Oh no, not another one....

Headhuunter

...I'm sorry to do this to you all but I need suggestions for s new bike on the C2W scheme. I know, I know, you're all sick of this type of thread but hopefully I've earned my spurs on this site. You all know me, hell I've even met a few of you for beers and you all know I'm not some drift in who you'll never hear from again, I'm even likely to be on the Feb social ride, so please, help me out...

Basically I'm looking to replace the trusty Apollo which was trashed in the accident in November. I'm not looking for anything fancy, just a road bike with a smattering of Sora, perhaps a bit of Tiagra (or Campag equivalent) that's not a BSO. I would like to spend up to about £600, but I'll spend more if there's some very compelling reason. Just haven't had the time to go bike shopping...

With the other £400 I was thinking of getting new wheel(s) for the Focus Cayo. Anyone got any thoughts on decent road bike wheels at that price?

il_principe

Headhuunter wrote:

With the other £400 I was thinking of getting new wheel(s) for the Focus Cayo. Anyone got any thoughts on decent road bike wheels at that price?

Fulcrum Racing 3 or 1's if you can stretch.

davmaggs

using a decent title for your is good for getting help

Kieran_Burns

davmaggs wrote:

using a decent title for your is good for getting help

I love irony

Christophe3967

Well you must try a few, but have a look at the Giant Defy 3 which has received good reviews.

£400 should get you a set of Fulcrum Racing 3s which I have been very happy with.

Headhuunter

Kieran_Burns wrote:

davmaggs wrote:

using a decent title for your is good for getting help

I love irony

And what, may I ask, is wrong with the title? Should I have entitled it "What bike for £600 on C2W?"? I suspect it would have instantly plummetted to the bottom of the commuting forum if I had...

lost_in_thought

HH, would you consider a singlespeed?

Kieran_Burns

Headhuunter wrote:

Kieran_Burns wrote:

davmaggs wrote:

using a decent title for your is good for getting help

I love irony

And what, may I ask, is wrong with the title? Should I have entitled it "What bike for £600 on C2W?"? I suspect it would have instantly plummetted to the bottom of the commuting forum if I had...

Don't have a go at me :P I was pointing out the missing word making the post complaining about the misleading thread title misleading!

Headhuunter

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Headhuunter wrote:

Kieran_Burns wrote:

davmaggs wrote:

using a decent title for your is good for getting help

I love irony

And what, may I ask, is wrong with the title? Should I have entitled it "What bike for £600 on C2W?"? I suspect it would have instantly plummetted to the bottom of the commuting forum if I had...

Don't have a go at me :P I was pointing out the missing word making the post complaining about the misleading thread title misleading!

Oh I see. I'll let you off...

Headhuunter

lost_in_thought wrote:

HH, would you consider a singlespeed?

To be honest, probably not. I like my gears, love accelerating hard from the traffic at lights and also there's a fairly steep hill which I climb, with laden rucksack at the end of my commute (Telegraph Hill, New Cross) and anyway, I would like a bike that I could use at a stretch on a club run if the Focus is out of action

Ectomorph

Headhuunter wrote:

...With the other £400 I was thinking of getting new wheel(s) for the Focus Cayo. Anyone got any thoughts on decent road bike wheels at that price?

Forget these fancy low-spoke-count new-fangled wheels and get some 'proper' wheels. :twisted:
Harry Rowland Ambrosios (silver hubs, black rims) will set you back 260-ish the pair: bomb-proof, negligible weight difference, cartridge bearings, easily serviceable re: broken spokes and on my Cayo they really look the business!

However, YMMV...

---

will3

lost_in_thought wrote:

HH, would you consider a singlespeed?

or how about one of these? I mean, they're very simple machines, not much to go wrong, low maintenance

jonginge

will3 wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

HH, would you consider a singlespeed?

or how about one of these? I mean, they're very simple machines, not much to go wrong, low maintenance

Blondie, is that you?

Headhuunter

will3 wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

HH, would you consider a singlespeed?

or how about one of these? I mean, they're very simple machines, not much to go wrong, low maintenance

Yeah, I know I had an Apollo, but I have to draw the line somewhere...

lost_in_thought

will3 wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

HH, would you consider a singlespeed?

or how about one of these? I mean, they're very simple machines, not much to go wrong, low maintenance

You could probably carry several children on the back of that, and drivetrain maintenance would be a doddle. I like your thinking.

biondino

Are you crazy? 8-spoke wheels, they'd snap as soon as you hung your shopping from the bars. Even if you're a racing whippet, I bet it's not race legal.

(having said all that, WANT)

jimmypippa

biondino wrote:

Are you crazy? 8-spoke wheels, they'd snap as soon as you hung your shopping from the bars. Even if you're a racing whippet, I bet it's not race legal.

(having said all that, WANT)

Not if the spokes are cast iron.

will3

Reckon the tyres are pretty puncture proof too.

davmaggs

And what, may I ask, is wrong with the title? Should I have entitled it "What bike for £600 on C2W?"? I suspect it would have instantly plummetted to the bottom of the commuting forum if I had...

I'm having a grumpy afternoon. I find it really annoying when I open a post to find I've wasted my time (I suppose this means I've wasted the time, that I was intending to waste on the forum). You've kind of admitted that you've done it deliberately to draw punters in so it proves my point.

Anyway I apologise for being grumpy. It wasn't meant as a dig just at you, and should go in rants or somewhere.

oscarbudgie

The entry level Boardman is about £600 with lots of good kit

DonDaddyD

Build a time machine go back to 2008. Pay £600 for a alu frame and 105 groupset.

Eau Rouge

http://www.flickr.com/photos/viewfromth ... 185146183/

I saw a few before Christmas down in Portsmouth. They did seem to be actually rideable, though I'm not sure I'd take one up Box Hill.

They could have been SKy's new Dogma's made to look old and shabby to stop them being stolen though, now that I think of it.

DonDaddyD

Here you go mate. Giant SCR 1 (105) rrp £850 discounted to £650.

Or Giant SCR 1.5 (Tiagra) for £650 down to £550.

Building that time machine seems like a more plausible option.

Ahhh 2008, the world was greener, cheaper and George W Bush was still in power making the World a safer place....

TommyEss

Christophe3967 wrote:

Well you must try a few, but have a look at the Giant Defy 3 which has received good reviews.

£400 should get you a set of Fulcrum Racing 3s which I have been very happy with.

As an owner of both a Giant Defy 3 and a pair of Fulcrum R3s - I'd have to say don't do this...

There's just something galling about putting £500 wheels (admittedly they can be found heavily discounted) on a bike totalling £575 last time I looked!?

The Defy 3 is a great entry level bike - and yes, the wheels are the first thing to look at upgrading - but R3s on a bike that doesn't quite manage a full Sora groupset even - come on.

You'd do much better to spend more of that £1000 voucher on a Defy higher up the range, get to at least Tiagra level, or the 105 if you can - the wheels get better as you get up the list.

R3s aren't really commuting wheels - I bought them for my sportive bike to save some weight... and put the Mavic Ksyrium Equipe's from that bike onto the Defy...

The Alex wheels are in the shed just in case...

itboffin

For the love of god get thee to www.ribble.co.uk and grab an entry level carbon sportive which can be upgraded to the max as time allows, failing that take the cash spend it on beer and move to your nearest park bench, it's all good!