Winter / non-racing bike

DeVlaeminck

Toying with the idea of selling my winter bike (quite old, too close tyre clearances, harsh alloy frame) and my steel Croix de Fer - heavy, overkill for my use - and getting a new bike for winter miles, gravel tracks and maybe light touring but also fast group rides.

I find the steel disc fork on the CdF has none of the springiness I associated with old steel race bikes so thinking of going rim brake but I'd want at least 28mm tyres with reasonable clearance for mudguards and maybe 32 mm tyres without.

I'd want it a bit racier than the CdF but happy to sacrifice the off road capability as I'm only using it on gravel. I want external cabling, mudguard eyes as a minimum and a threaded bb. Absolute weight not important but I'd like it to feel nimble so I feel I'm moving along nicely even if I'm not!

Are modern long reach brakes capable of doing the job on 30-32 mm tyres - which are best?

Suggestions for a frameset?

Darius_Jedburgh

Watching this with interest. I'm thinking along similar lines, but fancy disc brakes.

keef66

That's a question I've mulled over quite a lot. Current winter bike is a Racelight Tk. Think the only thing I'd wish to change would be the tyre clearances; currently run 25mm GP4S with guards.

Looking at the current Racelight 4S is seems they've increased clearances but switched to internal cabling and disc brakes.

Genesis Datum? Carbon, but as above, discs and internal cabling.

Even the budget-busting Mason do-it-all bikes have discs and internal cables...

Equilibrium will do rim brakes and external cables, but it's a max tyre of 28mm, so probably back to 25 with guards. And the current paintjobs are dreary...

davem399

A friend has just pensioned off his Kinesis Crosslight which is set up as a winter bike with mudguards. He has just got a Whyte Wessex, which includes mudguards. This will be his winter bike, and Spring and Autumn too. His is the Ultegra Di2, Carbon frame, carbon tubeless wheels, disks and a threaded bottom bracket, but has internal cabling. Might be with a look, but could depend on your budget, there are cheaper models in the range.

DeVlaeminck

I must admit I'm more attracted to something like an All-City Mr Pink - bit of a heart over head thing but I like the old school aesthetic and the more simple maintenance - I use the CdF loads but I just can't warm to the thing - silly I know but there you are. I'm still going to have an out and out race bike so a few lbs isn't too important if it has a raceish type geometry and it's not a boat anchor.

Apparently it does 28mm tyres with guards and 32 without - so I'm assuming calipers will also cope with that. I must admit I'd prefer slightly more clearance - say 32 mm with guards or at least 28 with a lot of space so I could be sure I'm not getting bits of gravel jammed between the guard and the tyre - but I guess then I'd be on to discs.

Darius_Jedburgh

That Whyte looks interesting. Not the Di2 version though!!!

arlowood

Dolan Preffisio might be worth a look.



https://www.dolan-bikes.com/road/road-f ... -6729.html

It's alloy tho not steel but otherwise it ticks all the boxes. Rack and pannier mounts, capable of running 28mm tyres with full mudguards, external cabling and threaded BB

Moonbiker

I like the look of Bob jackson Audax End-End

or

Thorn Audax Mk3

keef66

arlowood wrote:

Dolan Preffisio might be worth a look.

https://www.dolan-bikes.com/road/road-f ... -6729.html

It's alloy tho not steel but otherwise it ticks all the boxes. Rack and pannier mounts, capable of running 28mm tyres with full mudguards, external cabling and threaded BB

Well found!

N0bodyOfTheGoat

There's a few bargain basement options on PX at the mo...
https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/FRHOLDELA ... c-frameset £160
https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/FRPXLONRO ... d-frameset £200
https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/FRPXLRSL/ ... l-frameset £300

https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/FRPXFMSET ... l-frameset £250
https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/FRPXFMSL/ ... l-frameset £300

Kind of wishing we weren't currently on a money saving mission, otherwise I would have been tempted to try building my first bike up, using either the London Road SL or Full Monty SL.

rwoofer

I think the Genesis Equilibrium is the obvious option. It definitely takes more than 28mm. In gravel mode I run mine with 35mm Vittoria Randonneur folding tyres. They are smaller than stated size. I can't quite recall, but something like 31/32mm. You can just about fit 28mm with mudguards in winter mode (I use 28mm 4 Seasons and SKS Longboard mudguards)

DeVlaeminck

The Equilibrium looks like it is 28mm tyres max and the grey paintjob does nothing for me, the Dolan looks like a sensible purchase but just doesn't have that x factor that makes me want to buy it. No doubt both good bikes for someone.

durhamwasp

Been looking at and considering either the Planet X Full Monty or Planet X London Road, as well as the offerings at Decathlon. (Budget of £800)

keef66

DeVlaeminck wrote:

..... I must admit I'd prefer slightly more clearance - say 32 mm with guards or at least 28 with a lot of space so I could be sure I'm not getting bits of gravel jammed between the guard and the tyre - but I guess then I'd be on to discs.

That's the conclusion I've come to in my musings around wider rims and fatter tyres. There's only so much tyre + clearance + mudguard you can fit into a rim brake caliper. So I think my next bike will have discs. Probably going to raid my pension pot and get a Mason Resolution frameset to build up myself. But that also means giving in to internal cabling which I've so far been happy to avoid.

DeVlaeminck

Looking on t'internet Bowmans did a nice rim braked bike but looks like it's discontinued - plus it wasn't cheap.

Maybe disc is the way to go after all - anyone ridden a Fairlight Strael ?

rafletcher

keef66 wrote:

Equilibrium will do rim brakes and external cables, but it's a max tyre of 28mm, so probably back to 25 with guards. And the current paintjobs are dreary...

I run a disc Equilibrium, and with care when fitting the 'guards I can run 28mm (Schwalbe 1 and Hutchinson Fusion 5) tyres with ok clearances for road riding. Wouldn't work in muddy conditions for sure. 32mm would fit without 'guards but again not in too muddy conditions. Their recommendations are 25/28, so I'm one size up.

timothyw

Very happy with my recent Dolan RDX build - racey geo, feels light and nippy, and at £225 for the frameset is an absolute billy bargain - much better than any of the PX options at present:

- full carbon fork
- flat mount brakes, opens up a lot of hydraulic options while being post compatible with adapters
- includes seatpost, seat clamp, headset and expander bung

https://www.dolan-bikes.com/road/road-f ... meset.html

You might want to drop a size from usual (eg I got a 58 instead of my usual 60) - check the geometry.

I bought it to replace a Hoy Alto Irpavi and to be quite honest I'm glad the hoy failed now - the RDX rides better and has proper mudguard bosses.

I'd imagine the dolan rim braked options are similarly good.

sheffsimon

arlowood wrote:

Dolan Preffisio might be worth a look.



https://www.dolan-bikes.com/road/road-f ... -6729.html

It's alloy tho not steel but otherwise it ticks all the boxes. Rack and pannier mounts, capable of running 28mm tyres with full mudguards, external cabling and threaded BB

This is what I use as a winter/commuter.

I run 25mm with full guards, and had to remove the bridge from the rear guard to get it up enough to give decent clearance on the tyre.

I would think 28mm with full guards would be tighter than a Nun's Nasty.

DeVlaeminck

Yes if a brand says fits 28mm with guards that probably means with the right tyre/rim combo it may be possible to squeeze them in with about 1mm to spare

paul64

DaveM399 wrote:

A friend has just pensioned off his Kinesis Crosslight which is set up as a winter bike with mudguards. He has just got a Whyte Wessex, which includes mudguards. This will be his winter bike, and Spring and Autumn too. His is the Ultegra Di2, Carbon frame, carbon tubeless wheels, disks and a threaded bottom bracket, but has internal cabling. Might be with a look, but could depend on your budget, there are cheaper models in the range.

That's the approach I took when I bought a Whyte Dorset on sale from £1,000 to £700, stopped me from taking a cycle-to-work approach. Not as light as my other bikes but I don't care, not as good off-road as the MTB of course or as quick light and nimble as the other road bikes but again don't care. I bought it for roads and gravel in the winter with winter clothing, lights, slower speeds and poor conditions. I like the hydro brakes, 9-speed Sora groupset which is up to date, smooth and has plenty of gears without worrying about wearing out a good groupset, 34-50 gearing, 32mm tyres, full mudguards, it's 9-speed cassette width which I prefer for cleaning out the gunk it gets compared with narrower sprockets etc. I like it as much as anything else I ride as it fits the brief it was bought for.

Moonbiker

https://www.tritoncycles.co.uk/rahmen-g ... gJmRvD_BwE

This looks ideal but £1000 seems too much for a columbus zona framset.

chippyk

durhamwasp wrote:

Been looking at and considering either the Planet X Full Monty or Planet X London Road, as well as the offerings at Decathlon. (Budget of £800)

London Road SL was £499 with Apex the other week, add £50 for hydraulic, might still be on

DeVlaeminck

Moonbiker wrote:

https://www.tritoncycles.co.uk/rahmen-gabeln-c6/straße-touring-bilder-c47/all-city-mr-pink-classic-frameset-p22317/s68001?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=all-city-mr-pink-classic-frameset-size-55cm-colour-green-white-size-55cm-colour-green-white-fmaymp55g&utm_campaign=product+listing+ads&cid=GBP&gclid=EAIaIQobChMImJrE3cHI4QIVmK3tCh1Guw-pEAQYAyABEgJmRvD_BwE

This looks ideal but £1000 seems too much for a columbus zona framset.

Yes they aren't cheap - was looking at a shop soiled frame on ebay but the colours weren't as much to my taste - I'm not really up on Columbus tube sets but the company describes Zona as moderate weight high strength suited to training and off road which probably suits the bike but it doesn't sound the most expensive tubing in the range.

rvlvr

SheffSimon wrote:

arlowood wrote:

Dolan Preffisio might be worth a look.



https://www.dolan-bikes.com/road/road-f ... -6729.html

It's alloy tho not steel but otherwise it ticks all the boxes. Rack and pannier mounts, capable of running 28mm tyres with full mudguards, external cabling and threaded BB

This is what I use as a winter/commuter.

I run 25mm with full guards, and had to remove the bridge from the rear guard to get it up enough to give decent clearance on the tyre.

I would think 28mm with full guards would be tighter than a Nun's Nasty.

I have the older version of Preffisio, and it can only fit 25s with guards, but that new one has long drop brakes, and Dolan says it takes 28mm tyres with mudguards.

I am, at the moment, torn between the new Preffisio, and the old London Road. I really like the geometry of the Dolan, but discs are discs.

tangerineowl

Planet-X Tempest v3, frame only? + grab a fork to suit.

w00dster

I had similar requirements, also coming from a CDF. I love the CDF but it was too heavy for the faster club rides and when loaded with touring gear wasn't ideal. Also naff mechanical disk brakes.
I decided to go carbon, bought a Trek Domane with hydraulic brakes, it takes 32mm tyres with full guards, takes 33mm knobblies. I've used it for Gravel rides (South Downs Way / Ridgeway etc) as well as road touring and fast club rides.
All that said, I'd go back to Steel for the right frame...

https://road.cc/content/review/248008-f ... cles-secan

joey54321

w00dster wrote:

I had similar requirements, also coming from a CDF. I love the CDF but it was too heavy for the faster club rides and when loaded with touring gear wasn't ideal. Also naff mechanical disk brakes.
I decided to go carbon, bought a Trek Domane with hydraulic brakes, it takes 32mm tyres with full guards, takes 33mm knobblies. I've used it for Gravel rides (South Downs Way / Ridgeway etc) as well as road touring and fast club rides.
All that said, I'd go back to Steel for the right frame...

https://road.cc/content/review/248008-f ... cles-secan

Curious as to why you say you'd go back to steel for the right frame, why is this?

I've currently in a similar boat and trying to convince myself that the Fairlight Stael is worth the ~£1150 for the frameset. Its a lot of money and you can buy a lot of carbon frame for that.

w00dster

Hi Joey.
I’ve had loads of bikes over the years. I don’t find a huge amount of comfort difference with frame material, it’s down to the tyres for me.
My love of steel is all about the aesthetics. Fairlight are classic examples of how to make a steel frame look like a thing of beauty. I know some people say better compliance etc, me personally just love the old school look.
My carbon bikes are great, aluminium as well. But they’re not pretty like the Strael for example. The secan is also very nice and has the benefit for me of wide tyres. The steel bike won’t be anymore comfortable than my Domane with front and rear isospeed thingy, but it will be a joy to look at it and equally nice to ride.
Field also make stunning bikes, but double the price of a Fairlight.