New bike recommendations please?

majster

Hi there

I’m looking at new bike to use for commuting to work and also some touring. Need to have mudguards, capacity for at least 28 tyres and if possible upto 32 with mudguards. Need to have pannier rack eyelets.

Also needs to be lightweight and fast, will be used mainly on tarmac and road with occasional gravel path use (very occasional)

Any suggestions please?

Thus far the only two identified have been the Orro Terra and Canondale Caadx

majster

oxoman wrote:

What kind of budget are you looking at.

Ideally around the £1000 mark but could go a bit higher to £1500 if this would provide a worthwhile upgrade

Would like hydraulic discs as have some disc wheels that I would like to use

BikerGroveish

Majster wrote:

oxoman wrote:

What kind of budget are you looking at.

Ideally around the £1000 mark but could go a bit higher to £1500 if this would provide a worthwhile upgrade

Would like hydraulic discs as have some disc wheels that I would like to use

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/ultra-520-a ... 90785.html

This is a cracker.

majster

BikerGroveish wrote:

Majster wrote:

oxoman wrote:

What kind of budget are you looking at.

Ideally around the £1000 mark but could go a bit higher to £1500 if this would provide a worthwhile upgrade

Would like hydraulic discs as have some disc wheels that I would like to use

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/ultra-520-a ... 90785.html

This is a cracker.

Prefer to stick with Shimano and also proper mudguard and pannier mounts necessary.

majster

What about the Specialized Diverge - would this work as a fast road bike with ability to take mudguards and proper pannier rack?

joe_totale-2

Seeing as you have some disc wheels already, why not buy a Bowman Pilgrims Disc or Kinsesis 4s frame?

With 105 7000 coming out now you should be able to pick up a 105 5800 hydraulic groupset for pretty cheap.
Add in some finishing kit like Deda zero and you should be in under £1,500.

majster

Joe Totale wrote:

Seeing as you have some disc wheels already, why not buy a Bowman Pilgrims Disc or Kinsesis 4s frame?

With 105 7000 coming out now you should be able to pick up a 105 5800 hydraulic groupset for pretty cheap.
Add in some finishing kit like Deda zero and you should be in under £1,500.

This sounds really tempting. Is it hard to build as a DIY - fairly good with DIY and practically minded
In terms of the frames is the quality, finish up to the bigger brands?

blackstar500

Sorry to hijack your thread ...

What about a cube nuroad pro

https://www.cube.eu/cz/2018/bikes/road/ ... grey-2018/

majster

blackstar500 wrote:

Sorry to hijack your thread ...

What about a cube nuroad pro

https://www.cube.eu/cz/2018/bikes/road/ ... grey-2018/

Looks a bit heavy at 12kg.
Ideally looking for something around 10kg or less

blackstar500

I saw a weight figure of 10.6

wotnoshoeseh

Majster wrote:

Joe Totale wrote:

Seeing as you have some disc wheels already, why not buy a Bowman Pilgrims Disc or Kinsesis 4s frame?

With 105 7000 coming out now you should be able to pick up a 105 5800 hydraulic groupset for pretty cheap.
Add in some finishing kit like Deda zero and you should be in under £1,500.

This sounds really tempting. Is it hard to build as a DIY - fairly good with DIY and practically minded
In terms of the frames is the quality, finish up to the bigger brands?

No, it's not hard to build up as a DIY. I have built a few bikes up from scratch and there is no reason not to do so. I have not done hydraulic discs though but really see no reason to have that worry me unduly.

It's really satisfying and a good way to spend a few hours - boxes of shiny new bits, a new frame, a few tools and away you go. Plus you're setting yourself up to be able to do everything else that comes along for repair and maintenance.
If you get stuck with anything there is always plenty of assistance available on here in the workshop thread, and lots of help on YouTube and the like.
It's also a good opportunity to add a few tools to the arsenal, and maybe a Park Tool Big Blue book or suchlike.

Quality wise, I have two Kinesis frames - no issue with either.

Matthewfalle

building a bike is simple - its a bicycle not a space ship.

anyone who tells you different is either lying or trying to make money out of you.

joey54321

DIY build has another advantage, you get to know your bike and learn how to fix it.

majster

Thanks guys. I am rapidly becoming inspired to build my own. Excuse my ignorance but with a frame does the fork come pre-cut to size or do you have to cut it down to the required size and if so how does one determine this

Secondly, with the bottom bracket - can you fit any BB to any frame or is the BB specific to each frame which then determines which groupset you get-hope this makes sense

imafatman

Bike building is like putting together lego. But you will need a few tools and accessories. IMO the hardest part of building a bike is lining up the front derailleur (it's not that hard), indexing the gears (you should learn to do this anyway) and getting a nice bar tape wrap. (practise makes perfect!)

Off the top of my head....

BB Tool
Copper Slip
All purpose grease
Selection of hex drivers
Bike maintenance stand (Aldi does one for £35 is fantastic)
Cable snips
Torque Wrench (some will say not necessary but I'm not gonna ride bike that hasn't been assembled to correct specification.)
CentreLock tool for cassette/rotors.
Chainwhip (don't need to put it together, but will need to take off your old cassette)
Hydraulic bleed kit if using hydro brakes

If you have none of this stuff, it might be £150-200 to do it properly. Which would be probably what a bike shop would charge for a decent service. Once you've done the work once you will never again take your bike to get serviced so the savings work out quite nicely after the first year.

imafatman

Majster wrote:

Thanks guys. I am rapidly becoming inspired to build my own. Excuse my ignorance but with a frame does the fork come pre-cut to size or do you have to cut it down to the required size and if so how does one determine this

Secondly, with the bottom bracket - can you fit any BB to any frame or is the BB specific to each frame which then determines which groupset you get-hope this makes sense

The fork steerer (the bit that sticks out the top) has to be cut to size once you've settled on your handlebar position. Usually just a hacksaw jobby.

Every bike will work with a specific BB standard. Eg. Threaded BSA/Italian, or BB30, BB90 etc... Within each bottom bracket standard are a variety of specific BB's.

E.g. My bike is a 68mm Threaded BSA bottom bracket. I currently have a SRAM GXP bottom bracket, previously when I had a shimano crank I had a Shimano Ultegra bottom bracket.

If you have a pressfit bottom bracket then you will need a press-fit tool.

majster

So I am slowly getting there. In terms of tools, I have most of them already so that is encouraging. Another silly question, however, how to you know at what length to cut the steerer tube, is the a specified length that you cut to or do you go 'by eye'. Generally I am after a relaxed endurance setup and my reference bike that I am most comfortable on is a Trek Domane

keef66

I'd second the suggestion to self-build, and the Kinesis 4S disc would be a great frameset to start with. (I have it's original incarnation, the Racelight Tk, now 11 years old and still a lovely ride)

Rack and mudguard mounts and the tyre clearance you want, internal cables to keep them out of the winter muck, Di2 friendly if you want to go there in future. Rim brakes or discs.

Bottom bracket is a standard English threaded job to keep things simple. Just make sure it takes the axles your disc wheels have.

Not sure I share the optimism that the arrival of the new 105 R7000 groupset will mean that 5800 suddenly becomes cheaper. History suggests that R7000 will just be dearer until all the old stock 5800 is gone, at which point R7000 will slowly start to be discounted

If you go hydraulic the old non-series 505 levers were an odd shape; they might conceivably be sold off cheaply. Or you could buy theprettier R7000 hydraulic shifters but have 5800 for the rest. Make sure you get the new type front mech though.

keef66

Most manufacturers make a single model of fork for all sizes of a particular frame. So the smaller the frame, the more excess steerer tube you have. So even with the stem and the maximum number of spacers fitted you may need to chop a chunk off before you can fit the bung and top cap to tighten the headset.

Then ride it about for a bit. Move spacers from above the stem to below it and vice versa, try the stem flipped the other way up if necessary until you find a good fit. At that point you can decide whether you want to trim any more excess steerer above the stem. Some manufacturers say you need a min 5mm spacer above the stem, others insist on none. Depends on the steerer, the stem and the bung.

I cut my (carbon) steerer by eye once I'd worked out what height the stem needed to be. You can draw a line using spacers as a guide, or use masking / electrical tape. Then just a hacksaw with a fine blade.

Remember you need the top of the steerer to sit 3-5mm below the top of the stem or upper spacer if fitted so you can properly preload the headset bearings.

joey54321

Majster wrote:

So I am slowly getting there. In terms of tools, I have most of them already so that is encouraging. Another silly question, however, how to you know at what length to cut the steerer tube, is the a specified length that you cut to or do you go 'by eye'. Generally I am after a relaxed endurance setup and my reference bike that I am most comfortable on is a Trek Domane

Only cut it AFTER you have set up the bike.

1) Build bike (using lots of headset spacers)
2) go for a ride/measure handlebar height using existing bike setup.
3) Mark/measure steerer tube where you want to cut it (should be 2-3mm below the top of the stem, but I normally err on the side of caution and go for the top of the stem with an extra spacer on top).
4) Cut (using something a head tube cutting guide if needed, I'd recommend it).

Alternatively, there is no shame in getting a (good) LBS to do little bits of the build if it would be cheaper than buying specific tools (e.g. bottom bracket, steerer tube).

majster

Thank you for all the useful tips and advice. I am now getting set on doing a DIY build. My go to bike currently is a Trek Domane (AL model with hydraulic discs) hence looking for something relaxed, comfortable for long rides (plan to do long 100-150 miles day rides next summer on the 'new' bike with panniers and mudguards. Other than the Kinesis 4S and Bowmans, any other nice frame suggestions - current wheels setup for TA both front and rear (although can get adapters if needed)

The Mason Definition seems well regarded also.

Any other suggestions for comfortable, fast, lightweight frames with mudguard and rack fitting options?

Many thanks

Moonbiker

Planet X The Full Monty