Scott Sportster 10 hybrid

Variado

Just changing jobs, and the new one is a flat seven miles door to door commute along country lanes, a poorly-maintained bike lane on a minor A road and a short suburban section. I have good road and CX bikes that'll get used when I fancy taking the long route home, but looking for a day-in, day-out bike with disc brakes, rack/mudguards, and the ability to cope with potholes, gravel and mud when the weather turns bad while still having a bit of zip to it.

I went and had a chat with the LBS, and they like the Scott Sportster 10 hybrid

http://www.scott-sports.com/us_en/produ ... 799/218064

as an all-weather commuter bike (comes with rear rack and full mudguards). It has a triple that I don't really need, but the rest of it looks pretty decent. Any thoughts?

Marcus_C

Next comes the fun part, take it for a spin!!!

wizzlebanger

Have a look at Trek's range of FX machines.

I have a 7.5 fx and it has been flawless for my commute. 6 miles each way and all through winter. I've put full mudguards on it and spd's and so far (TOUCH WOOD) haven't had a single puncture. It's comfortable, reliable and pretty fast.

The 7.5fx disc is also about £300 cheaper than the Scott. Not sure you need full XT groupset and front suspension on the ride you will be doing.

When you say country lanes do you mean surfaced roads or bridleways etc?

Variado

Next comes the fun part, take it for a spin!!!

Yeah, problem is that i'm a commuter-noob (loads of road miles, but hacking back and forth with a laptop etc. every day will be a new experience) so an hour spin from the LBS may not spot some major irritation for the daily grind.

When you say country lanes do you mean surfaced roads or bridleways etc?

Surfaced, there's nothing off-road per se., but it's gravel-strewn, muddy, potholed/patched-up and generally a bit rough. My cyclocross bike is fine on it (with 28 gatorskins), I tend to take a different route on the road bike.


Other option that's caught my eye is the 2010 Charge Mixer 8 which is on sale at £630 at Wiggle. A lot cheaper, discs, and strikes me that the Shimano Alfine setup might be pretty good for a commuter hack

wizzlebanger

Obviously you have a decent road bike and cyclo-cross machine for your 'pleasure' rides.

I'd be more tempted to save a bit of money and look for something cheaper than the 1k Scott. Commuting bikes take a fair bit of punishment from the weather if you have to use it day in day out so I'm not sure that the economics of spending mega bucks on it stack up.

End of the day something mid range will be perfectly suited and cheaper to replace parts upon breaking. Plus, with 2 other bikes in the garage you have a 2nd option for emergency use.

Plus saving 300-400 quid will enable you to kit it out with mudguards, a rack (if required), lights etc etc etc.

Something to consider.

chilling

I've got a 2011 Sportster 25 which I picked up a couple of months ago. I was doing a CTW upgrade from my 10 year old Marin.

The 25 is a really nicely thought out bike. The equipment is equivalent or slightly better than similarly priced Specialized and Trek offerings (Believe me I tried most bikes in the price range in the couple of months prior to my purchase).

The level of equipment (SLX rear deraller) and the fact that only one cable (hydraulic) goes under the bottom bracket was the thing that swung it for me (my Marin had both gear cables going under the BB exposed so they always ended up sucking road crud into the sleeves and getting clogged. Obviously this won't be b problem with a hydraulic tube being routed there). That being said all the bikes I tested at the £850 level were very similar and I'm sure I would have been happy on most of them.

The bike is a comfortable ride and has quite a turn of pace if you put your foot down. The steering is nimble and responsive. It's very solid on the road (I've put 28mm road tyres on it) and has all the mounts for racks / mudguards that you could wish for.

It's no slouch when it comes to trail riding either (I do swap the tyres out for something a bit thicker and knobbly). I've been on a couple of rides in Trent Country Park and it's quite at home in the light rough.