Winter trainer for £1k

Tri harder

In advance of the impending wet weather and salt on the roads I need to invest in a winter trainer complete with the mandatory mud guards in order to prevent my summer ride from being caked in muck!

I'm looking to spend in the region of £1k and ideally would like a steel frame over an aluminium frame (something slightly more supple, having owned an aluminium frame previously I found it a little harsh over rougher roads).

I have had a look at a couple of different options and thought about a cyclocross bike with road tyres as a possibility and quite like the idea of disk brakes, the bikes being namely Gensis - Croix de fer and On One - Pompetamine, however not sure about the Alfine hub on The Pomptamine or the weight on the Croix de Fer! However both are steel and have disk brakes.

If anyone has any alternative recommendations or thoughts on either afore mentioned bikes, i'd welcome your views.

ride_whenever

pometamine, ss drivetrains are delightful in the winter as you don't really need to look after them other than the occasional lube.

Chip \'oyler

I know it's an Alu frame, but a mate of mine has a Kinesis Racelight TK2 for his winter bike. It's a very nice frame and he says it rides very well.

http://www.kinesisbikes.co.uk/product.php?id=39

http://www.epic-cycles.co.uk/kinesisTK2.html

Tri harder

ride_whenever - Agreed on the hub system, which is why I quite liked that idea saving time on having to clean the chain and cassette every week, however read a review regarding the Alfine gearing and it implied there were quite large differences between gears and potential difficulty changing flats out on the rear? Looking at the photos on the On One website the cable routing looks a bit clumsy on the Pometamine IMO.

Chip \'oyler - I have looked at the Kenisis Racelight TK2, but as you say its Alu unfortunately, one of the guys at my club has one as his winter trainer and it's a nice looking bit of kit. It may turn out at the end of this that I end up back at Alu if nothing in steel catches my eye!

Chip \'oyler

Tri harder wrote:

ride_whenever - Agreed on the hub system, which is why I quite liked that idea saving time on having to clean the chain and cassette every week, however read a review regarding the Alfine gearing and it implied there were quite large differences between gears and potential difficulty changing flats out on the rear? Looking at the photos on the On One website the cable routing looks a bit clumsy on the Pometamine IMO.

Chip \'oyler - I have looked at the Kenisis Racelight TK2, but as you say its Alu unfortunately, one of the guys at my club has one as his winter trainer and it's a nice looking bit of kit. It may turn out at the end of this that I end up back at Alu if nothing in steel catches my eye!

What about getting a steel frame custom made by a British frame shop. My winter bike was made-to-measure by Bob Jackson in 631 with mudguard fittings, clearance, oversize tubes, lugless filleted etc. Cost about £400 for the frame.

ride_whenever

You're only training, so the gear jumps aren't the end of the world, as for punctures, a marathon plus will solve that issue.

Then everything is sorted! That said, changing punctures on a hub gear isn't that difficult.

APIII

I use a Kinesis 5T cross bike as my winter ride. It's aluminium, but to be honest, once the wider tyres are on, it's more comfortable than my carbon road bikes.

schlepcycling

You could do worse than the Ribble winter bike, prices start at about £520.
http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/bikebuilder.asp?action=showframes&sub=conf_BBRW&type=RIBMO

Buckled_Rims

If you are a road racer then I'd stick with geared bikes rather then hubbed gears.

Have a look at the Genesis Eqilibrium. The 2010 models have 520 tubes, but the 2011 have upgraded 725 steel. Should be around £1k and get great reviews.

cakewalk

planet-X kaffenback. Get the Uncle John build on the Kaffenback fram for 900 quid

Velonutter

Have a read of my review of the Kinesis Granfondo: -

http://www.velonuts.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb2 ... 1281536719

Superb Bike, couldn't wish for better.

Tri harder

Thanks for all of your suggestions on potential winter bikes & frames, some interesting alternatives thrown in as food for thought. The idea of Hub based gears is tempting in theory but in practice fear it would disappoint (at leasts until the Alfine 11 speed is generally available).

I think my two options based on the criteria are the Genesis Croix de fer and the Kona Honky Inc, both steel, both with disk brakes, both have clearance for mud guards and larger tyres, both are circa £1k. Just need to build up my strength to push 20+lbs of bike

mbroady

Apologies to spam but I'm currently selling an upgraded CDF here, definitely comes recommended!

http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12728758

iplod

+1 for the ribble.

thel33ter

MBroady wrote:

Apologies to spam but I'm currently selling an upgraded CDF here, definitely comes recommended!

http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12728758

Thats a bargain at £700

keef66

+1 for the TK2. Lovely frame; decent paint job. Mine still looks as good as it did when I wheeled it out of the shop, despite riding it through the last 2 winters. And summers come to that. Run 25mm tyres like I do, and don't over-inflate them if you're worried about road buzz.

Phate

Just waiting for my cyclescheme voucher to drop through the letter box so I can go and pick this up!



Cube X-race Comp at £999