~700 pounds bike- Any help would be appreciated

tudorB

Hey guys,

A friend told me to try my luck on this site, if I want some help with choosing a new bike. so here I am. I hope some of you will have the patience to bear with me

The story so far: I just moved to the UK. At first I was overwhelmed by the number of people that cycle here (Leeds) and as soon as I got a job i told myself I need to save for a good bike. But my impatience got the better of me so in the end I just decided to get one on installments.

NOW, I love the idea of road bikes. I love to go fast and I love the climbs. There's nothing like climbing a tough hill and looking back thinking "I did that" or something along those lines.
BUT, my first bike was a mountainbike and I went with that because I love being in nature.

So here's the dilemma: road bike or cyclocross?
I understand the cyclocross can go both road and off road (as long as they are trails and nothing too rocky)
Plus I'm not familiar with this area so I don't know how many trails are suitable for a cyclocross.

With that in mind, here is what i found so far:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/cannondale/caadx-6-tiagra-2011-cyclocross-bike-ec025339

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/secteur-sport-2011-road-bike-ec025005

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/trek/15-triple-2011-road-bike-ec023942


Can someone tell me the pro's and con's of these choices? And also any other suggestions as long as they stay withing 700 pounds area :P

Thanks in advance.

skyd0g

The Cannondale is a CX bike, the Specialized & Trek are road bikes.

The advantage of the CX bike is primarily greater fork clearance to fit larger tyres. For greater versatility, the CX wins, as you can put on larger tyres for off-road travel (gravel paths / tracks / trails etc., where skinny road tyres may wash-out) - also handy for bad road conditions in Winter. You could still replace these with 23/25mm tyres in Summer for on-road riding.

The two road bikes will prob be limited to 25/28mm tyres max. which is fine if you plan to do 95% of your riding on road.

tudorB

Ok, i totally see your point.
I'd like to add i've always wanted to do some long distance travels on my bike throughout Europe.

In this case the cyclocross or the road bike would come in handier?

carrock

I read somewhere that for doing the Coast to Coast and similar expeditions, a cyclocross will be much faster on road than a mountain bike, and much faster on gravel paths and trails than a road bike ( mainly due to the tyres )

Must admit I did the c2c this year on a road bike and tiptoed down the Waskerly Way terrified of breaking my wheels, whereas on a crosser I would have kept up with the mountain bikes

So yes- if you areplanning to do expeditions and can only have one bike, it has to be a crosser I'd say

handful

I'm in a very similar predicament myself at present. I have a full sus mtb and am fed up with riding it on the road when an off road ride isn't possible and also have a couple of mates who are casual roadies who I'd like to go out with every now and then. I'm split between getting a full on road bike or a cross. Using two Evans sale bikes as an example, how much slower would the crosser be on the road compared to the road bike, bearing in mind both will feel like I'm flying after the I-Drive!

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/fuji/cross-20-2011-cyclo-cross-bike-ec024646?query=fuji%20cross%202

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/scott/speedster-s20-compact-2011-road-bike-ec025498

The spec if correct says there is less than a pound difference in weight between them and other spec is similar so presumably there would be very little difference, particularly if I ran say 25c tyres instead of the 35Cs? I'm finding it very hard to commit fully to the road bike option as I will be drawn to the tow paths and gravel tracks on occasions I'm sure. I'm very curious also as to how much I could expect to up my average speed by as well, currently averaging around 14mph with the full sus with no lockout on the front and pro pedal on the rear on fairly flat ground??

Sorry to hojack thread btw [/url]

tudorB

Glad you posted, this thread needs more attention

sloppyschleckonds

Dont get too hung up on weight, lots of good bikes out there sub 700lb

nochekmate

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Dont get too hung up on weight, lots of good bikes out there sub 700lb

In fact you've probably got the whole market to choose from!