# Looking at specialized sirrus limited 2012...any good?



## raggydoll (6 Jun 2012)

Hi everyone,

First post. Been reading the forum for ages and finally decided to register!
Looking at getting my first proper bike. Have been looking at road bikes, cross bikes and also hybrids.
I know they all do different things. I have a bad back so worried about drops being too much of a stretch and hurting my back so leaning towards a hybrid for a more upright ride. Also kinda would prefer something I could go off roads and onto tracks with. More freedom that way.

Looking at specialized sirrus ltd 2012

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/sirrus-limited-2012-hybrid-bike-ec030745#features

Main thing I'm worried about is that it's not a triple ring at front and I don't want to struggle with the hills...I do live in a hilly area. Don't really want to start another compact vs triple discussion and I don't know too much about it but from what I've read, triple rings at front (with the old granny gear) is much easier for hills.

The sirrus ltd only has 2 rings at front....long story short, how would this compare to a triple and is it a good bike for the money?
I don't want to spend £1,500 on a bike to struggle with hills!

Is it worth the extra money compared to the srrus, sirrus sport etc?

Cheers!


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## RoadBikeRecommendation (6 Jun 2012)

With the 11-32t rear cassette and compact 50-34t crankset you should have plenty of gear ratios for even the steepest hills.

£1500 is a serious amount of money. Have you test ridden any of the Sirrus range? Definitely recommend giving them a go first. You may find the differences are not worth the extra money. Also don't rule out a pure road bike if it's just your back you are worried about. You can find some drop bar bikes specially designed with relaxed (more upright) riding positions and for £1500 it'd be good quality.

Thanks


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## Norm (6 Jun 2012)

£1500 is a significant amount, although it is a very decent bike. 

My son has a basic Sirrus & it's a fantastic bike. It is my choice of commuter transport whenever I can grab it from him.


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## MacB (6 Jun 2012)

the option you're looking at is very much aimed at road use and if you're looking for something more allround then I think there are better choices. That Sirrus comes with caliper rim brakes and 23mm tyres. With the budget you're looking at you have plenty of choice at that mark and a bit above and below.

After a fair bit of deliberation, and some dodgy shop advice, I went with a sporty hybrid as my first serious bike purchase. This was with commuting and multi surface use in mind and I'd been assured it was a good choice. It wasn't, a lengthy commute with luggage on mixed surfaces was really pushing it to the limits. Fortunately it worked very well as a fast weekend bike and I bought a very different beast for commuting.

If you're not going for drop bars then I'd be more inclined to something with bigger tyre clearances and disc brakes.


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## Doseone (6 Jun 2012)

When I bought my flat bar bike last year the Sirrus Limited was my bike of choice, but in the end I settled for a Trek 7.7fx, mainly 'cos I was offered a better deal. Anyway, I had exactly the same dilemma - I live in a hilly area and was changing from my old bike with a triple to a double and didn't want to struggle. So, as some of the p!$$ taking so and so's on here will confirm I asked them to put a 36 "get out of jail" cog on the rear cassette. It meant that they had to change the rear mech as well and put a longer mountain bike one on but they didn't charge me for it. It's nice to have and comforting to know it's there, but tbh I rarely use the 36 now and can only think of one hill recently where I've had to grab for it in a hurry!!


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## jackthelad (6 Jun 2012)

this bike is like my wife vita comp 2010 with the carbon stays.Its a good bike but the stays at the back limit you to struggle with mudguards if you wanted to put them on later,The front rim is 24 spokes which keeps the bike light but a more robust 32 or 36 spoke wheel is better if you are above average weight and taking it off road. even rough paths.Your tyre size will be limited to 23c or 25c due to rims and clearances between the rear seat stays.This is a very good flat bar road bike but not a do it all bike,the lower spec sirrus sport or elite are better suited for all terrains they can take bigger tyres and mudguards and even cross tyres if you want to mtb.I just bought the wife a very good allrounder the ridgeback supernova reduced now to
£550

http://www.realcycles.com/m49b152s307p2689/2011_RIDGEBACK_SuperNova_2011/RS_GB/6145

deore across the board low gearing that will go up any hill, also including deore 36 spoke wheels which will stay true and take a bit of hammerring, a go anywhere bike and light at 23lbs and at a third of the price you want to pay.you might be better splitting your cash into 2 bikes and get a bike for each job

dont know if this has given you food for thought


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## HLaB (6 Jun 2012)

RoadBikeRecommendation said:


> With the 11-32t rear cassette and compact 50-34t crankset you should have plenty of gear ratios for even the steepest hills.
> 
> £1500 is a serious amount of money. Have you test ridden any of the Sirrus range? Definitely recommend giving them a go first. You may find the differences are not worth the extra money. Also don't rule out a pure road bike if it's just your back you are worried about. You can find some drop bar bikes specially designed with relaxed (more upright) riding positions and for £1500 it'd be good quality.
> 
> Thanks


I'd agree with that 100% Furthermore, I find the roadbike more comfortable on the back and all round, being able to change hand positions and therefore my body position on the bike. Also contrary to a lot of peoples misconceptions most owners of dropbars ride on their hoods in an upright position most of the time rather than the drops; another good position, when the situation allows is sitting up and lightly holding the top/flats of the bar.


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## MrJamie (6 Jun 2012)

Id have a look at the £1200 Specialized Tricross too. From memory (so might not be totally accurate), its slightly more relaxed geometry than a pure road bike, this years has brake levers on the bars so you dont need to spend as much time on the drops. Gearwise i think its a triple with a big range cassette on there, so good allround. I think its also been set up with fittings so you can add racks and full guards. Disc brakes are pretty nice too. http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/tricross-elite-disc-2012-road-bike-ec030755

Ive been looking at one myself as I have some lower back problems that put me off drops and it seems a great compromise of being nearly a roadbike, while retaining loads of offroad and touring options, with big range of gears for both hills and speed.


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## Doseone (7 Jun 2012)

HLaB said:


> I'd agree with that 100% Furthermore, I find the roadbike more comfortable on the back and all round, being able to change hand positions and therefore my body position on the bike. Also contrary to a lot of peoples misconceptions most owners of dropbars ride on their hoods in an upright position most of the time rather than the drops; another good position, when the situation allows is sitting up and lightly holding the top/flats of the bar.


Just goes to show how everyone is different. I switched to a flat bar because of a bad back and have found it much easier on my back, even riding the hoods on my dropbar road bike I was in a more stretched out position - but maybe that was down to the bike I had. I know road bikes like the Spesh Roubaix have more comfort orientated riding positions these days.


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## raggydoll (7 Jun 2012)

Thanks for all your replies, lots of good info!
I had read that the specialized roubaix had a more relaxed riding position so could check that out too.
I might be playing it safe with a hybrid but just worry that the drops would be too much of a strain on my back. (had problems with it for over 10 years).

Spending £1,500 is a lot of money and as RoadBikeRecommendation said, I may try some of the other Sirrus range and not notice much difference.
This is a really good point and to be honest I don't know enough about bike components to know the difference.
So I may not be able to tell the difference bwtween a £370 bike and a £1,500 bike.
On the other hand, i don't want to get something cheaper, then get really into cycling and want to start upgrading components or be left to sell the bike in order to upgrade.

I need to learn the different types of gears, gear shifters etc to determine what I would prefer.

Thanks again for the help!


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## MacB (7 Jun 2012)

The main thing about drops is the ability to change your hand positions and also the ability to get down lower into the wind. Or at least these are the points most generally cited in support yet reality shows that most ride on the hoods and some never use the drops at all.

The type of bars and what feeds off them is a really important decision and switching between drops and flats is difficult, expensive and may not work very well. Often a frame designed for drop bars will have a shorter top tube than one for flat bars. Drop bars and flat bars have different diameters so you can't swap controls from one to another.

It is important to test ride a few and get a feel for the different setups and bar styles. Unfortunately this only gives a partial picture as your preferences may alter as you become keener, fitter and more profficient. For example drop bars may feel to low/long right now but with improved fitness and flexibility could be the ride you've always dreamed of. But I wouldn't ever recomend trying to 'grow' into a bike just accept that whatever you buy now may, or may not, meet your future requirements.


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## RoadBikeRecommendation (7 Jun 2012)

Some really good comments on here. My final two penneth worth. I went from a mountain bike to a flat bar. I loved it but as my fitness and speed on the road increased I quickly found the flat bar wasn't enough for me so upgraded within 6 months to my first drop bar and have never looked back. One other option if your budget is £1500 is to get a decent hybrid for around £500 giving you the option of some off road, leaving you £1000 to get a full road bike. But then again I'm just addicted to buying bikes.


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## raggydoll (7 Jun 2012)

Cheers Mac!
I do have a lot of thinking to do. I've looked at roads, cyclocross and also hybrid.
One day I'll settle on what best suits me!
What do you ride?


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## raggydoll (7 Jun 2012)

RoadBikeRecommendation said:


> Some really good comments on here. My final two penneth worth. I went from a mountain bike to a flat bar. I loved it but as my fitness and speed on the road increased I quickly found the flat bar wasn't enough for me so upgraded within 6 months to my first drop bar and have never looked back. One other option if your budget is £1500 is to get a decent hybrid for around £500 giving you the option of some off road, leaving you £1000 to get a full road bike. But then again I'm just addicted to buying bikes.


 
Could be an option!
My budget isn't set in stone. I could spend more for the right bike. On the other hand, I could get something half that price and be obliviously happy cos I don't know any better!

I only started getting into cycling last year and currently just use my old 18 speed mountain bike where only 6 of the gears work!
I remember looking at a cycle website and they were selling wheels for about £400 each.

I couldn't believe it at first but then I started to realise that a bike is simply made up of components and at the end of the day, you get what you pay for!

So before last year, I wouldn't even contemplate spending so much money on a bike but now I realise that as I said, you get wat you pay for!


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## jowwy (7 Jun 2012)

RoadBikeRecommendation said:


> Some really good comments on here. My final two penneth worth. I went from a mountain bike to a flat bar. I loved it but as my fitness and speed on the road increased I quickly found the flat bar wasn't enough for me so upgraded within 6 months to my first drop bar and have never looked back. One other option if your budget is £1500 is to get a decent hybrid for around £500 giving you the option of some off road, leaving you £1000 to get a full road bike. But then again I'm just addicted to buying bikes.


 
this is a very good option - why not spend £500/£600 on a ridgeback flat bar, giant rapid 3/4 flat bar etc and then spend £900/£1000 on a canyon 6.0 with full 105 groupset in a triple with a more relaxed geometry. then you will have two superb bikes, giving you lots of options


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## MacB (7 Jun 2012)

raggydoll said:


> Cheers Mac!
> I do have a lot of thinking to do. I've looked at roads, cyclocross and also hybrid.
> One day I'll settle on what best suits me!
> What do you ride?


 
 dangerous, how long have you got? 

For crashing around offroad, and some on road - Surly Karate Monkey 29er with a 9 speed hub gear fully rigid with Salsa Cromoto Grande steel forks. This bike has On-One Mary handlebars with stubby bar ends inboard of the grips.

Allround touring commuting and training - custom Burls Ti frame which is basically a 29er with a longer headtube so clearance up to about a 700x50 tyre, fully rigid with Surly LHT steel disc forks. Rohloff specific adjustable dropouts, Rohloff rear obviously and SON Delux dynamo front with Supernova front and rear dynamo lights. This bike has Jones Loop H-bars, the alu version, which give a lot of hand positions.

Weekend - custom Burls Ti frame which borrowed heavily in design from the Specialised Tricross and Roubaix ranges. Salsa La Cruz disc forks and the clearances allow up to about a 700x40 tyre. This is set up with derailleurs Shimano 105 triple and drop bar STI controls. The bars are Salsa Cowbell flared shallow drop cross style.

All 3 bikes have the same rims on the wheelsets all built up by the same wheelbuilder, flat pinned pedals, can take full mudguards, rear racks, run disc brakes and can accomodate my studded ice tyres if needed. All the frames have the same rear spacing so wheelsets are interchangeable. So that should tell you that I like to have backups to my backups and am maybe a bit anal!!!!

In respect to what you're looking at I'd be tempted to start with a good allrounder and see how it develops from there. I'm a fan of disc brakes and, before the latest Ti frame, I had a Salsa Vaya which would meet all your road and offroad needs. But there are lots more options out there, my eldest has a Specialised Crosstrail which I've been very impressed with. That's more at the MTB end of the hybrid range and has front suspension forks.

The beauty of getting a solid allrounder is that it can be tweaked to perform a variety of duties to match your needs. If you then decide you are into something more specific cycling wise, maybe an extreme MTB or a super fast road bike is needed. But the allrounder can then be sold to put towards the new purchase or kept for general use, commuting, shopping or just pootling.


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## Crackle (7 Jun 2012)

Doseone said:


> When I bought my flat bar bike last year the Sirrus Limited was my bike of choice, but in the end I settled for a Trek 7.7fx, mainly 'cos I was offered a better deal. Anyway, I had exactly the same dilemma - I live in a hilly area and was changing from my old bike with a triple to a double and didn't want to struggle. So, as some of the p!$$ taking so and so's on here will confirm I asked them to put a 36 "get out of jail" cog on the rear cassette. It meant that they had to change the rear mech as well and put a longer mountain bike one on but they didn't charge me for it. It's nice to have and comforting to know it's there, but tbh I rarely use the 36 now and can only think of one hill recently where I've had to grab for it in a hurry!!


 
I can personally confirm, that it is the largest rear sprocket I have ever seen and if he ever breaks the front one, he can swop it over. I never knew they made them that big, it must weigh the same as the bike! When engaged he can do 2.2mph, a fact I can again confirm from when I was walking up behind him... I thought he'd fall off but he didn't.


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## Doseone (7 Jun 2012)

Crackle said:


> I can personally confirm, that it is the largest rear sprocket I have ever seen and if he ever breaks the front one, he can swop it over. I never knew they made them that big, it must weigh the same as the bike! When engaged he can do 2.2mph, a fact I can again confirm from when I was walking up behind him... I thought he'd fall off but he didn't.


 
 P!$$ taking so and so's....see what I have to put up with. I think when Crax was WALKING up behind me, while I was RIDING, he may actually have been catching me up!!


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## Norm (7 Jun 2012)

With regards to bars and hand positions, the bar / saddle / pedal geometry on my son's Sirrus is almost exactly the same (within about 10mm) as the set up I have on my "drop-bar" Tricross, which is probably why I find that bike some comfortable to 8-hour days.

My Secteur (the same geometry as the Roubaix mentioned earlier) has bars which are a few inches lower and further forward, and that's after I've flipped the stem to raise the bars, and I've never found that to be uncomfortable, just not as pleasurable as the Tricross / Sirrus.

On the other hand, my old steel MTB has bars which are lower and a top tube which is shorter than any of the above, and that's immense fun to ride but very responsive (i.e. twitchy).


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## lukesdad (7 Jun 2012)

If your going to do a lot off road forget the road bike, go for a rigid mtb.


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## lukesdad (7 Jun 2012)

Doseone said:


> P!$$ taking so and so's....see what I have to put up with. I think when Crax was WALKING up behind me, while I was RIDING, he may actually have been catching me up!!


 
Dinner plate of a rear sprocket that was


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## lukesdad (7 Jun 2012)

lukesdad said:


> Dinner plate of a rear sprocket that was


 
Mind you it would have been more suited to Craxs' dinner !!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Crackle (7 Jun 2012)

lukesdad said:


> Mind you it would have been more suited to Craxs' dinner !!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Part time cyclist (7 Jun 2012)

I have a basic Sirrus 2011 model and I can't rate it highly enough it's the best bike I have ever riden , I have made a few mods like the tiagra triple front crank to give me a bigger top ring but maintain the bottom ring for hills, I don't think the carbon forks made a lot of difference and after I crashed it I changed back to the steel forks.


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## raggydoll (8 Jun 2012)

MacB said:


> dangerous, how long have you got?
> 
> For crashing around offroad, and some on road - Surly Karate Monkey 29er with a 9 speed hub gear fully rigid with Salsa Cromoto Grande steel forks. This bike has On-One Mary handlebars with stubby bar ends inboard of the grips.
> 
> ...


 
So what your saying is I'm going to end up with way more than 1 bike? 
You'r bikes sound cool, you obviously know what you want!
My problem is I don't!

Yet!


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## Crackle (8 Jun 2012)

This may not be your thing as you will have to build it or have it built up. It's a new Frame and forks from Kinesis, who have an excellent reputation but as a do anything go anywhere bike, it looks good and it will make an interesting read anyway.

http://road.cc/content/review/59634-kinesis-decade-tripster-frame-and-fork


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## raggydoll (8 Jun 2012)

That bike does look cool Crackle!
I'm getting so bogged down reading specs that I just don't understand. I think I'm gonna go to evans in the next couple of weeks and try out a few.

Anyone know if they let you test ride them?
If I notice a major difference between models then I'll go for whatever feels the best.
If I don't notice much difference between a £500 bike and a £1500 bike I'd be best to go for the £500, at least till I know the benefits!


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## MacB (8 Jun 2012)

raggydoll said:


> So what your saying is I'm going to end up with way more than 1 bike?
> You'r bikes sound cool, you obviously know what you want!
> My problem is I don't!
> 
> Yet!


 
Yep, which is where the formula N+1 comes from where N is the number of bikes you currently have and N+1 is the number you need.

Knowing what you want/need is the first step and is where advice is really hard to give as we all vary so much. For example none of the bikes, and particularly the handlebar choices and setups, I currently have would have been on the menu when I bought my first bike. At that time I had no concept of leisure cycling, beyond a bimble with the kids, and it was all about taking on a long(40 mile round trip) commute which included some unmade road and track. The evolution of that was:-

bought Giant CRS Alliance, ticked all the boxes for rack, guards, tyre clearance and fairly light and fast. First thing I realised was that flat bars weren't all that comfy over distance so went with butterfly bars which completely solved that. Next thing I realised was that a big guy, new to cycling, can be a bit harsh on low spoke count wheels, I kept pinging spokes. I realised that the bike was lovely unladen on tarmac but not so good with luggage and offroad. Just because a frame has rack fittings doesn't meant it's necessarily going to handle luggage well. I also realised that I had little use, on a regular repeated ride, for the vast array of gears a 3x9 setup gave.

then bought a Surly Crosscheck frame and forks which was built up with the 9 speed hub gear, 36h handbuilt wheels, tougher rack, Brooks saddle, 700x35 Marathon plus tyres. This created a much heavier machine by about 10lbs, tanklike would be a fair description. But it was comfier on the commute, needed very little maintenance and soaked up abuse. At this time I was also getting keen on leisure cycling so the first bike became a weekend fun bike.

The rest is just evolution on a theme, a decision to try disc brakes(mainly based on disliking grinding away expensive rims) led to the Salsa Vaya replacing the Xcheck. Then that just upgraded to a relatively similar Ti frame but with Rohloff specific fittings and the ability to tour if I ever want to. The first weekend bike evolved to a Ti frame and got the addition of disc brakes as well. The 29er came about because my neighbour got into MTBing and I needed something to ride if I wanted to join him. The Karate Monkey was chosen because I knew and liked Surly frames and it can accomodate racks and hub gears so it brings versatility as well as off road capability.

Given it all to do again, and my original budget, then my first purchase would have ignored 'hybrids' and gone straight to a solid steel framed allrounder that could accept hub gears, disc brakes, bigger tyres and had decent luggage capacity. Chuck on some swept back bars in a configuration to offer multiple hand positions and it's effectively a modern day roadster. But that's with the knowledge of what it's like to cycle 200 miles a week, with luggage, just to get from AtoB in all weathers.


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## Crackle (8 Jun 2012)

raggydoll said:


> That bike does look cool Crackle!
> I'm getting so bogged down reading specs that I just don't understand. I think I'm gonna go to evans in the next couple of weeks and try out a few.
> 
> Anyone know if they let you test ride them?
> ...


 
Test riding is a great idea but in your situation I'd temper it with some caution. What may feel comfortable now may not when you've some miles in your legs. Concentrate on fit, take your time, ride a variety, brew on it and then try them again. Any decent bike shop will let you test ride a bike, if they don't, don't bother with them.

Also with drop bars, the type of drop will make a huge difference to feel. Don't be put off if the drop feels lousy but the top position feels good. That can be sorted by changing the bars.


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## vickster (9 Jun 2012)

Planet X do a rather lush looking carbon flat bar bike with SRAM Force (next up from the Apex I think)

Choice of 4 colours, yum in red (not sure you'll want pink), and you can tweak the spec in terms of the gearing et, takes 25mm tyres so a little wider than the Sirrus

http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/CBPXSLPFBFOR/planet_x_pro_carbon_sram_force_hybrid_bike


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## raggydoll (9 Jun 2012)

I've never heard of planet x bikes. They got a good reputation?
Are SRAM gears considered better quality than shimano?


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## vickster (9 Jun 2012)

Not better, just different - on a hybrid and especially on a roadbike (different mechanism). The Sirrus Ltd has SRAM

Yes, good rep to Planet X as far as I know, British Co (unlike Specialized, US mega-brand, who I always think are overpriced).

Dunno where you are but Planet X are based in Sheffield/Rotherham or similar

I don't know if the bike is for communiting - need to check whether mudgaurds, rack etc can be fitted easily if needed

If I had that sort of budget and not totally hung up on all carbon, I'd also get me a test ride on a Whyte Sterling


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## raggydoll (9 Jun 2012)

It's not for commuting, more for fitness. I'll be riding on country roads mostly.

What's do you like about the whyte stirling?
It looks really good actually (but I know very little about bikes...hence why I'm here!)
I still think i'd need a triple at the front for the hills.

Is there any other gear configurations that have similar granny gearishness capabilities as a triple?


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## vickster (9 Jun 2012)

I don't get the gears but I was told that SRAM Apex is better for beginner cyclists on hills than say Tiagra which is sort of equivalent

The Whyte is a good looking bike, super components, super brakes, super light - and it's a British Company, not American and not everyone has one  There are Sirruses everywhere (maybe not the carbon), I have never seen a Whyte on the road. I have a Sirrus, but it's commuterised and I couldn't justify another £1k toy for commuting (carbon roadbike for fun)

Here's a review http://www.cyclistno1.co.uk/gear/bikes/urban/whyte-stirling.htm


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## jackthelad (9 Jun 2012)

raggy you are now getting hit with too much choice

go to a specialized dealer try
a sirrus
a tricross
a crosstrail
a secteur

then you will know what suits you ,only after you have this info can you take this post further,I am not saying buy either of these bikes but this collection will let you know more of what different bikes are about


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## raggydoll (10 Jun 2012)

Good call Jack.
I really need to get out there and see some bikes in the flesh!


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