Road bike with rack and mud-guards

rah2501

Hi there,

I got a job back in September. It's some distance from where I live so I now do a 17-mile ride home three times a week, with the intention of eventually doing it every day. (In the morning I go on the train, followed by a 3-mile ride.) I've been riding a Gary Fisher Mamba 2002 mountain bike. This is a good bike but it's wholey unsuitable for what I've been doing with it, not least because it's built like, and weighs as much as, a tank.

So I'm in the market for a road bike. And I want a proper road bike; I don't want a tourer. I want a feather-weight speed machine. My budget is in the region of £1200-£1400. The only thing is, I need panniers to hold my work gear. This is because there are no showers at my destination and if I wear a back-pack, my back will produce ridiculous amounts of sweat in the morning; something which will no doubt become unpleasant later in the day :-) Similarly, mud-guards would be very much preferable as here, the roads are often wet in the morning.

I went to my local bike shop and they were pushing me toward a cyclo-cross bike which is not really what I want. They said they don't do any proper road bikes that have mounting eyelets for a rack and that if I were to fit one (presumably with a clamp or something), it would void the warranty on the frame. They only sell Orbea, Cannondale and Bianchi. They also gave the option of an SQR bag but really that didn't look like it would have the volume I need for all my work gear.

I've seen the Specialized Secteur which has rack-mount eyelets so I know such things exist. However, I'm not too keen on this model, it's below my budget and it doesn't look like it will take mud-guards.

So, my question is: is there a dream road bike out there for me and if so, which is it? :-) I want a proper road bike, as light as possible, with rack mounts and capable of taking mud-guards.

Any advice would be greatly received.

Bob

marcusjb

You want a frame that is designed as an audax or light-touring machine.

The trouble with your requirements is your want a feather weight machine - you're not going to quite find that with proper mud-guard and rack mounts - but you can get close.

Reasonably fast geometry - but far from out and out racing machine.

If you want to do some sportives or whatever, whip off the mudguards and rack, maybe even buy a light set of wheels, and away you go. (even better, enter a sportive with mudguards and panniers and really upset people on carbon 7kg bikes by overtaking them all!).

I'd obviously recommend a Condor Fratello - but you'd have to look second hand with your budget - but a REALLY lovely frame.

Others might include the Dawes Audax - http://road.cc/content/review/33557-daw ... century-se

If you're up for building up your own bike - Bob Jackson - http://www.bobjacksoncycles.co.uk/produ ... ucts_id=44 - flipping lovely frames!

So - have a look into audax/light tourers - it's the ideal mix of speed, comfort and load-carrying.

Hope that helps point you in a good direction.

MarksMintness

Giant Defy 1 about £1k?
Planet X Ti Sportive for £1599?

All have mudguard/RM. Just a couple of suggestions.

napoleond

Trek madone 3.1?

Carbon race bike with rack and mudguard mounts.

MarksMintness

Good call on the madone, didn't realise it had rm as well as mudguard mounts.

puppiesdanglybits

Defy frames will take both rack & full mudguards

alihisgreat

MarksMintness wrote:

Giant Defy 1 about £1k?
Planet X Ti Sportive for £1599?

All have mudguard/RM. Just a couple of suggestions.

+1 for the 2012 Giant Defy 1, I've got one and its great -> Cycling plus agrees in the review in this months (Febs) magazine.

although its £200->£400 under budget, you can spend that cash on a better set of wheels, shiny lycra with sequins on... Giant also make specific mudguards for it (and i'm assuming their racks will be specifically designed for the defy too) so there is no messing around with clearances etc.


as already suggested, the trek Madone is the only more expensive bike i can think of with mounts.. manufacturers target the bikes under 1K as the versatile bikes because they come under the Cycle 2 Work scheme.

rah2501

Thanks for the responses, guys.

The Planetx Ti Sportive looks absolutely amazing. There's a version currently available for £1499 here as well. I would go and buy this now except.. it's only available directly from them. I really want to buy from a shop so that, firstly I can take the bike for a test ride, and secondly, they'll deal with any problems that arise.

I'd be terrified of buying something over the Net, taking it for a ride once it's delivered and thinking "I can't ride this thing!" Possibly an irrational fear but considering I'm coming from mountain bikes, it makes sense to me to ride any road bike before I buy it. Also, I'm no mechanical expert. I've replaced the axle on my MTB a few times, changed the bearings, repaired a chain link, added a pannier rack and some lights, etc. but never really anything heavy. I've never set up a new bike. I will be relying on whichever shop I buy my bike from to set it up properly for me.

The Trek Madone frame has a smallest size of only 50cm. I'm quite short and really need something closer to 46-48cm. Also, along with the Planetx Ti Sportive, the Trek Madone feels a bit out of my league. It seems like buying a Lotus Esprit for my first car ;-) I think possibly something a bit more modest would be a good idea for my first non-mountain bike, which really means a reduction in budget so now I'm looking at £1000-£1200.

All this leaves only one option that looks appealing to me, the Giant Defy 1. However I'm quite loathed to give money to the Giant marketing machine. So much so that I'm thinking I might get hold of one of the SQR bags my LBS mentioned and see if I can physically get my lunch and clothes in. If they fit then the rack can go away.

Without the need for a rack, I'd be thinking about an Orbea Aqua T105 (which I only assume can take mudguards; I can't find any info on the Net). The Orbea is sold by my LBS and it looks like quite a nice bike.

I am interested though, if the only stipulation is mudguards, what would you guys recommend for £1000-£1200?

Again, your advice is much appreciated.

Bob

alihisgreat

i'm sure the orbea is a nice enough bike... but i'm also sure you can do a lot better for the money..


and if you are loathed to give your money to giant.. you should probably rule out some of the other big manufactures?

Trek? specialized? Cannondale? Hero? (apparently hero cycles in india is the largest manufacturer by volume?!?)

if you start thinking like that then you'll miss out on some great bikes. (the exception being Hero bikes... carry on loathing them.)



also most bikes will take mudguards - either race blades (not as effective) or full guards. So just find something you like, then work out if it works for you... and if you like it enough you can just make it work

rah2501

ALIHISGREAT wrote:

you should probably rule out some of the other big manufactures?

Trek? specialized? Cannondale? Hero?

Indeed, quite right. This is another reason I'm not so interested in the Specialized Secteur and the Trek Madone.

ALIHISGREAT wrote:

i'm sure the orbea is a nice enough bike... but i'm also sure you can do a lot better for the money

Any recommendations? :-)

DrKJM

I'm fairly sure planet X have showrooms where you can go and have a look at their bikes. I recall seeing that there was one near me in Nottingham as I was looking at the Ti Sportive as a potential present to myself for a significant birthday in a couple of years. I was going to try to post a link but their website won't load at the moment.

rah2501

DrKJM wrote:

I'm fairly sure planet X have showrooms where you can go and have a look at their bikes.

They seem to have just one showroom, between Sheffield and Rotherham. The showroom would allow me to test ride the bike but it wouldn't be any help with either setting it up or dealing with any problems that arise. I would still effectively be on my own once the thing was delivered.

And, as noted, the Ti Sportive feels a bit excessive for my first bike. Perhaps I wouldn't go and buy it just now :-)

wyadvd

spesh allez has rack and mudguard mounts too

rah2501

As it turns out, the SQR bag does have the capacity to hold all my work gear so it's not necessary that the bike has a rack.

So, I'm interested in a road bike, not from a big manufacturer (like Specialized, Giant, Trek, Cannondale, etc.) costing between £1000-£1200 that will take full mudguards. Any suggestions?

speshsteve

condor fratello frameset, build it yourself parts from merlin etc

keef66

Kinesis racelight Tk2. Originally designed as a winter trainer, so with quite nippy geometry (although I understand they have now tweaked it with a taller head tube). V. light alloy frame / carbon forks, but with clearance / mounts for proper guards and also a rack if required. I got mine from Epic Cycles. Very detailed fitting sessions on a turbo, extensive test rides, you can take one of their off-the -peg builds, or go custom like I did and choose each and every component.

4 years on and it's still my one and only bike

godders1

rah2501 wrote:

They also gave the option of an SQR bag but really that didn't look like it would have the volume I need for all my work gear.

What about a super c with bagman support?

http://www.carradice.co.uk/index.php?pa ... duct_id=33

http://www.carradice.co.uk/index.php?pa ... uct_id=102

Quite a bit more capacity than the SQR (23L). I get a full set of work clothes, towel, shower gel, deodorant etc plus tools, spare tubes, CO2 etc and room in side pockets for wallet, keys, phone etc.

A bit pricey but the slickest solution for luggage on a bike (imo) and will last many, many years.