Retirement Bike

Jay dubbleU

Well - the time has come - end of Jan next year my commuting days will be over so now I have to make a big decision - what bike to I buy in order to enjoy my retirement ? I am looking for something to do a little light touring and regular club rides - preferably steel frame, triple.
I have the Duster which is my current commuter and which I intend to become my CX bike - we're moving to within 10 miles of Dalby so it would be rude not to.
Bike Friday will be used for touring abroad - we're planning Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia for next year

rolf_f

Vintage steel tourer? eg 80s Galaxy or suchlike? Still easy to service, MTB hubs fit so no probs getting nice wheels if you need them and they are just nice!

Or a new version - eg Bob Jackson bespoke. Or do the Dave Yates framebuilding course and make it yourself!

Jay dubbleU

There's a thought - I'm not used to time not being a problem- might give the Dave Yates option a try.

Other options I've looked - Planet X Kaffenbach, Genesis Day One Alfine 11, Thorn Club Tour

itboffin

I envy you fella, but i am lucky i have a job i love and i live in the most beautiful place - can't wait for my day but alas it's not gonna be a retirement bike for me

brrrmmm brrrmmm

rjsterry

Rolf F wrote:

Vintage steel tourer? eg 80s Galaxy or suchlike? Still easy to service, MTB hubs fit so no probs getting nice wheels if you need them and they are just nice!

Or a new version - eg Bob Jackson bespoke. Or do the Dave Yates framebuilding course and make it yourself!

This. Do this. Anything else would just be buying another bike.

davis

+1 for the framebuilding course. How special would that be?

Jay dubbleU

+ 1 to framebuilding course

Now anyone know who does a wheelbuilding course ?

davis

http://www.wheelpro.co.uk/wheelbuilding/book.php

clarkey cat

Getting to retirement age...?

Got some cash to splurge...?

Has to be a Cervelo.

rjsterry

As an alternative to Dave Yates (although he is very highly recommended), you could have a look at The Bicycle Academy

http://www.thebicycleacademy.org/

rolf_f

Hmmm, been mulling doing the Dave Yates course for a couple of years. And now me mentioning has inspired me to drop Dave a line

Jay dubbleU

clarkey cat wrote:

Getting to retirement age...?

Got some cash to splurge...?

Has to be a Cervelo.

There's a Pinarello Prince of Spain in my LBS but I'd never dare ride it - be like Jonny Vegas riding a National winner

Monkeypump

Jay dubbleU wrote:

clarkey cat wrote:

Getting to retirement age...?

Got some cash to splurge...?

Has to be a Cervelo.

There's a Pinarello Prince of Spain in my LBS but I'd never dare ride it - be like Jonny Vegas riding a National winner

Except the Vegas image would be slightly prettier

Monkeypump

Monkeypump wrote:

Jay dubbleU wrote:

clarkey cat wrote:

Getting to retirement age...?

Got some cash to splurge...?

Has to be a Cervelo.

There's a Pinarello Prince of Spain in my LBS but I'd never dare ride it - be like Jonny Vegas riding a National winner

Except the Vegas image would be slightly prettier

Oops - that sounds rather insulting! Meant "...than the Pinarello"

Jay dubbleU

Alas Dave Yates courses fully booked for the foeseeable.

However...........

Genesis are now making a Day One with 11 speed Alfine hub and Reynolds 725 frame............... very tempting

t4tomo

Jay dubbleU wrote:

Alas Dave Yates courses fully booked for the foeseeable.

However...........

Genesis are now making a Day One with 11 speed Alfine hub and Reynolds 725 frame............... very tempting

Thats probably a good thing isn't it. People like Dave Yates / Bob Jackson etc build up a reputation for frame building from many years experience. With the best will in the world going on a course, albeit with a "master" isn't going to turn you into a world beater overnight. BIG risk you end up with a crappy hand built frame having spent lot of money.

Why not just get them to build you the frame.

rolf_f

t4tomo wrote:

With the best will in the world going on a course, albeit with a "master" isn't going to turn you into a world beater overnight. BIG risk you end up with a crappy hand built frame having spent lot of money.

Why not just get them to build you the frame.

A bit of an insult to Dave there. Maybe you should do some research about it? I can't see any negative comments on the web about the course (which doesn't profess to turn you into a world beater frame builder overnight - but Dave is there to make sure you produce a good frame).

You have a week to produce something that Dave could probably do in a morning. That's the difference - time, not quality. Anyone can make something great given enough time.

davis

Jay dubbleU wrote:

Alas Dave Yates courses fully booked for the foeseeable.

However...........

Genesis are now making a Day One with 11 speed Alfine hub and Reynolds 725 frame............... very tempting

I'd have thought a decent derailleur set up would be better for your needs. I've got an Alfine-11 bike, and I'm not massively inspired by the shifting of the Versa 11 shifters. I don't think there's a massive hide-the-gears-away-for-reliability problem that you need to overcome, nor do you particularly need discs.

Plus, the Genesis Day One has a straight fork. Yuck.

Jay dubbleU

Thanks for that - didn't realise there were issues with the Versa shifters - finding the perfect bike isn't easy - I can't justify an all out race bike, nor would I want one but looking at tourers they all seem a bit ponderous - maybe I should be looking at something like the Kaffenback or the Salsa Casseroll

davis

Saying they've got "issues" is probably a little unfair. My main bike is running older Shimano 105, and though I'm a bit over-careful with the cabling, I simply think the shifting of the 105 bike is crisper.
I'm deeply fond of steel now, mainly because of the sheer joy in descending... In your position I'd be going for a steel framed light-duty tourer. They really can be sprightly. Perhaps a touring Enigma: http://www.enigmabikes.com/bike-list.html :twisted: