Flat Bar Commuter

RobSomerset

Hi, forum newbie here. Just sold my old tank (CB Explorer 500) which I started using to commute to work last year (6 miles each way). Anyway have decided to get a bike that's a little lighter. Didn't want to go the full road bike way as will want to use it to nip into town for shopping and cycling on the path network with my partner. So as it I will be using it primarily for commuting decided to go road bike rather than hybrid.

Would like to know people opinions on the following 4 bikes I have narrowed my choice down to. Budget is £600. Choice as follows:

1. Giant Rapid 3 - 2015
2. Felt VF95 - 2015
3. Cube SL Road Pro - 2015
4. Scott Speedster 50 - 2015

Am leaning towards the Scott as although cheapest is a sub 10kg with quite nice spec. Heard their quality is good. Obviously the proof is in the pudding and sitting on it will be best bet but Tredz or Evans the two closest places that do these may not have them in shop.

Any other advice would be great. I won't be going down the clipless route by the way so any advice on toeclip pedals would be good.

Thanks and apologies if covered elsewhere.

iron-clover

Welcome!

I must admit they are all much of a muchness really- go for the one you like the look of and fits best when you come to try it. Also make sure you've got clearance for wider tyres for when you want to do bridleway work. You won't get a 'bad' bike from any of those brands tbh, although felt and cube are known for offering good value with respect to components- but any of them are cheap enough to upgrade over time as bits wear out anyway.

I wouldn't rule out clipless pedals- they are far safer than toe clips and you can get good single sided mtb spd pedals with a flat pedal on one side (I have this on my battleship hybrid- spd side for longer trips, and flat for around town) and you can get good touring shoes which are still clipless but a bit easier to walk in.

Have fun!

lancew

I think that the Cube looks the best of those based on gearing and brakes. I like that it has all Shimano drive chain and brakes.

I also like the look of these Whytes. 10.2kg. I've seen a few about and they look excellent. This doesn't have a front mech which is one less thing to go wrong, but it depends how you feel about that. It also uses MTB gearing so has potential for a wider range of gears at the back.
http://www.cyclesurgery.com/pws/UniqueP ... lsrc=aw.ds


+1 on the clipless. They're just so good. Even my 59 year old Dad admitted it was the best decision he's made getting them.

I would also say that having gone to drops on the road I wouldn't look back. I've taken mine quite a few places where a road bike shouldn't go (thanks google maps, this singletrack is great fun) and its always been fine. I find that on a longer ride its nice to be able to move your hands about to relieve your wrists. Beware that with a flat handlebar bike you're wider so getting through gaps in cars/buses becomes an issue.

RobSomerset

Thanks for the replies guys. You have convinced me about the SPD single sided pedals so going to put some BBB BPD-21 - DualChoice II MTB Pedals at £36.88 (plus 10% off as well.) Am intending to buy from Tredz using the 10% discount code so ideally a bike they stock. Have found out that the Cube SL Road Pro is out of stock. They have the Cube SL Road though. Now the largest frame for the Scott Speedster is 56cm and at 6'2" with 33" inside leg, it might be a little small. The Felt V95 comes in 58cm and 61cm so tending towards the 61cm on that one. The Giant Rapid 3 is 58.5cm for XL Version. Both bikes are up for £599. I'll get 10% off so maybe worth looking at the Cannondale Quick Speed 2 or Eastway F2.0 FB.

Can get this http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Eastway-FB-2-0-Flat-Bar-2014-Road-Bike_62941.htm for less than £600 with discount.

handful

Looks a decent spec for the money does that Eastway.

I was in a similar place tou you about 3-4 years ago with a budget of £1k and bought a Moda Chord with Apex. Although I really liked the bike I quickly realised I should have bought a 'proper' roadie with drop bars and converted the Chord adding Rival shifters which I picked up cheap and it was a revelation and the geometry works fine, pretty much cyclocross style.

Just to give you another option to consider, the later version equipped with Microshift gearing (and not Apex like mine) is available here http://www.discovercycling.com/bikes/Flat-Bar-Road-Bikes/Moda-Chord-Flat-Bar-Road-Bike.html for a bargain price or if you want disc brakes there is also the Immer http://www.discovercycling.com/bikes/Flat-Bar-Road-Bikes/Moda-Immer-Flat-Bar-Road-Bike.html

Both come with American Classic wheels which are brilliant and worth £300+ on their own and they are really well put together bikes. The Chord is a 9kg bike and the Microshift gears apparently are very good despite not being mainstream. If you decide you want the option of drop bars later you could do the same as me in the knowledge it works well as a full roadie. I've done over 5k miles on mine and it's now fitted with full mudguards as my wet weather/winter bike.

RobSomerset

The Moda's do like very nice but checking the frame sizes i see the max they go to available at that price is 56cm. Bit small for my 6'2" frame i think. Thanks for the pointer though.

handful

You may be ok on the 56, mine is 56 and I'm only a couple of inches shorter than you. Where are you in Somerset, you're welcome to try mine if you are anywhere near Burnham? No problem if you'd rather get the Eastway, that looks a decent bike for the price!

RobSomerset

Just a quick update. Have gone for the Felt VF95. Felt nice, excuse the pun. Have to order my size from Europe. The spec is not bad for price which was £540 in the end after 10% off. Will write a little review in the future once I have done some milage on it as no reviews about at the moment on this one.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

I was randomly looking at the Felt V-series bikes online the other day, looking forward to reading what you make of the VF95.