spokey dokies, bergans and surfboards... help!

davies1554

Hi,

I have a bit of a dilema with regards to buying a new bike and would be very gratefull if anyone could offer some advice please...

I have been riding a specialized rockhopper both on and off the road since 2005, but have been riding an old raleigh sorocco racing bike which I restored about a year ago a lot more of late and am going to sell the two to get something more suited to my needs.

I ride everywhere on my bikes sometimes carrying a large rucksack for TA (terratorial army), sometimes only a small one. Mainly short commutes (under 20 miles) but have also done a few of 100 milers now and again and used to do a lot of single track on my rockhopper. I also like to go surfing when I am home (a couple of months in the year) and have previously struggled on my mountain bike with my board under one arm. I am quite keen on trying my hand at triathlon too so am looking for a relatively lightweight bike which I can fit tribars/aerobars to.

This is what I'm looking for in a new/second hand build or shelf bike:

able to carry panniers
able to mount surfboard somehow (I believe you can buy specific racks)
able to attach full length mud guards
Triple road chainset (as Cornwall is quite hilly and a double is hard work with the weight)
Fast! I often have to sprint for the train - so high gearing and reasonably lightweight
Able to take a bit of abuse - potholes, gravel tracks, the odd pavement/tree root

My thoughts so far are that an audax bike might be the best choice as they are light and fast enough to use in a triathlon or perhaps a sprint to work, but am looking for one which will be able to take full sized rear panniers when I need them and still give enough heel clearance, but a short enough top tube to sit comfortably on a set of tri bars and be reasonably sharp. I also need it to be fairly rugged as my bergan is pretty heavy and I have quite an agressive riding style.

Basically I am after something that is fast and reasonably light, but able to load it up when I need to without breaking it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks

p.s. the spokey dokies are on my rockhopper!

Stuy-b

http://surlybikes.com/frames/big_dummy_frame/

build that up with drop bars and a road tripple

priory

surely you want a trailer of some sort for the bergen and surfboard etc. a raleigh mule or something like is not expensive

davies1554

Woah! that surly is awsome! I've never seen anything like it. Looks great for a fully laden round the world tour, trip to the builders merchants or well.. anything involving load carrying. Possibly a little bit on the large side for me though I think, as I use trains quite a lot too and wouldn't be able to do a triathlon on it either (well, not in a hurry anyway )

Stroke of genious with the trailer... why did I not think of that before! I could have the best of both worlds then. Nice set of bikes at the bottom too, I especially like the look of the Giant scr2; not too sure about the folding one though lol

A friend of mine suggested a recumbent, any thoughts on that?

Thanks for the advice by the way guys, it's much appreciated