The never ending story of the Winter bike

GarethMorgan

Hi everyone, my first post here (sorry its an age-old question) please go easy on me!

I started taking my road cycling more seriously this year. Buying myself a Cannondale SuperSix EVO Hi-Mod Black Inc Road Bike in January. My years highlights were riding the Velothon Wales, VeloBirmingham and riding from Paris to Bordeaux in just 5 days

However, the nights are well and truly drawn in, and I got my bibs in a twist riding through muck and rain last weekend — so I wanted to look into buying a winter bike. But not just a winter bike; a low-cost commuter bike, a less stereo touring bike etc etc.

I've a shortlist that fits my 'under a grand' budget and aesthetics that fit my 'geometric bar, black paint job pedantics. But I was hoping some of you on here might have personal experiences of the bikes, or strong opinions of the setups on some of them, helping me rule them out or even helping me decide upon a model.

Some factors I'm keen to understand:

• I currently ride DuraAce 11 speed. How much will I notice a drop to an 8 speed? Claris? Sora? Tiagra? I'm not sure where to draw the line as I'll still b dragging this thing around Kent and beyond and I'd rather not loose 'too' much time/speed.


The shortlist (Yes - I'll be test riding as many of them as poss.):

£500 • Cannondale CAAD8 Claris
https://www.swiftcycles.co.uk/7063/products/2016-cannondale-caad8-claris-road-bike.aspx

£600 • Focus Cayo Sora
https://www.evanscycles.com/focus-cayo-al-sora-2017-road-bike-EV308650

£600 • Specialized Allez Claris
https://www.cyclesurgery.com/p/specialized-allez-2018-Q2114367.html?colour=3623

£675 • Focus Cayo Tiagra
https://www.evanscycles.com/focus-cayo-al-tiagra-2017-road-bike-EV308649

£700 • Cannondale Synapse Tiagra
https://www.swiftcycles.co.uk/8458/products/2017-cannondale-synapse-al-claris-road-bike.aspx

£800 • Specialized Allez E5 Sora
https://www.evanscycles.com/specialized-allez-e5-sport-2018-road-bike-EV306364

£1000 • Cannondale CAAD Tiagra (Yes this ones expensive but I've found it for £700 elsewhere)
https://www.swiftcycles.co.uk/8449/products/2017-cannondale-caad-optimo-disc-tiagra-road-bike.aspx

—

Okay, thats it. Thank you in advance if you have advice or suggestions. Grateful to anyone who submits something

webboo

Get the Focus Tiagra and spend the rest of your grand on a new suit.

stueys

I’ve tried a few winter bikes, currently I run a cx bike (caadx) that lets me do trails with the kids as well. If I was buying again the things I would look for;
- Proper guard mounts - clip on mudguards work but they rattle, proper guards are nice
- Clearance for 28 tyres under the guards - you get more comfort and more grip when it’s wet and shite
- disc brakes - not essential but once you’ve ridden discs through winter it’s hard to go back
- 11 spd - if you run 11spd on your nice bike you’ll get annoyed at going backwards. There isn’t really a difference between 105/ultegra/dura other than weight if they are set up right

cougie

I'm not googling those bikes for you but for winter I'm looking for -

Takes full mudguards with little toe overlap.
Cheaper than the best bike. Roads are slippy in winter.
Takes wide tyres - that still fit under the guards with clearance.
Don't worry too much about the speed you'll lose. It'll be more to do with the colder denser air and the extra bulky clothes you wear.

agentorange88

personally id not want to go from 11 speed to 8 speed, so would aim for 10 speed may be 9speed if not hilly

timbo_tim

I asked exactly the same question a couple of months ago, with almost the same bikes as options (Cycle to work restricted to Evans). I thought the focus looked like a good deal but I don’t think it has guard mounts plus the Al (not carbon) seemed a little heavy. I opted for the Allez and got the sport with new Sora. Ok so its 9 speed but works well and with the under bar tape wires it feels good enough. It’s a decent enough frame but I replaced the wheels with the stock ones from my best bike as the Spec ones weren’t great. I am pretty pleased with it, and it’s been fine doing the 40 mile commute to work in the dark/damp conditions so it’s done exactly what I bought it for, also since it’s on C2W the cost was marginal

darkhairedlord

Ride the super 6 all year; Stick an arse saver on if you must but ride the supersix.

keef66

None of those look like winter bikes to me. A winter bike should take proper mudguards and have clearance for at least 25mm tyres, preferably larger. And these days disk brakes should be a consideration too.

But out of your list I'd choose the Synapse Tiagra (although the link says Claris...)

lostboysaint

keef66 wrote:

None of those look like winter bikes to me. A winter bike should take proper mudguards and have clearance for at least 25mm tyres, preferably larger. And these days disk brakes should be a consideration too.

That. Either you're buying a proper winter bike or you're just playing the N+1 game.

singleton

keef66 wrote:

None of those look like winter bikes to me. A winter bike should take proper mudguards and have clearance for at least 25mm tyres, preferably larger. And these days disk brakes should be a consideration too.

CAAD Optimo has all those....

trivial_poursuivant

Buy the best frame and upgrade bits later if you want to. My choice would be the Synapse

Omar Little

My winter bike is 8 speed (and claris)...its heavier and not quite as precise as the di2 and sram red ive got on my other bikes but it's not an issue - it's a winter bike I'm not racing on it and im not doing any mountains on it. Cassettes, chains, brakes, mechs etc are all much cheaper. With the wet roads, grit and particularly the salt the winter is tough on a bike that is used regularly even if you wash it after every ride and keep on top of the maintenance.

cougie

I don't think the aim of the game is to upgrade a winter bike. You don't want top flight gear or you'll pay a lot to replace it. And anyway if it's as good as your summer bike - what's the point of the summer bike ?

trivial_poursuivant

cougie wrote:

I don't think the aim of the game is to upgrade a winter bike. You don't want top flight gear or you'll pay a lot to replace it. And anyway if it's as good as your summer bike - what's the point of the summer bike ?

Agree to a point but if you shop around you can upgrade on the cheap. A new bike with Claris on could be upgraded to 105 10sp for about 100 looking on eBay for bits. You therefore don’t spend a fortune but do get a cleaner cockpit and a few more gears in the bargain. Just cos it’s a winter bike doesn’t mean you should stick with the original bits. You could be riding it for a qtr of the year so make it a bit more enjoyable.

darkhairedlord

Ride the supersix through the winter while you save up for a better summer bike.

micrographia

You won't get slower by losing a few sprockets and expensive group sets corrode just as quickly as cheaper ones in the winter. Also, you'll be glad you were on a metal frame with inexpensive components if you stack it on ice or diesel. Clip-on guards are a crap compromise. Get whatever in the above list will take a set of full mudguards, especially if you ever ride in a group. I've an ally Synapse for the winter and it's great - but it has full guards with added flaps.

rollemynot

I thought a winter bike is about getting out in the dirty wet weather and not trashing or crashing your good bike... hey I’m slower on my new Genesis Equlibrium, but not as slow as I will be on my good bike come March because I never put the miles in over the winter.

It’s all about keeping your base fitness over the winter not speed...

letap73

darkhairedlord wrote:

Ride the supersix through the winter while you save up for a better summer bike.

The chap has a:
Cannondale SuperSix EVO Hi-Mod Black Inc which is £10000.

What "better" bike should he save up for?

trivial_poursuivant

letap73 wrote:

darkhairedlord wrote:

Ride the supersix through the winter while you save up for a better summer bike.

The chap has a:
Cannondale SuperSix EVO Hi-Mod Black Inc which is £10000.

What "better" bike should he save up for?

Anything without a squeaky bottom bracket!

darkhairedlord

Trivial poursuivant wrote:

letap73 wrote:

darkhairedlord wrote:

Ride the supersix through the winter while you save up for a better summer bike.

The chap has a:
Cannondale SuperSix EVO Hi-Mod Black Inc which is £10000.

What "better" bike should he save up for?

Anything without a squeaky bottom bracket!

There is always a better bike.

GarethMorgan

Hi everyone,

Wow. Thanks to everyone for their input and opinions Glad to see some agreement in terms of add-ons and even spec of groupset, speed disc brakes. I'm so glad I came on here to soundboard before making a decision.

Just to clarify – my SuperSix was not £10000 (I wouldn’t deserve anything with that price tag). No, no – I befriended my local shop owner, club runner, ex-semi pro racer, bike builder, who sourced the parts and built the bike which I bought for under £3000 It’s done me extremely well. The dreaded BB30 hasn’t so much as pipped let a loan a squeak (yet).

So I rode almost all the bikes in the above list. But like a few of you mentioned; I think I wanted disc brakes… I rode a fair bit last winter and found even the smallest descents terrifying.

The bike I enjoyed riding the most was the 2017 Cannondale CAAD Optimo Disc Tiagra Road Bike which I bought at £700 and will be looking for some nice guards to fit and get riding

@Stueys
Thanks for the advice – I’ve gone for a 10 speed. So slight drop, but mudguards and 28 tyres are good

@cougie
Again – thanks for your advice. I predict some slipping and skidding, too that’s partly the main reason I didn’t want to throw big £££ at it.

@agentorange88
Cheers – I went with 10 speed

@timbo_tim
The Allez really caught my eye and I found it a lovely ride during my test ride. You’re lucky with the C2W too, I’m a freelancer and that’s just another perk I don’t get!

@darkhairedlord
H’okay!

@keef66 / @lostboysaint / @Singleton
Sage advice all, thank you. I was wary of falling into a n00b trap like the n+1.

@Omar Little
Agreed! I’m going to have to up my wash game

@micrographia
Thanks – I have the Race blade guards from a year ago – but I am not researching into ‘proper guards’. Hopefully something lightweight!

micrographia

Enjoy your new machine - I've got discs on my synapse as well and I enjoy stopping in the rain too much to go back to rim brakes on a winter bike

At the risk of banging on about it, it looks like your new bike takes full guards (SKS chromoplastics or the like) so get them fitted and add the longest flaps you can. Weight is irrelevant compared to the protection it will give you and your bike. I put Raceblade Pros on my bike in the winter when I had to use it all year round - spray from the top of the front wheel wrecked my headset, the lack of a proper flap at the bottom hastened the end of my bottom bracket, the drive train was always filthy and my feet were always wet. No rear wheel coverage between the seat stays and seat tube meant the frame and the back of my legs got caked in crud and the rear guard was too short to stop riders behind me getting road crap in the face. They always needed tweaking as well. Then when I took them off in the spring I found that fine silt had worked its way under the rubber pads and abraded the finish at the mounting points on the frame. But they were my only option so on they went again the next winter, with tape on the mounting points. That bike is a turbo queen now and the sight of those marks still irks me. If you really want to appease your inner roadie, upgrade the wheel set and tyres - you'll save half a kilo easily. Keep the OEM wheels as spares and give the Lugano's to your worst enemy.

GarethMorgan

Ah man. I just noticed I wrote 'I am not researching into proper mudguards' , I meant 'I am NOW researching into proper mudguards!'

So don't worry about banging on, I hear you loud and clear. SKS on the radar...

micrographia wrote:

Enjoy your new machine - I've got discs on my synapse as well and I enjoy stopping in the rain too much to go back to rim brakes on a winter bike

At the risk of banging on about it, it looks like your new bike takes full guards (SKS chromoplastics or the like) so get them fitted and add the longest flaps you can. Weight is irrelevant compared to the protection it will give you and your bike. I put Raceblade Pros on my bike in the winter when I had to use it all year round - spray from the top of the front wheel wrecked my headset, the lack of a proper flap at the bottom hastened the end of my bottom bracket, the drive train was always filthy and my feet were always wet. No rear wheel coverage between the seat stays and seat tube meant the frame and the back of my legs got caked in crud and the rear guard was too short to stop riders behind me getting road crap in the face. They always needed tweaking as well. Then when I took them off in the spring I found that fine silt had worked its way under the rubber pads and abraded the finish at the mounting points on the frame. But they were my only option so on they went again the next winter, with tape on the mounting points. That bike is a turbo queen now and the sight of those marks still irks me. If you really want to appease your inner roadie, upgrade the wheel set and tyres - you'll save half a kilo easily. Keep the OEM wheels as spares and give the Lugano's to your worst enemy.