Winter training bike...?

hopper1

Ok, here we go again... :roll: , sorry....
Need to buy a winter bike (full m/guards), etc...
Do I go fixed/single, or full gears? Not sure if a fixie will limit the bikes use, if it comes to hilly use!
Best frame material?... I have an aluminium frame and a carbon already. I wont rule out steel, or Ti, but I really want to keep it real, so far as pricing is concerned, as I've spent loads this month already! :shock: So, lets say £2000. I know I'll weaken and go over that :oops:
Try to focus on keeping it light, too.

Paul

joshposh

£2000 on a winter bike!

hopper1

Meaning?... :?

joshposh

Thats rather a lot to spend on a bike thats going to be abused by the winter weather etc!
If i had that kind of money for a winter bike i would probably opt for a pearson carbon audax pro, very classy although its over budget at £2500.

redddraggon

hopper1 wrote:

Meaning?... :?

£2000 is generally considered a lot to spend on a winter bike.

My winter bike is cheaper because:

a. I couldn't afford much more than £700 for it
b. I'm less worried about having to clean it after every ride
c. I built it out of bits I had lying around

But there's nothing wrong with spending £2000 on one if you want to and can afford it.

As to what to get? It depends on what you have in mind for doing on the bike, mudguards are a given for a winter bike, but what else do you want?

a. Rack for a bit of light touring?
b. How wide do you want your tyres?

If you just want a bike for winter club runs and other fast rides, a bike with just 23mm tyres and mudguards will probably suffice. If this all you want from it, I reckon something like a Van Nicholas Yukon would be good.

http://vannicholas.com/Wbmhome.aspx

Then there's more touring/cross orientated bikes if you want pretty wide tyres and racks and stuff.

hopper1

Thanks for your input, guys.
I've just spent almost three k on my new 'good' bike, not sure what to budget for a winter hack, hence the post.
It would be just for club runs and training, so 700x23 is good.
Although I said £2000, being cheaper would be better, as you both point out, this is going to be abused and subjected to crap conditions.
Reviewing the situation now, I see that it's probably possible to get both a fixie (Spec Langster) and a reasonable winter bike out of that budget!
Does that sound more 'grounded'?

Percy Vera

I'm buying a winter hack bike from Ribble for £640: Alloy frame, Carbon Forks, Veloce Groupset. That's if they ever get back to me! 2 days and counting....

joshposh

Absolutely hopper1! Something like a specialized langster is great for certain types of training (working on your cadence or trying to consistently pedal). Again the ribble winter bikes provide great value for money and are perfect for the club runs which require full guards (most do).

andy162

+3 for Ribble winter bikes. Mines with Tiagra and Aksiums. Reckoned to be as tough as old boots. Got mine for £600 ish. Ribble delivered on time too. Any colour as long as it's blue!

hopper1

joshposh wrote:

Absolutely hopper1! Something like a specialized langster is great for certain types of training (working on your cadence or trying to consistently pedal). Again the ribble winter bikes provide great value for money and are perfect for the club runs which require full guards (most do).

Bugger.... The Ribble comes with Campag!
Now, I'm not slagging it off, but I don't get on with the ergo shifter! I prefer SRAM, also have Shimano :roll:
Anything similar, but without Campag?

Edit: Whoo... I can build one myself, from the drop downs... Let me see....

Monty Dog

I would get a titanium fixie - the frame is virtually corrosion proof and timeless. The drivetrain, is simple and robust and you'll probably become a stronger rider too. Burls would be good place to look for a suitable frame.

giant_man

hopper1 wrote:

joshposh wrote:

Absolutely hopper1! Something like a specialized langster is great for certain types of training (working on your cadence or trying to consistently pedal). Again the ribble winter bikes provide great value for money and are perfect for the club runs which require full guards (most do).

Bugger.... The Ribble comes with Campag!
Now, I'm not slagging it off, but I don't get on with the ergo shifter! I prefer SRAM, also have Shimano :roll:
Anything similar, but without Campag?

Edit: Whoo... I can build one myself, from the drop downs... Let me see....

Hmm ... you won't get very far with that attitude young man! .... lol ......

hopper1

giant mancp wrote:

hopper1 wrote:

joshposh wrote:

Absolutely hopper1! Something like a specialized langster is great for certain types of training (working on your cadence or trying to consistently pedal). Again the ribble winter bikes provide great value for money and are perfect for the club runs which require full guards (most do).

Bugger.... The Ribble comes with Campag!
Now, I'm not slagging it off, but I don't get on with the ergo shifter! I prefer SRAM, also have Shimano :roll:
Anything similar, but without Campag?

Edit: Whoo... I can build one myself, from the drop downs... Let me see....

Hmm ... you won't get very far with that attitude young man! .... lol ......

Yeah, A little like 'biting the hands that feed me!' :oops:

Was just looking at Kinesis, too :?

markos1963

I'm getting a Boardman single speed(hopefully some time this week) for my winter duties, the extra effort of riding single/fixed should improve my strength this winter and keep cost down. I would have thought £500 should be enough for a winter bike.

redddraggon

markos1963 wrote:

I'm getting a Boardman single speed(hopefully some time this week) for my winter duties, the extra effort of riding single/fixed should improve my strength this winter and keep cost down. I would have thought £500 should be enough for a winter bike.

Surely with the lack of hills in Norfolk, a fixie won't mean any extra effort unless you overgear?

hopper1

At 48x16, the Boardman is hardly overgeared!
I haven't seen them before, look like a nice bike, more for my comparison list! :roll:
I'm leaning toward a fixie for training, I think there's more to riding a fixie than just doing hills...

I went out this morning for around 3 hours, I saw 3 different club groups riding out, but not one member of my own club! :roll: :?

Not Another Hill

Kinesis Racelight T or TK get good reviews. Fully specced for winter riding. Good alloy frame which could be raced. Prices around a grand.

Not Another Hill

PS. It's the one i have been considering but finances dictate that I'll be sticking with my hairy handling Kelloggs Pro Tour 1987 Raleigh for winter, again.

giant_man

hopper1 check some of these out

The Kinesis TK2 and T2 bikes are nearly with us. The older T and TK models were such a success and rightly so. The money was spot on for a grand.

http://www.roadcyclinguk.com/news/artic ... 63/v/1/sp/

http://kinesisbikes.co.uk/product.php?id=39

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... 8905?img=4


Or the Condor Fratello is also a good buy and can be available for the thousand pound mark:

http://www.roadcyclinguk.com/news/article/mps/uan/2804

http://www.condorcycles.com/fratello.html


You can go cheaper of course with some of the Ribble offerings.

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... udax-11764

bearing in mind Ribble customer service have got conflicting opinions, mostly a mail order thing whereas the condor and kinesis have good lbs back up ie fitting and component offering, customer service of course.

The Surosa audax is cheaper too:

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... x-08-31016

And for steel, the Thorn Audax mk 3 is good value:

http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/audaxmk3.html

Kinesis also have a Scandium offering which will take you over the grand mark (from £1399 with kinesis build up kit) but still good value:

http://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/cate ... ondo-33976

http://kinesisbikes.co.uk/product.php?id=44

And finally, just announced from Dolan comes a carbon winter bike, the Duel:

http://www.roadcyclinguk.com/news/article/mps/uan/4298


Hope this helps.

Anonymous

Hopper, I had an aluminium winter/training bike and ended up with this -

Litespeed Siena with Ultegra (DA rear mech) and Powertap.



I have raceblades for it when it's wet but you can't beat full mudguards.

As far as I'm concerned, you can't take your money with you and riding should still be as pleasurable as possible.

I'd have a look at something like a Sabbath September / Planet X ti Sportive / mudguard compatible Enigma / Van Nicholas...

Happy hunting.

Alex

hopper1

Nice bike, NapoleonD, and I agree strongly with your philosophy on spending!...
I like the look of the Van Nicholas, have a dealer fairly close by, too, so will speak to them shortly... :roll:

giant mancp, thanks for that list of bikes, it was very helpful, some makes I'd not heard of, too.

Paul

markos1963

redddraggon wrote:

markos1963 wrote:

I'm getting a Boardman single speed(hopefully some time this week) for my winter duties, the extra effort of riding single/fixed should improve my strength this winter and keep cost down. I would have thought £500 should be enough for a winter bike.

Surely with the lack of hills in Norfolk, a fixie won't mean any extra effort unless you overgear?

We have our own version of hills out here, its called the prevailling north easterly, starts in Norway and finishes in Norfolk

redddraggon

markos1963 wrote:

redddraggon wrote:

markos1963 wrote:

I'm getting a Boardman single speed(hopefully some time this week) for my winter duties, the extra effort of riding single/fixed should improve my strength this winter and keep cost down. I would have thought £500 should be enough for a winter bike.

Surely with the lack of hills in Norfolk, a fixie won't mean any extra effort unless you overgear?

We have our own version of hills out here, its called the prevailling north easterly, starts in Norway and finishes in Norfolk

In north Wales we get wind and hills

markos1963

redddraggon wrote:

markos1963 wrote:

redddraggon wrote:

markos1963 wrote:

I'm getting a Boardman single speed(hopefully some time this week) for my winter duties, the extra effort of riding single/fixed should improve my strength this winter and keep cost down. I would have thought £500 should be enough for a winter bike.

Surely with the lack of hills in Norfolk, a fixie won't mean any extra effort unless you overgear?

We have our own version of hills out here, its called the prevailling north easterly, starts in Norway and finishes in Norfolk

In north Wales we get wind and hills

I'll remember that next time I'm beating into the wind, it'll make it so much easier

Coyote

I've had the following:

Pinarello Sestriere
Sabbath/Sunday September
Cannondale R500 with guards squeezed on (not reccomended!)
An old Cougar in 531
Van Nicholas something or other for a week.

Now have a Kinesis Grand Fondo and it is the best by a mile. 23mm tyres only, made of scandium with carbon fork and rear stays. Guard & rack eyes. Rides just like a fast road bike should - if that's what you are after, I was.

My mate has Pearson carbon which looks the business - except for the frame stickers - but I couldn't stretch to that kind of money.

Kinesis were great to deal with, helped me out with sizing etc., Greg at Sabbath is top bloke with good product too but I had a bad experience with Van Nic (may have been a one off as I haven't heard much but praise, but I wouldn't go back) and a mate has an Enigma and he's had great service off them.

hopper1

markos1963 wrote:

redddraggon wrote:

markos1963 wrote:

I'm getting a Boardman single speed(hopefully some time this week) for my winter duties, the extra effort of riding single/fixed should improve my strength this winter and keep cost down. I would have thought £500 should be enough for a winter bike.

Surely with the lack of hills in Norfolk, a fixie won't mean any extra effort unless you overgear?

We have our own version of hills out here, its called the prevailling north easterly, starts in Norway and finishes in Norfolk

Don't forget the bombholes, Markos... Internal hills!

Coyote, thanks for your input, I was looking into the Tk2, but I'm checking out the Gran Fondo, too, now...

hopper1

Hmmmm, what about the Viner Passo?

Deda 12.5 steel, classic looks, but is it a long termer? :?

keef66

I have the Kinesis Tk and it's splendid as an all-year round bike.

Just 3 months after I bought it the buggers went and brought out the Gran Fondo; that's what I'd have if I was choosing now.

APIII

What about something a bit out of the rodinary like the Salsa? Should cost you about £1300 and I've heard good things about them

giant_man

The new Kinesis' are looking good .....

http://kinesisbikes.co.uk/product.php?id=11

http://kinesisbikes.co.uk/product.php?id=10

hopper1

giant mancp wrote:

The new Kinesis' are looking good .....

http://kinesisbikes.co.uk/product.php?id=11

http://kinesisbikes.co.uk/product.php?id=10

Got a quote on the Tk2 (2010), with SRAM and FSA fin. kit, plus Mavic Askiums... £1339.... The Viner is a couple of hundred more!