Decent C2W commuter

kjab

Hiya,

I'm looking to get a winter bike/commuter and have my 1k limit from the cycle to work scheme. I'm 5ft 6 and my summer bike is a 52cm CR1 SL. Work will allow any participating bike shop.

Ideally tiagra/105, mud guard eyelets and perhaps discs but equally not look too snazzy for thieving types. Lockup at work is id badge access caged area but I'll probably leave a couple of big locks there.

Any tips/suggestions on a suitable one that will be ok for C2W? Am due to head to a couple of the LBS' at some point but thought I'd ask as well...

Cheerio

dhope

Any restrictions on makes or shops, or can you buy anything from anywhere?

EKE_38BPM

dhope wrote:

Any restrictions on makes or shops, or can you buy anything from anywhere?

kjab wrote:

Work will allow any participating bike shop.

Hmmm...
Tiagra, mudguard eyelets, discs, £1000 budget, not eye-catching to thieves, C2W, winter commuter...

What do you think I'll recommend Dhope?

dhope

EKE_38BPM wrote:

dhope wrote:

Any restrictions on makes or shops, or can you buy anything from anywhere?

kjab wrote:

Work will allow any participating bike shop.

Hmmm...
Tiagra, mudguard eyelets, discs, £1000 budget, not eye-catching to thieves, C2W, winter commuter...

What do you think I'll recommend Dhope?

54cm Cannondale Synapse. Ultegra and discs, down from £1400 to £950?
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/can ... --ec074750
Good choice EKE

andrewc3142

Specialized Langster, with a flip-flop hub if you must. Excellent bike and looks good too. £550. Job done.

wandsworth

dhope wrote:

EKE_38BPM wrote:

dhope wrote:

Any restrictions on makes or shops, or can you buy anything from anywhere?

kjab wrote:

Work will allow any participating bike shop.

Hmmm...
Tiagra, mudguard eyelets, discs, £1000 budget, not eye-catching to thieves, C2W, winter commuter...

What do you think I'll recommend Dhope?

54cm Cannondale Synapse. Ultegra and discs, down from £1400 to £950?
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/can ... --ec074750
Good choice EKE

Yes, I have one of these, the 105 not Ultegra (and not soiled). Great commuter bike. The 2014 105s seem to be down to about £899 now that 2015 bikes are coming out.

dhope

tiagra/105, mud guard eyelets and perhaps discs

andrewc3142 wrote:

Specialized Langster, with a flip-flop hub if you must. Excellent bike and looks good too. £550. Job done.

:roll:
There's plenty more winter suitable bikes than a Langster if you're going fixed

andrewc3142

Agreed there are plenty others, but the Langster is fairly cheap, widely available and fun all year round. Plus you can use it on the track. My 14 year old has one.

I'd also have a look in Brick Lane Bikes, amongst other places.

Personally, I don't do the summer/winter thing anyway. Same bikes, tyres. Just clip on some race blades.

vermin

andrewc3142 wrote:

Agreed there are plenty others, but the Langster is fairly cheap, widely available and fun all year round. Plus you can use it on the track. My 14 year old has one.

But, still, the OP did ask for gears! If I tried to do my commute on a Langster, my legs would drop off within the first week.

Scour the ex-demo pages of all the online shops and you'll always find something. I picked up a Caad8 Tiagra for about £450, which is ridiculously good value IMO. Dhope's Synapse looks good.

rubertoe

Listen to EKE.

The man knows....

andrewc3142

vermin wrote:

But, still, the OP did ask for gears!

Yes, but no harm in thinking outside the box

kjab

Hey EKE, that looks pretty good, thanks for the tip!

Any chance if you know if the geometry is similar to a CR1? It's got the measurements there but I'm a bit of a noob

Cheers

PS andrew, although cambridgeshire is flat, think my legs would deffo drop off with a 30 mile round trip on a single hah

kjab

just read that planet-x charge a 10-12% load on C2W scheme bikes, sneaky sneaky...

andrewc3142

kjab wrote:

PS andrew, although cambridgeshire is flat, think my legs would deffo drop off with a 30 mile round trip on a single hah

Actually they won't. I thought the same about my 50k (30m) each way into London from Woking (I usually train it back in winter). Until I tried it on the fixed and realised it's actually more relaxing and after a couple of days at least as quick. I very much doubt I'll use the road bike again for the commute.

Quite seriously, I really would recommend considering it.

In a weird way I find fixed easier than SS. Important is you don't go all macho on the gearing. 46-18 (just over 67 inches) is perfect for me around town and to get up the likes of the Surrey and Kent hills. 75 inches or so might suit Cambridgeshire better. Above that is for the hard-men, the track or the keyboard cyclists.

And for £1k you could get a very nice fixed indeed if you shop around. An off the peg like a Langster would be only half your budget (and there are cheaper) but for the full amount think nice frame, hand-built wheels on cool hubs, pretty neat crank, etc.

dhope

Don't spend a grand on your first fixed, get a solid 2nd hand beater for £200 and see how you like it, then spend a grand on your next fixed.
30 miles a day would be doable though, I think iPete does 40 daily on one gear.

andrewc3142

dhope wrote:

Don't spend a grand on your first fixed, get a solid 2nd hand beater for £200 and see how you like it, then spend a grand on your next fixed.

Sound advice

kjab

hmm, think I'll go for a kaffenback, altho shame planetx don't do a decent selection of lights - need to lezynes or something,,,

thoughts on tyres? They come with 32 inchers, change to 25 inch gatorskins? also mudguards - SKS longs and 25 inch or SKS XL's and 32's...?

cheers for the advice

dhope

kjab wrote:

hmm, think I'll go for a kaffenback, altho shame planetx don't do a decent selection of lights - need to lezynes or something,,,

thoughts on tyres? They come with 32 inchers, change to 25 inch gatorskins? also mudguards - SKS longs and 25 inch or SKS XL's and 32's...?

cheers for the advice

SKS Chromoplastics and 28's

EKE_38BPM

kjab wrote:

hmm, think I'll go for a kaffenback

We have another convert! He has seen the light and is about to bathe in its reflected glory.

kjab wrote:

thoughts on tyres? They come with 32 inchers, change to 25 inch gatorskins?

32 inch??! Those are some massive tyres! You may have problems with rubbing on the frame and fork.
I ordered mine with 28mm Gatorskins after years of using 23mm Gatorskins on an aluminium bike. It feels like I'm riding an armchair in comparison.

kjab wrote:

shame planetx don't do a decent selection of lights

I've recently bought a dynamo hub and have just pulled the trigger on some lights to mate it with. Forget taking your lights off to charge them via USB, my light will charge other devices by USB!

The Rookie

Planet-X sell there excellent MooonShield 60 copy (rear light) for just £15....

As for charging an uplift for C2W, well blame that on cyclesheme who are taking that off their profit margin....