New commuting bike quandary

Cornelius Kneejerk

Hi there,
Have been commuting into work (just under 5 miles each way) 3 or 4 days a week for 3 months now and have decided it's time to upgrade from my brother's 2nd hand Raleigh "mountain" bike to something a bit lighter and swifter. Have looked around and been into the usual shops to try some bikes out and am still in a quandary over what to buy.
At the moment I'm looking at buying a Focus bike from Wiggle though not sure about spending hundreds of pounds on a bike I haven't even had the chance to sit on, so was looking for opinions on a) Focus bikes in general and b) specifically considering the Focus Cayo 105 or Focus Culebro 2009... any thoughts? Looks to me like the Culebro is better specified, but am worried that an Aluminium frame might not be up to the rigours of a regular commute?
Alternatively am also considering the Condor Agio or possibly the Genesis Vapour... any thoughts on these or other possibilities (would love a single speed, but not sure that Archway hill will allow)
Any advice/ideas gratefully received.
Thanks
Cornelius

Christophe3967

Hello, good evening and welcome. The main thing to keep in mind is that there's no right or wrong answer and whatever you end up buying will be a signiificant improvement on what you're riding at present. Lots of people will tell you to buy the same bike they've recently bought, but bear in mind we all have differing needs and situations.

Focus bikes, especially the Cayo invariably get good reviews and personally I haven't heard anything bad said about them. At least one guy on here has one and will give you the lowdown, but they are, by all accounts, race bikes first andforemost. So if you're after scalps, that could be a good choice - they are German, well specced and good value. The main issue is that you can't easily try one, which is really useful when you're buying a bike.

Condor are well worth a visit but try and avoid lunchtimes. Not sure how big your hill is, so you'd need to think about your fitness levels but certainly a fixed / SS is also worth thinking about.

You do really need to present yourself to a good bike shop (there's a thread on here) and talk to someone (preferably somebody you feel knows their stuff - don't be fobbed off) imply that you'll be spending more later, bringing in a mate whose budget is astronomical etc etc. Then visit at least one other, decide who you're comfortable with and take their advice.

Good luck.

cjcp

to the middle of the film (to complete Christophe's first sentence with a well known saying).

Archway Hill? Yep, used to live on Highgate Hill. Greg66 used to live up that way too way back when, if memory serves me right.

Anyway, an alu frame will do you fine, particularly over a five mile commute. End of chat on that one.

As for the bikes, you seem to have mentioned a variety of bikes: +1 for what Christopher says about the Focus bikes. Not ridden them, but Biondino on here has one and he seems very pleased with it. The Culebro looks nicely kitted out. BJUK on the forum is using Mavic Aksiums for the commute and is happy with them (I think ). Also, the compact chainset with the 12-27 will see you up most inclines, let alone Archway Hill.

The Vapour is a cyclo-cross bike, I think, if you're talking about the 2009 model (see the canti brakes); the 2008 is the SS model.

The Agio appears to fall more into the touring/audax category.

You could get away with a SS for Archway Hill depending on the gearing and assuming you don't want to ride distances on the weekend. If you want to do the latter, then, IMO, get a bike with gears. An alu bike will also be fine for weekend riding, and a carbon fork, of the sort they have on the Culebro, will help dampen road buzz into the arms and shoulders over longer rides.

However, if you want to ride on weekends, do as Christophe said, and get yourself to a shop for a fitting. The top tube on my commuter is about 2cm (max) longer than my "Sunday best" bike. I can do 35 miles max on the commuter before the lower back starts to ache and makes riding uncomfortable.

You do not need to spend loads on the commuter. But, if you want something you can use for the weekend, it will do you no harm to spend the sort of money they're asking for the Culebro. What I would say is that you use the Aksiums for the commute and have a separate, hand built pair of wheels (e.g. Mavic CXP33s or Open Pros) for weekend use.

Aguila

Hi,

I have a Focus Cayo 2008 (had ultegra last year) and it is a brilliant bike. It is a proper race bike so not really set up for year round commuting. I do commute on it in the summer with dry roads however as it is so much fun.

Wiggle do a week trial thing where if you dont like the bike after a week you can send it back free, I think they even arrange collection, you just have to keep the (enormous) box it came in. I commute on an audax bike which is more comfortable, has mudguards, rack monts etc so more suitable for the winter. Still a race oriented frame so still fun. Condor do a brilliant one called the fratello which is what I will be buying when I replace mine.

I toyed with getting a culebro when I got my cayo but consensus was that the cayo was clearly better. I think its too good for commuting full time on personally unless you're planning to be a fair weather commuter only. Oh and you'd better have somewhere secure to park it too!

biondino

Aguila wrote:

Hi,

I have a Focus Cayo 2008 (had ultegra last year) and it is a brilliant bike. It is a proper race bike so not really set up for year round commuting. I do commute on it in the summer with dry roads however as it is so much fun..

I toyed with getting a culebro when I got my cayo but consensus was that the cayo was clearly better. I think its too good for commuting full time on personally unless you're planning to be a fair weather commuter only. Oh and you'd better have somewhere secure to park it too!

All the above is on the money (I have a Cayo Expert, which is slightly better equipped than the basic Cayo, which adds to the raciness). I love commuting on my Focus, although I am, if honest, beginning to feel a little worn down by the, um, imperfect road surfaces (and SW London probably has the best road surfaces in London, on average). It really is VERY fast, and great fun to ride, but if you don't have somewhere secure and non-public to park it, it's probably not the right choice.

Having said that, for longer weekend rides it's the bomb. It's light as hell, stiff, racy but not uncomfortable, and it's such crackingly good value I couldn't in honesty recommend anything else (cycle to work helped with mine, though I know most people won't have that as an option). Aluminium is fine to commute in - a bit buzzy perhaps, but easily hardy enough. Carbon (in my limited experience) is more skittish and fun, though not more comfy as such - but then with 100+psi in 23mm tyres comfort isn't going to be great in any case.

I'm rambling now, but if the Cayo fits your personal prospective purposes, then absolutely go for it. In terms of sizing, I have a 58cm (XL) frame, and I'm 6 foot, 34 inch leg and it's a teeny bit big for me.

Cornelius Kneejerk

Cheers for your responses, as with mosts things there are always more questions than answers!

Looks to me like the Cayo 105 has a Carbon frame with mainly 105 componentry while the Culebro is Aluminium frame with Ultegra components... any thoughts on the relative pros and cons?

Also come across two other potential ones...

Fuji Roubaix http://www.evanscycles.com/products/fuj ... e-ec018087 - mainly like this one cos of name... love watching the Roubaix
Felt 75 http://www.evanscycles.com/products/fel ... e-ec017091 - mainly cos it's red (it's out of my price range really)

If anyone has any experience/opinions about the relative merits....

Ta

Aguila

The frame is always most important, can upgrade components easier than frame. The Cayo frame is better than the culebro. C+ reviewed the culebro and gave it less marks than the cayo, IMO its better even with 105, which is actually a pretty good group anyway.

The Fuji looks ok and actually was reviewed in C+ a month or two ago and got a goodish rating, you can prob find the review on here.

The Felt looks horribly overpriced to me compared to the focus equivalents, I would go for one of those if you are set on a road bike.

crosstowncommuter

Don't underestimate the difference a properly fitting bike can make to riding comfort and getting the most out of your bike.

If you go for something like one of the Condor's you will get a proper fitting session to get the bike setup for you included in the price and you can spec the bike (within reason) as you want it.

The Focus bikes always seem to get good reviews, and I would have got one of their cross bikes if they were on the cyclescheme at my work.

Maybe its worth spending a little bit of cash (less than £100?) on one of the cyclefit sessions that I think places like Mosquito Bikes in London offer? This will give you a good starting point for assessing the size of off the shelf bikes like the Focus, so you can get as close as possible to the right frame size and setup from the available options?

Cornelius Kneejerk

Looks like using the bike to commute isn't going to be an option for some time... was knocked off on way home by a car turning left without indicating... fractured hip... three hour operation... 3 screws and a plate fitted and 4 days in hospital... and the best bit? Driver didn't even stop!!!
Probably just as well I didn't invest the best part of £1000 on a new bike (

laughingboy

That's terrible for you. Hope you are recovering OK.

I was left hooked once (just grazed my face on the road, no serious injury), but like in your case the imbecile didn't stop.

Aguila

Cornelius Kneejerk wrote:

Looks like using the bike to commute isn't going to be an option for some time... was knocked off on way home by a car turning left without indicating... fractured hip... three hour operation... 3 screws and a plate fitted and 4 days in hospital... and the best bit? Driver didn't even stop!!!
Probably just as well I didn't invest the best part of £1000 on a new bike (

Did anyone get the number plate, they have committed a criminal offense by failing to stop afterward, not to mention the injury. Hope you recover soon and buy the Cayo!