New Bike Advice - maybe a fully fledged touring bike?

iclestu

Ok - it comes up so often. Its been asked a hundred thousand times before but, admit it, you guys LOVE it!

What new bike should I buy?

The background:

3 Years ago this overweight lump of lard started commuting to work on a BSO Hybrid and never really looked back. 2 years ago I upgraded to the 2010 Boardman CX pro (http://m.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/cyclo-cross/product/review-boardman-pro-cx-10-35695).

4 weeks ago a driver made a mistake and wiped me out (his fault) and did damage to said bike and just a LITTLE bit of damage to me . Now, I forgive the guy his mistake because it was a genuine accident and he stopped instantly, did everything right AFTERwards had insurance, I'm all healed up, yadda yadda yadda and MOST IMPORTANTLY.... I recently had a mechanic out to collect/inspect the bike and its looking like it may be written off (touching wood, etc). soooooo....

NEW BIKE BONUS!!!!

So help me choose the next steed?

Things I like about my existing bike:

I like that its light and versatile. I like that it LOOKS like a proper bike. I like that its light. I like that I can put slick road tyres on for summer and marathon winters in winter so all year round fun (and uninterrupted commuting). I have a rack for work clothes, shopping and can take some things for an overnight or light tour.

Things I dislike about my existing bike:

I have a little bit of toe overlap i need to be careful of. With a carbon fork I don't like the very 'rear-heavy' feel with even a little luggage in 'the trunk'. Interrupter brake levers on the tops (minor annoyance - I Thought id like them but i never use them and they get in the way).

The budget:

Well - I dont quite know what happens if a 2yo bike is written off? Do the insurance company pay the new-for-old replacement cost (i doubt it) or less? I'd be happy to pay £500 towards things myself. I could pay £1000 (maybe even a little more - eek) but only if i thought i was gonna get the machine of my dreams.

What I'd want from my new bike and use it for:

I commute on my bike everyday (12 miles each way) and want to be able to go touring on it. I am considering a LEJOG in summer. I commuted all through winter past and want to be able to do the same in future so i need to be able to put on some studded tyres (although i could possibly forego this if I can get the old boardman back and fix it myself using cheaper components etc than it had before and leaving the cosmetic damage un-repaired - will the insurance company take it away?).

I am not a speed machine. Carbon bikes weighing a tenth of a featherweight with a tyre and saddle combo designed to split the rider in two give some cyclists a little swelling in their Lycra, but not this cyclist. I like drop-bars and want a bike to look nice, but i also want it to be as comfy as my favorite sofa and don't mind sacrificing some speed or a little weight to achieve that (with that said, if i could get both the speed and the comfort together whilst still carrying the loads then maybe i WOULD be adjusting my shorts ....)

I want the bike to LOOK like a proper bike. (thats probably a little wooly but I'll know when i see a bike if it fits or not!).

Soooo - I have arrived at a fully fledged touring bike (sorry KB - leaving my cloak behind.... ). Seems like it fits my needs? Open to other suggestions that do?

Been looking at this:

http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m1b17s21p2554

which is stretching the budget a little bit so id kinda need to know it was gonna be worth it. What about a Dawes Galaxy?

Suggestions?

dhope

Genesis Equilibrium - ask this lot here for opinions
viewtopic.php?f=40012&t=12780959

I know the Dawes is Ti but not sure I'd fork out for Ti if it was only Tiagra. The Equilibrium is Reynolds 725 and Shimano 105.
http://road.cc/content/review/15437-genesis-equilibrium

And if you were thinking of spending £1600 on the Dawes then you could spend the £500 saved on an upgraded wheelset to make the Equilibrium even more special.

pete54

How about a Condor Fratello? I've just spent a week light touring with a set of Ortlieb panniers on mine and it was fantastic. With a basic set of strong wheels, SRAM Apex, rack and mudguards it came in at £1400.

And it's a lovely orange colour.

iclestu

dhope wrote:

Genesis Equilibrium - ask this lot here for opinions
viewtopic.php?f=40012&t=12780959

LOOKS cool - but i really really need my rack... I probably really want my mudguards too (never riden without mudguards) and not sure thats a possibility with the Genesis?

dhope wrote:

I know the Dawes is Ti ...

I didnt think it was anymore (know they had one a year or 2 back that was Ti)?

http://www.dawescycles.com/c-142-touring.aspx

Think i 'fancy' a Ti bike but probably have no real reason for wanting it... Im leaning that way but could be persueded otherwise or priced out...

dhope

iclestu wrote:

dhope wrote:

Genesis Equilibrium - ask this lot here for opinions
viewtopic.php?f=40012&t=12780959

LOOKS cool - but i really really need my rack... I probably really want my mudguards too (never riden without mudguards) and not sure thats a possibility with the Genesis?

dhope wrote:

I know the Dawes is Ti ...

I didnt think it was anymore (know they had one a year or 2 back that was Ti)?

http://www.dawescycles.com/c-142-touring.aspx

Think i 'fancy' a Ti bike but probably have no real reason for wanting it... Im leaning that way but could be persueded otherwise or priced out...

Sorry, not sure why I said Dawes. I was looking at the Spa Cycles link you mentioned. Got confused somewhere
The Spa one is Ti I meant.

Sounds like there may be solutions to the lack of rack. Some sort of augmentation (fnarr).
http://road.cc/content/forum/57308-gene ... kspanniers
http://salsacycles.com/components/rack-lock/

You can put guards (SKS Chromoplastics certainly) on an Equilibrium

jeepie

I've got a Spa cycles Audax which I bought instead of the tourer as I only need to carry one day's load at a time.

http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php ... b0s21p2573

Absolutely elated with it. Superb. Fast and very strong and stable. I love the SRAM shifting too. Only downside is on very steep climbs the rear wheel does feel a bit heavy, but I guess this is a tradeoff of bullet proof wheels. Also it's got Durano Plus tyres (25) which are perfect all year round.....

I love it.

Why not have a look at the lighter Audax rather than the tourer? I reckon you could do Le Jog on it. The tourer would be more suitable if you are going to really load it up, but I guess this may only be once a year or so. Up to you though...

Also I think all Spa Cycles frames are designed with no overlap. They are very helpful too.

iPete

pete54 wrote:

How about a Condor Fratello? I've just spent a week light touring with a set of Ortlieb panniers on mine and it was fantastic. With a basic set of strong wheels, SRAM Apex, rack and mudguards it came in at £1400.

And it's a lovely orange colour.

Been spending a fair bit of time in Condor recently and this would be my choice, lovely looking bike.

raffa cakes

iPete wrote:

pete54 wrote:

How about a Condor Fratello? I've just spent a week light touring with a set of Ortlieb panniers on mine and it was fantastic. With a basic set of strong wheels, SRAM Apex, rack and mudguards it came in at £1400.

And it's a lovely orange colour.

Been spending a fair bit of time in Condor recently and this would be my choice, lovely looking bike.

If you want versatility then a Fratello is definitely worth a look, if you can get to Condor. Mine is set up for pretty heavy touring now, but in half an hour I can put on light wheels, strip off the rack, guards and cages and it will hold its own as a fast bike. I have toe overlap on all my bikes because I prefer smaller frames, but I don't really steer that much so it's not a problem. The only thing I would take over a Fratello is this:

http://www.diatechproducts.com/moots/vamoots-lt.html

But that is outside of any mortal justification.

styxd

I would have thought a cyclocross frame would have been better if you want to fit knobbly tyres?

A planet x kaffenback or something like that?

flimflam_machine

Thorn Audax or Club Tour? (although you'd need to flog something to raise the extra £500)

Alternatively the Edinburgh Bicycle Cooperative do a fully fitted out tourer for £500, although this may be a bit heavy. Perhaps you could spend a bit extra to get a carbon fork for the sake of comfort and lightness.

Vitessetortoise

Your list of requirements sound incredibly familiar, I too had a hybrid and then a cyclocross bike and subsequently wanted something a bit, well, better, but I also wanted to maintain the practicality (rack/guards) of the cross bike. I didn't look at full on tourers as they just look heavy and, I'll confess, a bit ugly so I was mainly looking at audax style bikes that could be loaded up for commuting, mini tours (theoretically) or stripped down for fun day rides.

So, just to add a few more to your list, I looked at a steel Fratello (very nearly bought one), looked at alu Kenesis TK2 (very nearly bought one) and also considered Ti (off the peg and custom) but couldn't justify the £s, even though the Spa Audax Ti looks great value. Also looked at Thorn Mk3 Audax, Bob Jackson frames and even carbon Dolan Dual.

In the end I settled on a Soma Smoothie frame, http://www.somafab.com/archives/product/smoothie, as it promises what I'm looking for and specced all the other bits with the help of LBS who are also building it. I can't tell you what its like yet, but hopefully I'll be getting it this weekend .

iclestu

dhope wrote:

Sounds like there may be solutions to the lack of rack. Some sort of augmentation (fnarr).
http://road.cc/content/forum/57308-gene ... kspanniers
http://salsacycles.com/components/rack-lock/

I hear you but feels a little like I'd be buying a round thing to fit a square hole because its a nice round thing and there is a round-to-square adapter available. Think I'd be better looking for a nice square thing

Think its a tasty bike - just not for me...

thegibdog

I've just done a LEJoG on an Equilibrium but if I was after something where I'd be carrying luggage on a regular basis I'd probably go for something like the Dawes Century. Unless you're touring all the time I think a full on tourer would be overkill.

iclestu

think i quite like the Condor...

Trouble with the carbon forked models is that weight imbalance I get now whenever I have any stuff in my panniers. i can LIVE with it, but id probably choose to avoid it. Maybe the possibility of front panniers for touring appeals for that reason. (although I reckon i could manage for space/weight without it)

had a look at the Thorn before and quite liked it.

pangolin

Uncle John?
http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/CBPXUJSP/planet_x_uncle_john_sram_rival_bike

Honky Tonk?
http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Kona-Honky-Tonk-2012-Road-Bike_51392.htm?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=Product_Search&utm_campaign=Froogle02

pete54

I don't think it's anything to do with carbon forks. Why not just put a handlebar bag on when you are touring?

raffa cakes

iclestu wrote:

think i quite like the Condor...

Trouble with the carbon forked models is that weight imbalance I get now whenever I have any stuff in my panniers. i can LIVE with it, but id probably choose to avoid it. Maybe the possibility of front panniers for touring appeals for that reason. (although I reckon i could manage for space/weight without it)

had a look at the Thorn before and quite liked it.

Yeah, that was a concern for me too. After some experimentation I ended up with about 12Kg in panniers at the back, then about 2Kg slung over the front of the bars. I also kept a big Evian style water bottle in one of these:

http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/alloy-xl-bot ... prod23185/

which threw a bit of weight forward. In the end the balance point was just forward of the seat post, it felt controlled and I had no problems with unplanned wheelies. If I was carrying more load I would probably swap out the front fork (or Condor could probably build it that way from the start) but to be honest I don't think I would carry more load.

I'm guessing front forks is why you are looking at the Spa Tourer over the Spa Audax? The Audax is probably more versatile, plus the tourer is not that well specced and you'll be losing a lot of the Ti weight benefits in the heavier components. The SRAM Apex in the Audax is a good bed, so you can up-bling the components one by one as the mood / wallet takes you. But unfortunately there's nothing you can do about the frame graphics.

pete54

Mine felt a bit light at the front with, I'm guessing, about 12 kg in my rear Ortliebs, but I got used to it pretty quickly. I haven't fitted a handlebar bag as the bike is going to be used mainly for commuting and I don't want the ugly mount on my bars (or the hassle of removing and re-fitting).

raffa cakes

pete54 wrote:

Mine felt a bit light at the front with, I'm guessing, about 12 kg in my rear Ortliebs, but I got used to it pretty quickly. I haven't fitted a handlebar bag as the bike is going to be used mainly for commuting and I don't want the ugly mount on my bars (or the hassle of removing and re-fitting).

I just took a small shoulder bag, wrapped the strap round the bars either side of the stem, and clipped it on there. Useful to have something there to stow / grab, and handy to have valuables in something you can pull off and take with you without needing a separate bag / strap. hashtag weightwatchers.

rolf_f

Since Spa got their new shop and warehouse, the public bit has filled up with a large number of variants of the Spa Ti bikes which they'll happily let you go for a ride on - they even ask you if you'd like a go! So well worth going to see them if not too far away. And they have Galaxys as well.

iclestu

Rolf F wrote:

Since Spa got their new shop and warehouse, the public bit has filled up with a large number of variants of the Spa Ti bikes which they'll happily let you go for a ride on - they even ask you if you'd like a go! So well worth going to see them if not too far away. And they have Galaxys as well.

an exciting prospect!

Jay dubbleU

Spa have got Ultra Galaxy going for around 1100.00BP down from around two grand. Reyolds 853, Brooks saddle.

txom

Surly Cross-Check? Brixton cycles got the frame in for me and built it up with 105 for around £1100 last year.

iclestu

txom wrote:

Surly Cross-Check? Brixton cycles got the frame in for me and built it up with 105 for around £1100 last year.

that looks quite nice actually - had never seen it before

txom

The Cross-Check definitely isn't light, but I wanted a bike for a 10-mile each way commute and that I could stick a child seat on the back of and hit the tow-path at weekends, so it's perfect for me.

Once the children get too big for the child seat, I'll go for lighter wheels, narrower tyres, etc. Hoping the frame will last a long time!

iclestu

whoop whoop whoop.

Ins co have agreed to settle! New steed for me!

Thanks for all your suggestions but think i got a little semi for some titanium that just has to be satisfied