I'm no expert on this but would I be right in thinking a cyclocross would be ideal if its mainly smoothish rocky/chalky paths (which is most of the south downs way) - I'm buying a Pinnacle cross bike and hoping this is the sort of thing I can use it for (apart from the daily commute on tarmac)

    Cheers all
    Steve
  • cjcp
    cjcp Posts: 13,345
    Sounds all right to me. I think there's an article in this or last month's C+ featuring a X bike on a mtb route.
    FCN 2-4.

    "What happens when the hammer goes down, kids?"
    "It stays down, Daddy."
    "Exactly."

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