Alternative to Ribble Winter Bike
+paul
Posts: 60
The company I work for has just launched the Cycle to Work scheme, but unfortunately through Halfords. I wanted to get a Ribble Winter Bike, but Halfords won't supply (they also won't supply Bianchi or PlanetX, among others).
I want:
- Tiagra (or equivalent SRAM) or higher
- Reasonable performance (not a Hybrid flat bar)
- The ability to put guards on.
- Under £1000 list price.
(In other words, the Ribble Winter Bike!)
What do you recommend as an equivalent substitute?
I understand that Race Blades are better than nothing, but would prefer to fit full guards.
I want:
- Tiagra (or equivalent SRAM) or higher
- Reasonable performance (not a Hybrid flat bar)
- The ability to put guards on.
- Under £1000 list price.
(In other words, the Ribble Winter Bike!)
What do you recommend as an equivalent substitute?
I understand that Race Blades are better than nothing, but would prefer to fit full guards.
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Comments
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http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Kona_ ... 360047422/
how about that?
it can take mudguards as well0 -
I can vouch for the Surosa - I just built one and it's a great bike, but I wouldn't have thought you'd get one through Halfords.
Halfords' own Carrera Vanquish will take full guards, I think....0 -
redddraggon wrote:
Both of these look the part - I will contact Halfords again to see if they can be ordered on the scheme! I am not so sure of the Cyclocross options like the Kona Jake - I want something closer to a road bike which would be comfortable in Sportives as well as for commuting.0 -
Kinesis Racelight T or Racelight TK
http://www.epic-cycles.co.uk/kinesisT2.htm
http://www.epic-cycles.co.uk/kinesisTK2.html
Use my TK for commuting and Sportives
No idea if they're available from Halfords0 -
twotyred wrote:Kinesis Racelight T or Racelight TK
http://www.epic-cycles.co.uk/kinesisT2.htm
http://www.epic-cycles.co.uk/kinesisTK2.html
Use my TK for commuting and Sportives
No idea if they're available from Halfords
Very nice looking bikes! Is the TK2 so good as to command a £999 price tag with Sora running gear? Assuming Halfords allow Kinesis bikes, I could get it and later replace the groupset with something better (when it wears out of course!).
Other than that, the current preference is for the Dolan Preffisio, with Tiagra groupset. Interestingly the Italian-solutions website seems to have dropped the options other than Sram Rival over the last few days (since the initial post) - I hope this isn't indicative of a growing shortage
What do you think?0 -
You could buy the Dolan Dual frameset then build it up yourself. Then you'd have a full carbon bike that takes mudguards.
Possibly not through the C2W scheme though0 -
That Dolan looks superbe in the green and black. nice work by the studio in the photos.
The seatstay cluster looks familiar, any idea who builds these? they have a Cube or Focus feel design-wise.
Has anyone ridden one? Only issue is it says you can go 25mm or fenders but no both which is too bad. But PR3 25mm are probably smaller than Specialized tyres which are huge as my buddy found out the night before a long ride with gravel roads etc.When a cyclist has a disagreement with a car; it's not who's right, it's who's left.0 -
Must admit I've been mesmerised by the photos of the green Dolan Dual a few times. Maybe if I started buying lottery tickets.....0
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For information, in case anyone else has similar questions:
Halfords will supply the Racelight TK2 - they will build it for you in the local store, and have only one specification of build kit - the Sora specification you can see on the Kinesis website.
They will also source the Dolan - I believe this is supplied to Halfords built, direct from Dolan. The other bike recommended to me by the (very helpful) team on their Cycle to Work helpdesk is the Tifosi CK7:
http://www.chickencycles.com/index.php?cat=1&sub=2&ord=2
(about half way down).
This looks very nice. Any views on it, when equipped with:
- Campag Veloce/Miche groupset
- Campag Khamsin wheels
- Selle Italia XR saddle
- Cinelli VAI handlebar and stem
- Vittoria Zaffiro tyres
- ITM alloy lite post
(struggling to make the "proper" list tags to work!)0 -
I have a Racelight TK2 and I'm very happy with it. I built it up with a mix of Ultegra and 105 so don't really know what it would be like with the lower-end gear.0
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Racelight TK2 ordered last night. Should be here in a week!
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Tricross ?0
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You've probably ordered the best one, bar the carbon Dual, for your needs there +paul ... the Kinesis frames do have an excellent reputation ...0
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Good choice. Let us know how you get on with it.0
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+1 for the Racelight TK2. Picked mine up last Friday and have done about 150 miles on it so far and cant fault it. You should be more than happy with it
William0 -
I should point out that the spec is not that I described above - it has Tiagra etc as detailed in http://www.kinesisbikes.co.uk/product.php?id=39.
I have ordered the carbon forks as well, but paid for them outside the C2W scheme.
Now looking forward to receiving it!0 -
Have you considered the Condor Fratello? I bought one on the Halfords CTW scheme two years ago. Comes with Tiagra for bang on £1000 and you can deal direct with Condor who will measure you for the bike. All you do is take your Halfords voucher to Condor and they give you the bike. I have also got a Ribble winter bike and can say that although the Ribble is a good bike, the Condor is soooo much betterl. Also I sold my Condor recently on Ebay and got more for it than I paid on the scheme. The reason for this I think is that the Condor is a very sought after bike and Condor don't do sales hence their bikes keep their value. Bike Radar gave it 9/100
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why would you sell it if it was such a good bike?0
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I have received my Racelight TK2, and I am very happy with it. It rides well (I put the carbon fork on it), and is much quicker for commuting than my hardtail). I didn't see the Condor, and now it is too late, but I am happy with what I have (it won't be on ebay anytime soon!)!0
