Kinesis racelight T2 for winter

TooOldForThis

Hi

I'm looking for a new winter commuter. Mostly NSL A roads with a bit of city centre car dodging thrown in.

At the moment I'm using a hardtail with semi-slicks in the winter which works well enough but is rather heavy, especially now it has the mountings for a child seat permanently attached.

I'll be using the C2W scheme and am torn between the following.

Boardman hybrid pro (lightest and I prefer flat bars in traffic)
Boardman CX team (best of both worlds?)

Or for something a bit different a Kinesis Racelight T2.

The Kinesis is pretty much a road bike with clearance for up to 28mm tires and comes with mudguards fitted.

Due to the no test drive policy of Halfords I'll be buying just from what i've read so it'll be a gamble whatever I go for.

Has anyone used a T2 or similar for winter commuting or should I stick to the Boardmans.

Cheers

Gentracer

I have a T2, along with many others on here.

Good strong reliable frame. Got hit by a car on mine and apart from changing the carbon forks the frame was straight and true (Got my LBS to check it out on a gig).
No complaints and good value IMHO, so no worrys about using it in the bad weather.

freebs

Ditto. I have a T2 57cm frame for sale if anyone is interested. I've now got a TK3.

Bordersroadie

I've had a T2 for about a year now, about 2,000 miles. I did masses of research for a mudguard bike and the shortlist was Kinesis TK2/3, T2, Dolan Profissio or the Tifosi CK7.

I went for the T2 partly because the TK2 was out of budget and partly because my mate (who is a high-miles powerhouse who wrecks his bikes) has proven how durable they are, and they have proper mudguard clearance for 25c and proper SKS guards.

Be aware they're quite trad in geometry with a relatively long top tube and short head tube and the racy wheelbase means there is significant toe overlap. If none of these things is an issue (none are for me) then I couldn't recommend the frame highly enough, with the DC07 carbon fork.

I use mine year-round as a wet bike and commuter. I came from an old 531c frame and was amazed at the comfort level of the T2 - I was expecting harsh ride but it's none of the sort. Maybe the s-shaped seat stays actually do something.

TooOldForThis

Thanks for the thoughts folks. it looks like the T2 is a popular choice. I'm 6'3", any ideas what frame size I should be looking at?

godders1

Excellent frame for the money.

Just as a rough guide I'm 6'0" with 33" inside leg and ride a 57" T2 so the 60" is probably for you.