Audax Bought.... have I done the right thing?

metmanmark

You may have already seen my post below about which bike to buy. I went to my local bike shop that specialises in touring bikes and tried:
Specialized sequoia
Dawes Galaxy
Dawes Audax supreme

I had gone with the intent of buying a CB Dalesman for £700 but having tried the Galaxy I realised that it was pretty heavy and not dissimilar to my current hybrid. I also didn't really want something for carting lots of clobber.

Then tried the Sequoia. They had last years model that had full alloy frame (32 spokes and nice wheels) and the previous years model (own brand wheels 24&20 spokes only but had carbon forks and carbon rear frame bits). Both models were £800. I was slightly wary about the carbon given that this is used to go to work and I didn't want it broken in the bike sheds. It also felt very light (slightly flimsy) and I was worried about carrying a decent amount of stuff in panniers. I also want decent wheels.

In the end I went for a Dawes Audax Supreme:

http://www.dawescycles.com/p-111-audax-supreme.aspx

Nice kit on it and had a sturdy feel. Wheels look pretty robust with 32 spokes and tiagra hubs. Bought for £850 including a rack.Have I spent well?

Thanks for your advice
Mark

wgwarburton

Hell, yeah! Looks lovely...

frankieh

I've got one of these, the only things I've had to replace are

both wheels
full drive train (not the cranks!!)
both shifters
handle bars
stem
saddle

having said that I have must have done 12500 miles on it so far and got hit by a car! Still going!

prawny

Mmm that is a super commuter. 105 and a 631 steel frame for £850 seems like a proper bargain to me.

Tiagra hubs are really good too, I've been running a set for about 5000 miles haven't had to open them up once. My ritchey ones were trashed in 3000.

Tail end Charlie

Looks a super bike, you won't go far wrong riding that one (unless your map reading's crap).