If you had £1,000 to spend on a bike...

jobysp

If you had £1k to spend on a bike which would be used for commuting, what would you be buying and why?

Sorry, I forgot to add that I already have a Specialized Secteur and Boardman Hybrid Comp, and would have to get the bike from Evans.

gb155

jobysp wrote:

If you had £1k to spend on a bike which would be used for commuting, what would you be buying and why?

Sorry, I forgot to add that I already have a Specialized Secteur and Boardman Hybrid Comp, and would have to get the bike from Evans.

Ribble

you know what your gonna buy mate

stuaff

I wouldn't spend £1k on a commuting bike, but only because my cycling colleagues are a bunch of clumsy gits who don't give a toss about scratching/knocking it out of the rack etc. The Viner (£1k with the enforced wheel upgrade) will get used for the commute when hell freezes over....

tailwindhome

You already have the good road bike and commuter bike covered, maybe go single speed? A grand seems a bit much for a third bike though.

Once you have a decent bike, I'm a great believer in the merits of upgrading your kit instead of expensive bike upgrades which won't improve your overall cycling experience.

eg DHB instead of cheapo shorts, Castelli instead of DHB, Assos instead of Castelli

J.Y.Kelly

I'd save another grand and get something custom built. 8)

Jay dubbleU

Kona Jake the Snake - come to the Dark Side - we have cookies

cjcp

This is nice:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/sco ... e-ec016359

Jon8a

I'd buy a light singlespeed mountain bike or strong singlespeed road bikebut I would spend £500 and put the rest towards a new roadbike for the weekends.

the_village_idiot

Jay dubbleU wrote:

Kona Jake the Snake - come to the Dark Side - we have cookies

I have just bougt this- i LOVE it!! Got a bit of a bargain for a 2009 model too

mugs

I just bought a Jake (not snake) on cyclescheme for commuting. I would have preferred a more expensive bike but needed the little bit left over for additional kit, and since I'll be going through woods the Jake has the best spec in my price range. If I'd had the full £1k just for a bike I'd have got one of those Viners from epic, and wouldn't mind sticking to the roads even if it was a bit more circuitous.

If I could only choose from Evans though I'd probably go for the Scott that cjcp linked to.

Kieran_Burns

Jay dubbleU wrote:

Kona Jake the Snake - come to the Dark Side - we have cookies

...and capes... everyone looks good in a cape 8)

Kieran_Burns

One question though: is this £1K on the BIKE or the bike and supporting paraphenalia?

jobysp

I can spend the whole £1k on the bike.

I currently use the Boardman to commute 4 days a week and the Specialized one day a week due to me having to take my daughter to nursery.

I don't have to use the new bike for commuting BUT as its on C2W... ...

I was looking at this:
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/kon ... query=Kona

but would prefer a triple as I'll be mooching on some big rides on it.

And if this was a little cheaper - I'd be looking at something like this too:
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/can ... query=2009

tailwindhome

@Jobysp

Are you sure that Evans will accept C2W on a reduced price bike?

I don't understand buying another bike essentially the same as one you already have even if it is on c2w.

What about cyclocross, a tourer, singlespeed, fixed or even a mountain bike

jobysp

When I did my last C2W I got felt QX80 at the sale price, so yes - I can't see that being a problem.

That was stolen, hence me ending up with the two bikes I have now.

One of these will end up being sold off eventually, and it's always good to have a back up bike if something goes wrong and it has to disappear to the LBS for a week.

Plus, with my daughter getting to the size now where she won't be able to sit on a bike seat on the Hybrid soon (3 stone limit) - I would be, towards the beginning of next year, be using this new bike for my every day commute anyways.

I must also add that the Secteur that I have is the bottom end one picked up from Evans for £490 (http://www.evanscycles.com/products/spe ... e-ec019551)

DonDaddyD

If it's C2W why does it have to be evans?

Sounds like you like cycling on the road and not offroad so that rules out mountain bike (could got a nice front or full suspension one at 1k). Given that the only thing missing from your list (+exemptions i.e must have gears) is carbon fibre....

Can you not add money too the voucher? Even if you're told no, doesn't hurt to ask...

Personally, I would spend the money on cycling kit... helmet, lights, new lock, maybe wheels, especially clothes....

jobysp

My company only deal with Evans Cycles, so am limited to them and yes I can add money to it if I wish (I did last year)

It will also be used very little for off road riding as my commute is 20 miles of road riding, and the longer rides I do at the weekends are all road rides too.

As for kit - I'm kitted out - helmet, clothes, lights get swapped around on the bike that I am using at the time, I have a Garmin Edge, locks, gloves, helmet, Muvi helmet camera... Pretty much everything I need

gb155

Think a Btwin would suit you mate TBH

You know, for the money, there isnt much to beat the CAAD 9

jobysp

I've just checked the Kona again - its 20 speed... Potential in that one - will get them to order one in tomorrow and take it for a spin one lunchtime.

fossyant

My Fixed was £1k and more........ certainly not Evans......spit.........

Custom Spec from the LBS..... very happy with it...have a chat with Gaz, he knows where mine comes from....

spasypaddy

caad9 is the only correct answer

gabriel959

Only real choice at £1k is the CAAD9 (from Evans). I would stretch to BB30 105 over Tiagra though.

highwaymunky

Go SS Specialized Langster!! I love mine!

Jay dubbleU

Kona Jake the Snake - come to the Dark Side - we have cookies

Yes a Jake the snake is a great solid bike too.

mudcovered

highwaymunky wrote:

Yes a Jake the snake is a great solid bike too.

Too right. Especially the 09 as the ditched the juddery Avid brakes and replaced them with the Kore Race ones. A mode that I've done myself to my 08 JtS. MY only complaint about it would be the FSA BB is not as mud and waterproof as it should be. However its Shimano replacement seems to be holding up better.

Mike

vtech1.5

i've just bought a Cannondale Synapse Tiagra Triple to use when its wet and for work and i had full mudguardsfiitted (look sad but work good), really comfortable but still prettty fast, I've got the carbon one aswell but it was getting too messed up for every day use.
sold my mtb which i hardly used since buying a road bike to pay for it

ex-pat scot

WheezyMcChubby wrote:

You already have the good road bike and commuter bike covered, maybe go single speed? A grand seems a bit much for a third bike though.

Once you have a decent bike, I'm a great believer in the merits of upgrading your kit instead of expensive bike upgrades which won't improve your overall cycling experience.

Come on! You don't #have# to spend >£1,000 on a bike, particularly on a third one, but there are plenty of us (ahem) who over the years have amassed several nice bikes.

What tends to happen is you buy some nice stuff for your best bike, and the replaced parts get trickled down to the other bikes. This is the incremental approach to bike buying, but it isn't cost -efficient. It is relatively much cheaper to buy a complete bike, particularly so if you can get it under some sort of tax-free scheme.

I'm a +1 for the fixed option for the third bike. You can pick up plenty of lovely ones at either the £500 or £800 price points (see threads on londonfixedgearsinglespeed forum) and easily go the custom route up to £1,000 and beyond. In 12 months I might...

d21dga

WheezyMcChubby wrote:

You already have the good road bike and commuter bike covered, maybe go single speed? A grand seems a bit much for a third bike though.

Aha but it will only actually cost £500-600 ish through cycle2work won't it

il_principe

This Then upgrade gruppo later on...

tailwindhome

ex-pat scot wrote:

WheezyMcChubby wrote:

You already have the good road bike and commuter bike covered, maybe go single speed? A grand seems a bit much for a third bike though.

Come on! You don't #have# to spend >£1,000 on a bike, particularly on a third one, but there are plenty of us (ahem) who over the years have amassed several nice bikes.

JobySP has clarified that the Specialized Secteur(sp?) he already has is the base model which IIRC comes with the budget shimano groupset (the one below Sora)

So what he is really looking for is an upgrade to a sunday best road bike which would, if you had the money, make sense.

What wouldn't make sense would be buying a bike, even on c2w, which would be the same level of spec and used for the same purpose as one you already have.

Edit Liking Il Principes suggestion

Gazzaputt

Bike I currently ride a Focus Variado was great value at £599. Add a decent wheelset it's great.