Road / Audax / Touring bike advice wanted.

metmanmark

I have a 22 mile round trip to work that I do from the end Feb through till the end Nov. While this is on roads, they are pretty rubbish in places. I use a 5 year old Claud Butler Urban 400 hybrid which is fine but it would be useful to have a second bike for those occasions which the bike is being repaired etc.

I have been thinking of buying a road / audax / touring bike on the work "cyclescheme". I had been thinking about this:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Focus ... 360045297/

with a carradice SQR seat thing but on closer inspection wiggle aren't on the cyclescheme - they have their own thing. The alternative is a local shop has last years Claud Butler Dalesman for £700. I think this is good value but perhaps a little heavy for what I want. I was also interested in the Ribble cycles build your own option but found they charge an extra £65 for using the cycle to work scheme which put me offer rather.

I should add that I would like decent wheels that will stand up to the poor road quality and have a budget of ~£700ish. Am not particularly worried about being fashionable but am interested only in getting a good deal.

Any top tips - bikes & online shops?

Thanks in advance
Mark

racin_snail

many shops will not alow cycles scheme on discounted products as it cost the shop to run the scheme so they will be loosing money hand over fist and tbf 30-40% off an rrp bike is a pretty good deal in the first place,

as for bikes i'm a trek man personaly something like a 1.2 will be ready for racks and gaurds has carbon forks and liftime warranty (bonus )

Wrath Rob

Evans allow you to use the voucher on sale bikes, as well as topping it up. Not that I used this to source a 2.5k bike for a total cost to me of 1k, oh no.

sc999cs

Have you tried looking at the Tifosi Audax? I have one and it's lovely to ride.

wgwarburton

Hi,
That Dalesman is a nice bike- and comes equipped with a rack, mudguards and good quality touring/commuting tyres. The frame is good quality steel, too, and the wheels look fine.
Depending what else you want to do with the bike, I'd not pass it up too quickly. Some of the "lighter, cheaper" alternatives will cost & weigh at least as much by the time you've finished upgrading them to commuting duties.. and it's from a local shop, which has to be worth a premium in my book.
Bear in mind that you can take off the accessiries, if you want to. So, depending on the riding you have in mind, you could remove some of the "extras" to lighten the bike for an event, the summer (should we happen get one...) or some such reason, knowing that they'll fit straight back on if & when you need them.

Cheers,
W.

Headhuunter

Have you looked at the Ribble Audax/Winter bike?

biondino

WGWarburton wrote:

the summer (should we happen get one...)

This really annoys me - we had an amazing summer until mid July or so! Anything we get in August or September will be a bonus, but IMHO we've already had as much as we could have expected.

I dunno, British people, it's an inherent negativity we just can't shift!

wgwarburton

biondino wrote:

WGWarburton wrote:

the summer (should we happen get one...)

This really annoys me - we had an amazing summer until mid July or so! Anything we get in August or September will be a bonus, but IMHO we've already had as much as we could have expected.

I dunno, British people, it's an inherent negativity we just can't shift!

You may have done.. bear in mind that you are 400 miles south of me!

It's a bit irritating watching the BBC weatherfolk talking about how "the country" can expect rain and cold weather, when they really mean "the southeast" :-)

Cheers,
W.

Canny Jock

biondino wrote:

WGWarburton wrote:

the summer (should we happen get one...)

This really annoys me - we had an amazing summer until mid July or so! Anything we get in August or September will be a bonus, but IMHO we've already had as much as we could have expected.

I dunno, British people, it's an inherent negativity we just can't shift!

+1 - I've been thinking exactly the same, the last 2 years fair enough but it seems that people now just moan as standard whatever the weather.

Anyway, back on topic - as above, I believe Ribble do Cyclescheme and their Audax bike is an ideal commuter. I think the only downside is that the front mudguard clearance is tight with 25c tyres, which I prefer for commuting. And it's cheap to start with, let alone after cyclescheme.

wyadvd

sabbath bikes are very nice if you can stretch

jthef

Ribble +1
Just coming up to 3 years old
Frame is in good condition, Worn out bottom bracket and gears this year Shimano 105.
Back wheel had to be replaced with a hand built one as I am just under 15 stone + pannier bags and the pot holes roads of lancashire killed the Mavic askum wheels.
Don't for get with the ribble you get the full set of stuff, so if you order a 105 the gears,cranks, brakes etc are 105 not just the rear derailier and a down grade on most of the rest of the kit.

Uchiga

I'm going to utter a might be slightly offensive word and say Chris Boardman bikes from halfords. The performance hybrid bikes come with disc brakes which i have to say after sticking them on my singlespeed commuter made a huge differance in wet and snow weather. My brother has a 44 mile commute on weekdays sometimes even further and he rides a boardman with the mudguards etc. He loves the bike and says its great for the job. So long as you maintain it well. Also the gearing is more like a mountain bike with the SRAM gears and the compact chainring. It's worth having a look at and im pretty certian Halfords support the cycle to work scheme as well. Certianly worth a look i'd say.