"luxury" drop bar commuter

jedster

I do about 4000 miles a year commuting and I've been doing that for 10 years on two bikes (5 years each). Just thinking I might "deserve" a new bike and be able to "justify" something really nice as I now know I'll get at least 20000 miles out of it. Current bike is an on-one pompetamine 11 drop bar/guards/rack/dyno lighting

I'd be interested in any ideas people have.

must haves:
rack and guard mounts, clearance for 28mm tyres and guards
drop bars
disc brakes
dynamo lighting (all this means is that I will need to buy a hub dyno front wheel if not standard)

preferences:
hub gears (either alfine 11 or perhaps rohloff)
if alfine - Di2 maybe
maybe gates belt drive
probably eccentric BB if I go hub gear
rust free! (been riding steel but in an ideal world Ti or carbon)

Options I'm contemplating:
Shand stoater rohloff or stooshie rohloff - ticks every box but 853 rather than Ti and would be £4k!!!
http://www.shandcycles.com/bikes/stoater-rohloff/

Burls Ti frame (they will build one with Di2 fittings, eccentric BB, not sure about gates belt gate) - frame and fork will be £1500ish. guess it would > £2500 built up with alfine 11 Di2.
http://burls.co.uk/titanium.php

Milk Bikes RDA - standard options would tick all boxes but be 4130 cromoly and alfine 8 mechanical for about £2000. at minimum I'd want to upgrade to alfine 11 - I guess £150-200 more. But they would do something custom in Ti and with Di2 but I'm guessing it would go over £3k
http://www.milkbikes.com/8-rda

And then part of me just thinks - sod the hub gear and go for a planet-x tempest (Ti gravel bike with say ultegra hydraulic discs for £2k). Looks pretty gorgeous I think.
http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBPXTEMSHI ... ltegra-hdr
I have certainly proven over the last decade that I simply will not clean my bike when I get home at night so I have really liked the low maintenance / low faff / low clutter aspects of having alfine 11 but...

So any good alternative ideas?
Cheers
Jed

bendertherobot

Have to say, the cheapest looks the nicest.

What's the cost to get a front wheel dynamo made up?

jedster

dyno hub wheel - obviously varies a lot depending on the hub, rims etc but £100-£300. I've only used relatively cheap hubs (eg shimano alfine dyno hubs are about £50) but you can spend £200+ if you want

bendertherobot

Alfine seems lovely but, I understand, it's not quite as fit and ignore as you might think. Disc brakes will last, they'll just consume pads. And replacing mechs, cassette etc could be done many times with the cost of an alfine hub. Not to mention easier swapping of wheels. I really like the look of the flick. But could you hunt down a really cheap Genesis Equilibrium TI or Croix? Also good.

DrLex

Also a pompetamine user, and looking for a better "rough riding" bike. When I'd been looking at this, Shand came top. They'll adjust the spec. to your requirements and the feedback is excellent. However, as I'm less bothered by having hub gears, I've been thinking more of the Mason bikes, and the new Bokeh in particular.

bendertherobot

Mason a good choice. Or Bowmans

UndercoverElephant

jedster wrote:

dyno hub wheel - obviously varies a lot depending on the hub, rims etc but £100-£300. I've only used relatively cheap hubs (eg shimano alfine dyno hubs are about £50) but you can spend £200+ if you want

My current dynamo wheel is a SP PD-8 hub, Stan's Grail hub and DT Swiss Competition spokes, really very nice wheel. Total cost for me to build was a smudge over £150.

jedster

"Alfine seems lovely but, I understand, it's not quite as fit and ignore as you might think. Disc brakes will last, they'll just consume pads. And replacing mechs, cassette etc could be done many times with the cost of an alfine hub. Not to mention easier swapping of wheels."

I've been riding the pompetamine for 5 years/20000 miles - it is alfine 11. It has been fit and forget for me. It's had one oil change in 5 years and one set of new chain ring and sprocket. I take your point on the cost of mechs and cassettes but this is a utility bike and Iike not having to meddle with all that - used to on my former bike which was sort of mix of 105 and ultegra.

The BB7 disc brakes have been good. Had to replace a rear when it seized - gets a fair amount of salt spray where it is on the chain stay. The great think about discs is that you don't need to change the wheels because their is no rim wear!

jedster

"I've been thinking more of the Mason bikes."

good tip - they look lovely...

cjcp

I think Asprilla has a Burls.

That or the PX, for me.

asprilla

cjcp wrote:

I think Asprilla has a Burls.

That or the PX, for me.

Had.

Lovely bike. I put 20k km on it before the seat tube developed a spiral crack (I think my LBS did it). I had it welded but it didn't seem the same afterwards. Probably all in my mind.

But, I sold it.

jedster

Had.

Lovely bike. I put 20k km on it before the seat tube developed a spiral crack (I think my LBS did it).

Shame! That experience aside, do you buy the attraction of Ti? Steel frames are pretty indestructible but I'm getting a bit annoyed by the rust forming around the braze ons and cable guides on my pompetamine. Obviously that frame is built to a budget and I imagine the paint job on a Shand or Mason would be tougher but I would get annoyed by rust forming on a £3k bike.

smiley_boy2501

I'm doing something similar once funds are collected. I'm going for kinesis granfondo ti disc.

asprilla

jedster wrote:

Had.

Lovely bike. I put 20k km on it before the seat tube developed a spiral crack (I think my LBS did it).

Shame! That experience aside, do you buy the attraction of Ti? Steel frames are pretty indestructible but I'm getting a bit annoyed by the rust forming around the braze ons and cable guides on my pompetamine. Obviously that frame is built to a budget and I imagine the paint job on a Shand or Mason would be tougher but I would get annoyed by rust forming on a £3k bike.

Yeah, it was beautiful to ride and It spent a year parked in what felt like constant rain with no ill effects.

bobinski

I have an Alfine 11 set up going spare spare and was going to put up for sale once the weather turned Wheels built up by Planet x, Versa shifters, crank set, shimano dyno hub. Cheap way to put money to a luxury frame perhaps?I can get more details and pics if you want.

ugo.santalucia

Asprilla wrote:

jedster wrote:

Had.

Lovely bike. I put 20k km on it before the seat tube developed a spiral crack (I think my LBS did it).

Shame! That experience aside, do you buy the attraction of Ti? Steel frames are pretty indestructible but I'm getting a bit annoyed by the rust forming around the braze ons and cable guides on my pompetamine. Obviously that frame is built to a budget and I imagine the paint job on a Shand or Mason would be tougher but I would get annoyed by rust forming on a £3k bike.

Yeah, it was beautiful to ride and It spent a year parked in what felt like constant rain with no ill effects.

Maybe a couple of extra links in the chain would have relieved that poor derailleur...
White tyres... not sure about those...

asprilla

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Asprilla wrote:

jedster wrote:

Had.

Lovely bike. I put 20k km on it before the seat tube developed a spiral crack (I think my LBS did it).

Shame! That experience aside, do you buy the attraction of Ti? Steel frames are pretty indestructible but I'm getting a bit annoyed by the rust forming around the braze ons and cable guides on my pompetamine. Obviously that frame is built to a budget and I imagine the paint job on a Shand or Mason would be tougher but I would get annoyed by rust forming on a £3k bike.

Yeah, it was beautiful to ride and It spent a year parked in what felt like constant rain with no ill effects.

Maybe a couple of extra links in the chain would have relieved that poor derailleur...
White tyres... not sure about those...

Yeah, those tyres didn't stay on long. I wanted tan sidewalls but they weren't available on any 'commuter' tyres. This was the closest I could get.

Old_Cranky

What about a Donhou? Tom has a new DSS3 coming out very soon which may tick all of your boxes.
http://shop.donhoubicycles.com/

jedster

I'm going for kinesis granfondo ti disc

that's another good suggestion

dhope

Gosforth frame? Same factory as Genesis (Ora Engineering)
viewtopic.php?t=13068061

asprilla

dhope wrote:

Gosforth frame? Same factory as Genesis (Ora Engineering)
viewtopic.php?t=13068061

That 953 frame is giving me impure thoughts.

jedster

What about a Donhou?

oh and another! thanks

rhunderhill

http://www.hilite-bikes.com
Hilite seem to do it all. Titanium, mud guards, rolloff, pinion, gates carbon belt, dynamos etc. If I didn't live in China I'd be there getting one made...

mamil314

Titanium Planet x appear to be good value. Shame about 31mm seatposts.

The Rookie

Just buy a shim to suite your frame (bespoke fitment) like I did, my LR frame is a perfect fit with a 31.8mm shim (was using a 27.2mm post anyway).

jedster

Thanks to everyone for their input. I decided I'm just too tight to spend £4k on a bike so I went for a planet x hurricane (Ti audax with big clearances and ultegra 11). I'll be a bit sorry to move away from the low faff of hub gear but I bet it will be lovely.

http://www.planetx.co.uk/c/q/bikes/road-bikes/hurricane

Pufftmw

bendertherobot wrote:

Disc brakes will last, they'll just consume pads.

Worthwhile replacing the front disc once a year too. Doesn't cost much, will keep braking optimum and reduce pad wear.

Can't speak for rear disc but once every 2 years I suspect as will have probably been used less. I don't have rear disc.

jedster

Worthwhile replacing the front disc once a year too. Doesn't cost much, will keep braking optimum and reduce pad wear.

Honestly that's not my experience for road use. The discs on my current bike are 5 years old and the bike gets used 200 days a year in all weathers. The discs look fine still. Pads have been changed once a year. I don't even keep the bike very clean. Seriously. I mean discs are considerably tougher than rims and I'd be very disappointed if I needed to change wheels every year!

hopkinb

I've had discs since last December, and I have chewed through a set of organic front pads about every 3 months, which is about 2000km I suppose. There's a noticeable ridge on the rotor between the braking surface and the non-braking surface, but I wouldn't have a clue when to actually replace the rotor. My riding is mainly commuting, and so very stop-start and so heavy on the pads.

jedster

I have chewed through a set of organic front pads about every 3 months, which is about 2000km I suppose

Mine is mainly commuting too but I'm lower mileage but I'm getting 4000km. In truth though it's rare that I brake that hard - I find looking up the road ahead means that just coasting and gentle braking is enough to adjust speed to hazards or pull up to a (wobbly) track stand at lights

Pufftmw

Perhaps I brake hard, probably my riding style and that I rely on my front brake, hardly ever using the rear as its non-disc.