Commuting and Weekend Bike Possible?

cheddarpaul

Am I asking for the holy grail - looking for something that I can use to get in to work, which would carry a rack but will double up, with the rack removed, for the very occasional sportive or longer weekend ride if needed. My budget is up to £800ish

Any help or advice is appreciated

prawny

Anything with drop bars that can take a rack will be fine for a sportive. I used to have a rack on my old Boardman for a bit fine for sportives.

I suspect something like a Genesis Equilibrium (2nd hand for that money) or Something like that would be perfect.
How about a Boardman CX with slick tyres?

iPete

I have commuted, toured, TT-ed and sportived on my Allez.

clarkey cat

any bike described as being suited to an 'audax' would be ideal.

Tifosi CK7 is in budget. Its an old review but sure you could get one at this price.

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... a-10-39421

tgotb

prawny wrote:

How about a Boardman CX with slick tyres?

+1 (or any other CX bike, for a do-everything bike). CX bikes have big clearances, so it's easy to fit mudguards, and they normally have rack mounting bosses too. Put narrow slicks on and you have a decent road bike; put some knobblies on and ride anywhere (or commute in the snow). They're designed to be carried too, so the decent ones are pretty light. There also tend to be quite a lot of cheap CX bikes around, so you should be able to get something very good for your budget.

If you do go CX, probably worth trying to get one with disc brakes. The older ones had cantis, which din't tend to be as effective as modern calipers. Discs only became legal for CX racing last year, but are much better imho.

As far as I can tell, the main disadvantages of CX bikes are that they are slightly less aerodynamic (consequence of the big clearances), and maybe not quite as light as the really light road bikes. The geometry might be a bit different, but b*ggered if I can tell the difference!

Edit: You can't enter road races on a CX bike with discs either, as discs aren't UCI-legal (this may change)

TheStone

Always a small compromise, but there's plenty of bikes that fit your description.

I have a Condor Fratello, which is perfect for touring, great for commuting and more than adequate for sportives. My other (better) bike is quicker and more comfortable over long rides, but nowhere near as versatile.

meanredspider

Another +1 for the Boardman CX - probably the best value bike of its type out there -especially when the various discounts available are applied (see the Boardman CX Owners thread)

walkingbootweather

Consider an old school tourer. Not fashionable so great value used and less likely to get nicked than something more sporty. I've been mainly on my Rohloff geared bike through the winter but my main commuter is a classic steel framed tourer.

stuaff

My Trek Portland (now, for some reason known only to Trek, discontinued) is a great all-rounder (there is one on eBay at the mo, the seller wants twice what I paid for mine). It's barely slower than my roadies over distance, and as comfortable as the Viner. Done two centuries on it so far, one on a group ride where I had no bother keeping up.. Any of the CX/audax/tourer suggestions should do you nicely.

Tony-J

Ridgeback Radium or Cerium are good, Cannondale Caad 8's are too. The Ridgies are audax style and the Dale's more racy but will take guards. Take a long look at the Carradice SQR seat post bag system, or the German stuff..what is it? Rixen Kaul. A Carradice with an SQR and you wont need to lug around a rack on every ride. Audax bikes are probably a bit better than cross bikes for the sportive antics, although that could be my squat Tri-Cross comp and my gibbon arms.

jonny_trousers

Not sure whether it can take a rack, but the Ribble Winter Trainer always looked like an absolute bargain to me.

Do join the Equilibrium revolution, though, if you can find a decent second hand one (they do crop up on Ebay regularly). The frame is incredible and better than those several times its price, and you can always upgrade the rest over time. Still think you might have a problem with the rack, though.

hstiles

If you want something pretty bombproof, get a bike built around a Kinesis Crosslight frame and treat yourself to a second set of wheels. It'll push your budget up to around £1000 for the bike and £200 for the wheels, tyres and cassette, but you'll have a bike that can handle commuting, single track and road all in one.

mudcow007

cheddarpaul wrote:

Am I asking for the holy grail - looking for something that I can use to get in to work, which would carry a rack but will double up, with the rack removed, for the very occasional sportive or longer weekend ride if needed. My budget is up to £800ish

Any help or advice is appreciated

Tricross

lost_in_thought

I have a Tifosi CK7, it's a really really great bike. Carbon forks, takes a rack on the back (pre-drilled so super-easy to take on and off) but not on the front, I've toured on it, commuted on it, ridden it to the pub, it's sturdy enough to carry all my crap, but still racy and fun to ride. I think it cost me £800 on the nose (with campag - was cheaper with shimano but I prefer campag's shifting system), but not sure if it still would.

fossyant

Ribble Winter Trainer - very popular in Manchester/Cheshire

t4tomo

fossyant wrote:

Ribble Winter Trainer - very popular in Manchester/Cheshire

as are shell suits, stealing cars and mugging schoolkids for their iphones, so that's not necessarily a recommendation.

jonny_trousers

t4tomo wrote:

fossyant wrote:

Ribble Winter Trainer - very popular in Manchester/Cheshire

as are shell suits, stealing cars and mugging schoolkids for their iphones, so that's not necessarily a recommendation.

vermin

Jonny_Trousers wrote:

t4tomo wrote:

fossyant wrote:

Ribble Winter Trainer - very popular in Manchester/Cheshire

as are shell suits, stealing cars and mugging schoolkids for their iphones, so that's not necessarily a recommendation.

Manchester, yes. Cheshire's all about gold-plated Bentleys and orange women. So, as you were, not advisable.

DonDaddyD

Giant Defy?
http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... 1-12-45849
http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... 2-11-40893
http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... 2-12-45687

cheddarpaul

OK Thanks everyone

Out of the Carradice SQR range, which would fit a 15in laptop and a few other bits n bobs??

Tony-J

Carradice Camper Longflap no problem. Maybe even a Nelson.