Bike with 36h wheels for commuttng

meduk1

Hi - My current road bike commuter is nearing the end of its life and I'm looking at getting something new.

I've bought a nice road bike which is just for the weekends, whilst my commuter will be for doing the 40km round trip through London roads everyday. What I'm looking for is:

- 36h wheels. This is a must. Some pretty bad roads and I'm pretty heavy so need this
- Disk Brakes - I ride in all year round so this will be useful
- Fittings for pannier rack and mudguards
- I'd prefer a true road bike, but this isn't essential and could go down the hybrid route
- Cost between 500-800

I'm struggling to find any off the shelf bikes with that spec, or even 36h wheels as an option. I'd rather get something as a complete package than get a bike knowing I'd need to replace the wheels straight away.

The only thing I've been able to find that comes close is the Cube Touring Pro: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/cube ... lsrc=aw.ds

Any suggestions?

Thanks

mrb123

Slightly over budget, but comes with rack and mudguards...
https://www.evanscycles.com/genesis-tou ... 0wod_lIPFQ

If you can live without disc brakes, there are plenty of options in budget around if you have a look at touring bikes, such as Dawes, Ridgeback etc. Most touring bikes will come with 36 hole rims as standard.

meduk1

MrB123 wrote:

Slightly over budget, but comes with rack and mudguards...
https://www.evanscycles.com/genesis-tou ... 0wod_lIPFQ

If you can live without disc brakes, there are plenty of options in budget around if you have a look at touring bikes, such as Dawes, Ridgeback etc. Most touring bikes will come with 36 hole rims as standard.

Thanks - will check out Dawes and Ridgeback now. I could get by without disk brakes if needed - my only thought was as this bike was purely for commuting disk would be better in the wet.

I need an XL frame (around 61) so that rules out the Evans option.

fenix

Whats up with your bike ? Maybe you just need new wheels ?

keef66

Planet X London Road? Think it comes with 32h disc wheels as standard, but they might be able to swap them for something 36h for not very much.

It was designed as a do-it-all / tough commuter bike. Certainly ticks all your other boxes

alan_sherman

Look at touring bikes, although I've yet to see one without fishing line STI cables!

Roux: http://www.spacycles.co.uk/m1b0s21p3283/ROUX-Etape-250
Dawes Galaxy too from Spa.

One advantage of buying from SPA is they will swap the front wheel out for one with a dynamo hub for a decent price. I think Dynamo lighting is ideal for communting.

meduk1

Thanks all.

I'm 6"4 so need a large bike frame, currently on a 61. Roux only go up to 58 which I think will be too small. Seem to be some good options from Ridgeback and Dawes which give me most of what I'm looking for. In full research mode now.

Current bike has a few issues:
- Frame has a crack in it (hasn't caused any problems yet but worried about it)
- Rear wheel is wonky (I've tried trueing it by hand but no luck)
- It will only take 25mm tyres (which is probably contributing to my wheel issues. Now that I'm only using it for commuting I'd like to look at something wider).

Fixing current bike is also an option, but I'm exploring if its worth cutting my losses and getting something mew, keeping this as a backup.

meduk1

I think I'm going to rule out Roux and Dawes as the geometry of the bikes looks pretty small compared to what I'm used to (seat tube around 600 and top tube 580-600).

Ridgeback have some decent options:
http://www.wheelies.co.uk/p85563/Ridgeb ... -Bike.aspx
http://www.wheelies.co.uk/p85564/Ridgeb ... -Bike.aspx

I also still like the Genesis that was posted earlier but starting to break the budget:
http://www.tweekscycles.com/bikes/touri ... -bike-2016