£500, 50 miles, canal/road.

The Northern Monkey

Can anyone recommend a few bikes for the above sort of ride?

My manager is coming along on a charity ride and needs something suitable.
She popped into Evans Cycles today and was recommended a pinnacle cobalt three
http://m.evanscycles.com/products/pinna ... e-ec035884

I'm not too sure tbh, I'll be using the Rocklobster and I have no idea about hybrids tbh!

I imagine the fork is pretty basi and I think its about 31lb, not sure if something with a carbon fork and v brakes would be better?

supersonic

I'd spend the extra 50 quid and get a Boardman Hybrid Comp - weighs about 23lbs!

The Northern Monkey

that was my 1st thought tbh... Can't really beat em!

YeehaaMcgee

Do any of your mates have a spare bike he can borrow?

The Northern Monkey

Nah not really... I think she wants her own anyway as she's a bit of a fitness freak and is using this as an excuse to train more.

She's taller and bulkier than me so she'll need an xxxxxxxxxxl frame anyway!

YeehaaMcgee

Oh, it's a "she".

The Northern Monkey

Very much a 'she'.

The Rookie

The Northern Monkey wrote:

Very much a 'she'.

Sounds interesting, tell us more!

DodgeT

Sounds like the honey monsters your boss?

bails87

I know Supersonic won't like this, but....Cyclocross?

Edinburgh bike co op have a couple in the Revolution range that are within/near budget.

Or just a road bike, it depends what she's going to use it for afterwards, and what state the towpaths are in.

Or (to make peace with SS ) the Boardman Hybrid as already suggested, if she wants flat bars.

YeehaaMcgee

Why in god's name a cyclocross bike? These abominations appear to be multiplying of late.

bails87

Because you can put slick tyres on and it's no different (IME) from a road bike, or you can put knobbly tyres on and use it on less than perfect towpaths.

Mine's basically a road bike, but with good brakes and clearance for wider tyres and mudguards. As a 'non racing' road cyclist it's spot on for year round use.

Edit: If there were any reasonably priced actual road bikes that had disc brakes and proper tyre clearance then I'd suggest one of those instead of a CX, so if the OP's boss can get a Volagi for £500 then choose that. If not it comes down to if she's going to join a road club/do sportives/potter about on towpaths/go mountain biking after the one off ride. The next few years of use are more important than this one event.

YeehaaMcgee

bails87 wrote:

if the OP's boss can get a Volagi for £500 then choose that. If not it comes down to if she's going to join a road club/do sportives/potter about on towpaths/go mountain biking after the one off ride. The next few years of use are more important than this one event.

I have no idea what one of those is.
The CX bikes I've seen have been heavy, tragically poorly built road bikes. If you want to go off road, get a mountain bike. If you want to go on roads, get a road bike. If you're not sure, just make up your mind rather than buy a chimera, that's a crime against nature.

bails87

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

I have no idea what one of those is.
The CX bikes I've seen have been heavy, tragically poorly built road bikes. If you want to go off road, get a mountain bike. If you want to go on roads, get a road bike. If you're not sure, just make up your mind rather than buy a chimera, that's a crime against nature.

But the OP specifically asks for a bike that can do both......

I'm not sure what CXs you've seen, or what was wrong with them, but mine's a couple of minutes slower over a 15 mile commute than my carbon road bike. But I can use it through the winter (on road) due to the tyre clearance which allows proper winter tyres.

I could also put some narrow but nobbly tyres on for, say, a 50 mile ride on a mix of towpath and road.....

EDIT: I'm not saying it's right for the OP's boss. Like I'ev already said, it depends on what she'll use the bike for in the future.

YeehaaMcgee

bails87 wrote:

But the OP specifically asks for a bike that can do both......

Actually, no. He asks for 50 miles of canal or road for £500. In which case, the local gypos are probably the best ones to ask
I have no idea what state the rest of them are like, but the odd canal towpath I've ridden have been well surfaced.
The CX bikes I've seen have had truly horrible welds, very patchy, and appear to have the same level of build and finish quality as an 80s catalogue bike. They were also made of pig iron.

bails87

And I suppose riding on the canal would need a very high volume tyre!

Fair enough, if what you've seen is rubbish. But there are decently made CXs out there. Out of interest, which ones are you talking about? A friend is after a year round commuter and I don't want to suggest something awful!

That's why I asked about the towpath surface, some round here are very fine, sustrans style crushed stone, others are just mud which is passable in summer and nearly impossible to get through on an MTB, with Mud Xs for the other 9 months of the year.

YeehaaMcgee

bails87 wrote:

And I suppose riding on the canal would need a very high volume tyre!

Nah, not really...


I don't know what these CX bike were, I was too enthralled by the terrible quality to notice what they were.

The Northern Monkey

Flat bars needed anyway.. no smelly drop bars!

bails87

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

I don't know what these CX bike were, I was too enthralled by the terrible quality to notice what they were.

As long as they weren't the Apollo 'CX' range......

Ben: Furry 'nuff, the Boardman Hybrid is hard to beat then, unless she wants to get into MTB, in which case get a HT and put slick tyres on it for this ride.

The Rookie

Must say the Gemballa Bonfire a mate at work rides has lovely welds.......