Another S/S question

markos1963

First time posting in this section and apologies if its been done many times before. My company is joining the C2W scheme and is going with Halfords unfortunatly. I fancy a single/fixed for commuting and as a winter trainer. I ride about 18 miles each way and train over 30 on fairly rolling terrain with just one big hill on the trip. I'm fairly fit having done a few 100 milers but I am not that good on hills(47yo and 13.5 stone don't mix well with hills!)
I want a bike that is light, has mudguard mounts/clearance and comes in on a budget of £600. So far I fancy either a Pearson Touche or Boardman Comp SC but I am willing to look at others. Also what gearing would be recommended?

il_principe

What sort of grade is the hill?
Do you prefer to grind or spin?
When you do 30 or 100 milers what sort ov av speed are you holding?

Gearing is easily changed though so don't worry about it too much.

The Touche is a great bet!

markos1963

The hill is about a mile with a flat spot in the middle, max gradient is about 8%. On the 30 milers I can ave about 20 mph and on the 100 about 16.5. Prefer to spin at about 95 rpm.

il_principe

markos1963 wrote:

The hill is about a mile with a flat spot in the middle, max gradient is about 8%. On the 30 milers I can ave about 20 mph and on the 100 about 16.5. Prefer to spin at about 95 rpm.

Have a play around here: http://software.bareknucklebrigade.com/rabbit.applet.html

mrc1

As I said on the buying advice forum I would definitely recommend the Touche and Guy (the bloke at Pearson) is really good and will be able to offer advice re gearing.

As a slight hijack aimed at Jash - Have you had your touche serviced/ever looked after it in any sort of way? I am probably jinxing myself by saying this but mine has now done well over 2000 all weather miles with absolutely no mechanical problems (eg annoying noises/BB grumbles etc) and has been completely neglected! I have changed the brake pads a few times but otherwise i havent done anything - no oil, no spoke key action and have certainly never cleaned it.

Im pretty sure that after cycling to brighton via ditchling beacon on it a few weeks ago the chain is well on its way to snapsville but otherwise i am really impressed!

il_principe

Well I had it serviced once - just had the BB looked at, and I've replaced both brakes myself as they totally failed - Tektro *mutter mutter

I've got through a few chains as well, but more for tarty reasons than anything else.

I do clean it regularly though, and whenever I do it rains the next day!

mrc1

The brakes are pretty poor. The first time i went out on my new bike (Campag Veloce brakes) i nearly went over the handlebars.......

il_principe

mrcartledge wrote:

The brakes are pretty poor. The first time i went out on my new bike (Campag Veloce brakes) i nearly went over the handlebars.......

Yep. I've specced Veloce for my new S/S build.

markos1963

Thanks for the help guys. At the moment I'm torn between the Pearson and the Boardman with the nagging question is the Pearson £100 better than the Boardman?

Sea_Green_Incorruptible

Also have a look here: lots of Touche discussion... http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12635079