Winter/bad weather commuter ??

arthur_scrimshaw

Bear with me....
My current CTW finishes this month, looking at the N+1 again. I made the typical rookie mistakes when I got back into cycling 4 years ago, bought an mtb then realised not a good bike for commuting, so bought a sirrus hybrid a year later which I've set up with mudguards etc for the commute. Although it was chalk and cheese to the mtb it dawned on me 6 months after that I should have got a 'proper' road bike so when the CTW finished on the MTB I bought a Cannondale 6 and it blew me away, so much more enjoyable than the sirrus. I only use this in the good weather months, the sirrus does most of my winter commute and I've sorted the mtb (rockhopper) out into a quite respectable offroader with reba rlt's and a new set of wheels plus other mods. I was toying with the idea of blowing out on a Full suss (and probably will one day) but for the amount of times I use it the rockhopper is all I need.

I want to replace the sirrus, and was convinced I was going to get a CX with discs (boardman cx), fit mudguards and use it for commuting and road riding on the days the weather is pants (= 80% of the time) But is this a good idea? I'm now tempted by the Giant Defy 1 which is a great bike by all accounts and has mounts for mudguards, is certainly a better bike for the roads but how much better than a Boardman CX? I like the idea of the do it all nature of the CX but in reality not sure how much I'll need it's ruggedness.
What would you lot do?

craker

I don't understand what the problem is with the hybrid. How far do you commute? Of course if you just want a new bike don't let me stop you...

arthur_scrimshaw

sussed in one reply :shock:

yes I want to replace the hybrid, not strictly on a need basis but because I enjoy riding a drop bar bike much more. I've looked at converting the sirrus to drops but it doesn't stack up from a financial point of view.

Mrs_Ragbrutty

I have a road bike and a cyclocross. i use the cyclocross for winter commuting. It's just better. The roads I use aren't great for the road bike and if the weather is pants I'll use a path that used to be the road, totally unsuitable for a road bike.
Having said that, if the route was good I'd use the road bike as it's quicker.

So it really depends on what you want. I commuted for a number of years on a road bike, winter was pants and there's no way I would have riden it in the snow. I road the cyclocross in the snow and so far have only had one puncture. (The grit they put on the roads ripped my tyres to shreads on the road bike).

If you have a bike that will cope with shite weather and you want a toy then buy the toy. If you want a tool then buy the tool.
Your money, your choice. Or buy them both because you can.

godders1

I have an On One pompetamine for rubbish weather. Drop bars, disc brakes, hub gears, steel frame etc. On the heavy side but otherwise perfect for winter commutning in my opinion.

wyadvd

any bike described as an audax or winter bike (look at spa, tifosi, sabbath, ribble) will be pretty much as fun as a road bike to ride with the added facilities for mudguards and racks. might be worth a look. I have a sabbath september and I use it all year round.

arthur_scrimshaw

I think this is what I'm looking for, my commute is short (only about 7 miles each way) but in good weather will often extend it on the way home and do 30 plus miles. The commute is a bit of a red herring, I want a bike that even if the weather's poor I can still go out and do a long ride and not miss being on the Six too much, If I get the CX I would probably put road tyres on it straight away, would this kind of defeat the point of the bike? In which case I may as well plump for a good road bike with mounts like the Giant (or the audax bikes above) I'm trying very hard to limit it to the CTW £1000 limit.

jae-so

Check out the Ribble winter trainer, I plan on getting it myself once getting into cycling, looks suitable

MichaelW

The advantage of the Boardman CX for winter riding is the disc brakes. These provide constant performance in all conditions, not necessarily better, just constant, although most disc brakes are pretty good.
The Boardman version places the brake on the chainstay which frees up the seatstay for a standard rack and mudguard fitting.
If you are going to get a winter commuter style bike, then a disc CX is an excellent choice. Changing from cx knobblies to a tough road/commuter tyre is a sensible choice.

shouldbeinbed

discs are a real bonus in the winter, they come into their own over rims brakes on wet, cludgy rides & a CX is a hoot to ride. I know they're controversial (generally with people that have never used them) but the bar top, frog leg interrupter brakes are useful to, especially for a dark grimy commute as it keeps your head up more like a hybrid giving you (and any helmet mounted lights) more visibility over traffic,

+ lots to changing out CX knobblies too, not just for less rolling resistance on slicks but they're a soft compound and wear very quickly on tarmac too. you can also get marathon winters that will fit onto CX that won't on a straight up roadie so you can ride it every single day of winter if you want to.

arthur_scrimshaw

shouldbeinbed wrote:

discs are a real bonus in the winter, they come into their own over rims brakes on wet, cludgy rides & a CX is a hoot to ride. I know they're controversial (generally with people that have never used them) but the bar top, frog leg interrupter brakes are useful to, especially for a dark grimy commute as it keeps your head up more like a hybrid giving you (and any helmet mounted lights) more visibility over traffic,

+ lots to changing out CX knobblies too, not just for less rolling resistance on slicks but they're a soft compound and wear very quickly on tarmac too. you can also get marathon winters that will fit onto CX that won't on a straight up roadie so you can ride it every single day of winter if you want to.

I'm very much leaning this way now, what's the range of tyre sizes you can get onto a CX, 25 to 38? and what's a good size to go for? I've got some 28 marathon pluses on my sirrus which have only done 500 miles which I could swap over, I also have 35mm SKS chromo guards which might fit. The marathons are hard work but no p*******s yet.

rolf_f

Marathon plus are a bit pointless unless your route takes you through the waste dump of the local glass and drawing pin manufacturers.

I've gone for the lightest all weather Schwalbe option - Durano S and had no problems. It's just a case of keeping tyre pressures up and removing the glass shards from the rubber every so often.

bails87

I've got 25mm slicks on my Boardman CX, first on the original wheels, then on some slightly wider homemade ones. Based on Stans Crest 29er rims, which are actually a little wider, but they plump the tyres up nicely. In winter the CX will take the 35mm Marathon Winters, not that they were really needed this year.

Bordersroadie

The only things a serious winter commuting bike really needs, vs a non-winter commuting bike, in my opinion as an all year round rural commuter, are

1. Mudguards
2. Very good lights
3. P*-proof tyres

"Nice to have" options:

1. Rack for carrying gear (if necessary) on bike rather than in backpack.
2. Clearance for winter (studded) tyres.

DrLex

Either as amendment to first point 2 or as 3 in "nice to have", I'd add "Front hub dynamo".

clarkey cat

Yea just get a road bike with mudguard and put some decent tyres on it. An audax bike would be ideal.

arthur_scrimshaw

clarkey cat wrote:

Yea just get a road bike with mudguard and put some decent tyres on it. An audax bike would be ideal.

Yes I understand that but what would you recommend? The Boardman CX ticks all of the boxes, clearance for guards/wider tyres etc but has disk brakes, good spec and it's cheap. Downside is it's not got great snob appeal and it comes from Halfords. I'm sure I can live with those last two bits. It also gets rave reviews.
I've looked at bikes like the Genesis Equilibrium and it appeals a lot but the 20 is £400 more than the CX, the lower spec versions seem poor value.
Wouldn't the CX with road tyres and guards be a good option for crap weather Sportives etc?

meanredspider

The Boardman CX is great value and the perfect crap weather bike. I only sold mine because I was so taken by the concept (drops, discs & guards) that I upgraded to a Volagi which does everything brilliantly - but at a price

rolf_f

DrLex wrote:

Either as amendment to first point 2 or as 3 in "nice to have", I'd add "Front hub dynamo".

Dynamo lights are nice but not exactly high on the list of needed features - it's so easy to get cheap but madly powerful battery/rechargeable lights these days that the only real reason why a dynamo would be high on the list is if you are prone to forgetting to keep an eye on battery life or carrying spare batteries. I'd rather count on 2 or three battery front lights than one dynamo front.

DrLex

That's why I put it in the alternative; the trouble with "madly powerful" lights is the low runtime and hence the increased fag of removing & recharging. The fit & forget nature of dynamo lights is a boon to many, so worth considering when kitting out.

clarkey cat

Arthur Scrimshaw » Wed Apr 18, 2012 5:44 pm



clarkey cat wrote:Yea just get a road bike with mudguard and put some decent tyres on it. An audax bike would be ideal.


Yes I understand that but what would you recommend?

Tifosi CK7
Ribble Winter Trainer
Condor Fratello
Hewitt Chiltern
Surly Pacer
Planet X Kaffenback

But alot of people get alot of joy out of using a CX bike as their do-it-all bike. If I did that I'd get a CAADX or a Kona Jake I reckon. I dont go off-road so am happy with an audax. I have the Hewitt.

clarkey cat

this is nice

http://www.tokyofixedgear.com/products/ ... o---Black/

arthur_scrimshaw

Yes very nice but too small for me. Thanks for the suggestions, I'll check those out, interesting selection!

cyberknight

Ebay is your friend , i picked up a hardly used giant rigid MTb that i put conti travel contacts and gaurds etc on to make a very usable winter hack for less than £100 all in.Not a drop bar for sure but if you shop around there are bargains to be had.