Winter/Wet Weather Road Bike Advice

StephenDone

Hi,

I have a nice summer road bike (Specialized Roubaix) and I do not want to spoil it by riding it on wet and winter days.

I am looking for a bike to use solely on the road.
I want it to have mountings and clearance for proper mudgaurds and rear pannier rack, or come with them. I'm not interested in clip on guards on a racer.
I want drop handlebars & 10 speed compact Shimano or SRAM gears, so I can swap wheels with my other bikes and it rides like my road bike.
I won't be loading it up with luggage, so don't need it built like a traction engine. The most gear I would put on it is a bag that sits on top of the rack with my gym kit in it.
Ideally, I'd like it to be reasonably light, say 10-11kg tops.
I don't get pleasure from digging grit out of brake blocks, so if the frame is disc brake compatible then all the better, though I know this is very unlikely to be possible. So this is the lowest priority requirement.

Bikes I have seen that roughly match the spec so far:
Specialized TriCross
Ribble 7005 Winter Training Bike
Kona Honky Inc

I've looked at the Dawes Galaxy, but at 13.5kg, it is so heavy, I think I'd avoid using it.

I don't mind building the bike, if anyone can recommend a good frame as a base.

Any comments on these or other suggestions?

Many thanks

Steve

Chris James

Kinesis Racelights seem well regarded.

Incidentally, re the weight of Galaxies, bear in mind that it comes with a rack and a full set of guards that probably weigh 1.2 kg ish so you need to consider that when comparing weights.

However, I would have thought from the Dawes range something like this would be more appropriate

http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php ... b1s21p1359

Chris James

Incidentally, using Koolstop pads I don't find they pick up any metal shards at all.

StephenDone

Thanks for the Kinesis tip - they look ideal and will definitely make it onto my shortlist.

keef66

Kinesis Racelight T2 or TK2?

I have the latter cos it's pretty light. Full guards / 105 groupset / RS10 wheels. It's my all year round bike. 9kg all in. It's a winter trainer, so rides pretty much like any other road bike. Seen me through 2 winters and a damp summer so far without complaint.

Might be taking the guards off if the weather stays like this.

hopper1

keef66 wrote:

Kinesis Racelight T2 or TK2?

I have the latter cos it's pretty light. Full guards / 105 groupset / RS10 wheels. It's my all year round bike. 9kg all in. It's a winter trainer, so rides pretty much like any other road bike. Seen me through 2 winters and a damp summer so far without complaint.

Might be taking the guards off if the weather stays like this.

+1

Wooliferkins

Tifosi CK7. Mine with a 9 speed campag triple, brookes saddle, sks guards, rack and rack bag about 9 kg on the bathroom scales

http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=15253550

Nuggs

I built up a Kinesis TK2 a couple of years ago and haven't looked back.

It's very well behaved, comfy and certainly doesn't feel like a beater.

I have a Roubaix as my summer bike as well. The TK2's ride isn't as butter soft as the Roubaix, nor is the head tube as long. However, they do make great stablemates!

tigerben

look at the end of this thread for some good suggestions for options with discs.

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12692473

+paul

I really like the look of the Kinesis Racelight TK2, but I am intrigued to understand why it is £1000 with Sora running gear. Is the frame really that good? The bare frame price doesn't suggest such a pricey build - have the other components (like wheels) been better specced to give the bike a better feel overall? Doesn't the poor value of the £ p*ss you off!

I appreciate the price - it puts it inside the C2W limit, and it is also available through Halfords

keef66

It's pretty light for an Alu frame. Do what I did and have it built up by Epic then you can have what you like on it.

Mind you, I'm glad I bought mine 2 years ago!

shedhead

hi,
How about a Planet x Uncle John or Kaffenback? or Genesis croix de fer which has discs?