Clueless needs a bike

[Thomk]

Any recomendations for my first road bike, budget £650, used mostly for commuting (so will need to fit rack and guards) and maybe some weekend club rides, disc brakes would be good if that's possible at this price point. Is second hand a good idea?

 

[vickster]

Road bikes don't have disc brakes - do you mean a CX bike?

I think you may struggle to get discs for under £1k on CX

The Secteur is popular if you need to load it up but still fairly sporty (and you can get good deals on the 2011s)

http://www.evanscycl...5?query=secteur Leaves you just about enough dosh for the guards and racks

CX in budget http://www.evanscycl...s-bike-ec027482

This is Evans cheapest drop bar bike with disc brakes http://www.evanscycl...s-bike-ec030096

Only Sora gearing tho

With Tiagra http://www.evanscycl...s-bike-ec030094

I'd forget the disc brakes unless you can find another £400 odd

Second hand may work if you are confident buying that way (and don't mind having something used)

https://www.cyclechat.net/ If you are tall

 

[PaulSecteur]

The Secteur is a great bike and will take a rack and the crud roadracer guards, but the standard tyres are a large 25mm (Specialized tyres always seem to be a bit larger than standard) they will be very close to the guards and you will get some rubbing.

Might be worth getting another brand of 23/25mm tyres for the winter that will fit under the guards and putting the spesh ones on in the summer when guards arent needed (so much!)

 

[Thomk]

Road bikes don't have disc brakes - do you mean a CX bike?

I think you may struggle to get discs for under £1k on CX

The Secteur is popular if you need to load it up but still fairly sporty (and you can get good deals on the 2011s)

http://www.evanscycl...5?query=secteur Leaves you just about enough dosh for the guards and racks

CX in budget http://www.evanscycl...s-bike-ec027482

This is Evans cheapest drop bar bike with disc brakes http://www.evanscycl...s-bike-ec030096

Only Sora gearing tho

With Tiagra http://www.evanscycl...s-bike-ec030094

I'd forget the disc brakes unless you can find another £400 odd

Second hand may work if you are confident buying that way (and don't mind having something used)

http://www.cyclechat...51#entry1911151 If you are tall

Yes I am confusing the two and I don't want a CX so will forget the disc.

Cube might be a bit big as I am only just 6'.

 

[cyberknight]

Depends on how fast you want to go at the weekend, whether you want a seat post rack or a full time rack etc et c.

This looks nice as it has mounts for a full time rack ..


http://www.edinburgh...=c003155c018341

Not much between it and the specialized.

You could also head over to ribble...somethign i knocked up quickly with no idea of what size etc you want .

http://www.ribblecyc...onf_BBRW&bike=1

 

[Thomk]

Depends on how fast you want to go at the weekend, whether you want a seat post rack or a full time rack etc et c.

This looks nice as it has mounts for a full time rack ..


http://www.edinburgh...=c003155c018341

Not much between it and the specialized.

You could also head over to ribble...somethign i knocked up quickly with no idea of what size etc you want .

http://www.ribblecyc...onf_BBRW&bike=1

Thanks for that, very usefull. Defy 4 is one I was looking at and the Spesh mentioned earlier. Very curious about the ribble build your own setup but being clueless would need a bit of help. The main purpose of the bike is for commuting 60 - 100 miles a week all on the road (I can bypass my current cycle path routes). I would need a full time rack to hold my pannier most weekdays. At weekends I don't need to be a dart on a feather just need to keep up on fairly easy rides. I went on a very easy 44 mile ride last Saturday on my steel framed fat wheel commuter and found it pretty tough.

 

[lejogger]

Any recomendations for my first road bike, budget £650, used mostly for commuting (so will need to fit rack and guards) and maybe some weekend club rides, disc brakes would be good if that's possible at this price point. Is second hand a good idea?

Boardman CX Team is what you're describing. Drop bars, disc brakes, rack and guard fittings. I use mine for touring, commuting and winter club riding, but I'm afraid you'll be looking at £900 plus a set of road tyres, plus guards, rack and pedals.

There is a CX Comp, which is a lower spec and will be cheaper but is not currently available in the UK, so it would depend on where you're next going on holiday!

They've only been out 6 months but there may be a second hand one or two knocking about.

http://www.boardmanbikes.com/cx/cx_team.html

 

[cyberknight]

Boardman CX Team is what you're describing. Drop bars, disc brakes, rack and guard fittings. I use mine for touring, commuting and winter club riding, but I'm afraid you'll be looking at £900 plus a set of road tyres, plus guards, rack and pedals.

Forgot about the "CX" route , i do not know what size bike you need but you can pick up a specialized tri cross for under £700 if you shop around

http://www.leisurewheels.co.uk/products.php?plid=m10b3s23p8778&rs=gb&vid=29252

 

[vickster]

Yes I am confusing the two and I don't want a CX so will forget the disc.

 

[lejogger]

"Yes I am confusing the two and I don't want a CX so will forget the disc"

Might be worth a rethink... I was in exactly the same boat as you before i bought mine, until I finally realised that what I was describing in my wishlist was exactly that - a CX with road tyres.

When the guys in my club admire my CX (which they do) I have to point out that it's a CX - even to a cyclist's eye, it's not immediately obvious... a few mm extra clearance in the geometry is all that's different. I don't have to work harder to keep up either...

 

[Thomk]

Might be worth a rethink... I was in exactly the same boat as you before i bought mine, until I finally realised that what I was describing in my wishlist was exactly that - a CX with road tyres.

When the guys in my club admire my CX (which they do) I have to point out that it's a CX - even to a cyclist's eye, it's not immediately obvious... a few mm extra clearance in the geometry is all that's different. I don't have to work harder to keep up either...

Readers with low pacience tolerance look away now...

Well I keep changing my mind. What size tyres do you use? What exactly is the difference??????? Confused

 

[lejogger]

Readers with low pacience tolerance look away now...

Well I keep changing my mind. What size tyres do you use? What exactly is the difference??????? Confused

I use 23mm on both my road bike and my CX bike. But I've used 25mm on the CX too when I was using it purely for touring and commuting, but it's got the clearance to take massive knobblies too for CX use. Now I'm using it for winter club runs I decided to put some lighter, faster tyres on. (continental GP 4 seasons)

To be honest it really depends on what you want your bike for. I'm fortunate that I have more than one bike. My mountain bike, my carbon road bike for summer only, and my CX which is a 'do everything' bike. I need it to get me to work with all my kit, and I also need it to get me through the club runs on a Sunday. It also took me on a 600+ mile tour of Ireland earlier in the year carrying full panniers, tent, sleeping bag etc.

If you need a bike to put a rack and guards on then there's no point getting a purely racing bike. You're best looking at something that's designed for purpose - i.e. CX, touring, Audax bikes if you particularly want drop bars but rack and guard mounts too. My CX has carbon forks, the same gearing group set that you'd find on a pure road bike at that cost, and the same gearing ratios too. The only difference is I have an extra set of brakes on the bars, I have lots of clearance for larger tyres, and the bottom bracket sits slightly higher to allow for offroad clearance.

However, maybe what you're really looking for is something set up as a Winter/Workhorse bike without being an actual CX... How about this? A guy at the club just got one and seems very happy. Pretty close to your budget too.

 

[Thomk]

I use 23mm on both my road bike and my CX bike. But I've used 25mm on the CX too when I was using it purely for touring and commuting, but it's got the clearance to take massive knobblies too for CX use. Now I'm using it for winter club runs I decided to put some lighter, faster tyres on. (continental GP 4 seasons)

To be honest it really depends on what you want your bike for. I'm fortunate that I have more than one bike. My mountain bike, my carbon road bike for summer only, and my CX which is a 'do everything' bike. I need it to get me to work with all my kit, and I also need it to get me through the club runs on a Sunday. It also took me on a 600+ mile tour of Ireland earlier in the year carrying full panniers, tent, sleeping bag etc.

If you need a bike to put a rack and guards on then there's no point getting a purely racing bike. You're best looking at something that's designed for purpose - i.e. CX, touring, Audax bikes if you particularly want drop bars but rack and guard mounts too. My CX has carbon forks, the same gearing group set that you'd find on a pure road bike at that cost, and the same gearing ratios too. The only difference is I have an extra set of brakes on the bars, I have lots of clearance for larger tyres, and the bottom bracket sits slightly higher to allow for offroad clearance.

However, maybe what you're really looking for is something set up as a Winter/Workhorse bike without being an actual CX... How about this? A guy at the club just got one and seems very happy. Pretty close to your budget too.

It's getting clearer!

I guess what I want is something which will do the job currently done by this:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/charge-mixer-2010

But - It has to be lighter as the Charge is too heavy for 20 - 30 mile round trip commutes. The tyres must be skinnier (23 or 25) to make the commute faster. It must cope with easyish club rides and be OK to use all year. I use a pannier and will need to fit guards in the winter. That's it really. I want to sell the Charge to partly fund the new bike in which case the budget is a bit flexible but I am pretty much a beginner so a high spec feather light bullet would be wasted on me. I guess it's off to the LBS to try some out.

 

[lejogger]

Ok... so you're currently riding a flat bar single speed.

You're going to find a huge difference moving to most bikes with drops and a range of gears of which there are a huge amount to choose from. Essentially it comes down to personal preference and what your local shops stock - unless you're buying online.
My personal preference in your position would be the Dolan Preffisio at under £700 new. It literally ticks all the boxes you've stated. It would be a great starter all round bike and continue to complement a lighter all out racing bike as a winter ride if you did decide to n+1 in the future.

I know a lot of guys on here like the Specialized Tricross... that will also tick the boxes but you're looking at caliper brakes which can be pretty tricky to set up and maintain.

You might struggle to find lots of 'road' bikes that have both rack and guard mounts. Obviously this is the cue for others to jump in with their suggestions. Touring and Audax bikes may be a little heavier than you wanted.

The Boardman CX is also ideal as I stated earlier, but a little over budget.

Have you considered a hybrid, or are you set on drops?

 

[Thomk]

Actually the Charge Mixer has an 8 speed Alfine hub so not as inflexible as you thought but it is esentiallly a city commuter and most of my miles are on moderately hilly country roads. I would like to make the move to drops.

What do you think of a real budget choice like this?

http://www.ukbikesdepot.com/m16b7s6p5061/GENESIS_Aether_10_Mens_Road_Racing_Bike_2011/RS_GB/13531

It seems to have rack mounts and room for guards.