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Mulgy

New Member
Hi

I need a bike for mostly road but occational off road use. Went to chaineys LBS in MK and they suggested a giant roam2 hybrid. Couple of days later I rode a fairly naff mountain bike into work which will be my standard journey.. it's a 20 miles round trip .. the return trip felt mostly up hill and was hell on the mountain bike, I could of jogged faster.. the dam thing kept changing gear on me.

I also didn't like getting passed by road bikers going three times as fast.

I looked elsewhere and was shown a specialised sirrus comp.. This was looking a little more like it but I still felt like I wanted something a little more racey. I'm now leaning towards a cross bike, the thinking being it's built for racing but is tuff enough to handle a bit of off road stuff. I might even get invovled in some cross racing at some point.

oh I've got a £1000 to spend

I like the guy in chaineys but the Giant tcx2 I was shown seems to be having poorer spec gears etc. I spotted a fuji cross for roughly the same buget and this had tiagra and 105 as opposed to the giants sora. I spoke to someone at a bike club my 5 year old has just started going to and they suggested a kenisis.

I'm not set on anything and the 1000 hasn't arrived yet so any help would be great.

cheers Mulgy
 
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david1701

Well-Known Member
Location
Bude, Cornwall
with a grand you have a lot of options, I'd be looking for drops (so you can hide from the wind on a commute), pretty narrow tyres and basically a road bike, but try for one with pretty low gears (like a tripple) for lugging kit up a hill knowing you need to do it on the way home.

I ride a specialised tricross for similar tasks, 5 miles ew (but I like to increase it a lot) carrying laptop, lunch and clothes ect. Also training rides, hopefully touring and some cx racing come winter :biggrin: I tried a touring bike from claud butler and found it very staid and dull whereas the tricross is fun and fairly aggressive to ride. Its a matter of trying bikes here.

Invest in lights and luggage using the rest of the money I have a topeak rack and the bag that locks onto it and has side panniers that fold down (taking a laptop). Also if you can run to it I've just moved to a set of spds and they're lush but ride the bike for a month with the stock pedals first to get used to the two seperately.

You need to find a bike that suits you for sprightliness in the touring-cross-road bike range of bikes that take mudguards (bloody important for a commute) and a rack
 
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DCCD

Über Member
Location
South Ayrshire
Anyone on here ride a Focus Mares?....the AX 2.0 with 105 groupset looks great value at £849 from Wiggle
http://www.wiggle.co...mpaign=products

and the next model up with Ultegra groupset is £1099.

I'm in a very similar position and looking for a cyclo cross (that takes a rack and guards for w/e rides etc).

Kinesis do a 105 build for the racelight at £1099.

How much importance should be focused on the groupset.....most bikes up to the £1000 are nearly all Tiagra or Tiagra/Sora. Is it worth spnding a little bit extra and stretching to 105?

Mcgoo :smile:
 
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Deleted member 1258

Guest
DCCD said:
Anyone on here ride a Focus Mares?....the AX 2.0 with 105 groupset looks great value at £849 from Wiggle
http://www.wiggle.co...mpaign=products

and the next model up with Ultegra groupset is £1099.

I'm in a very similar position and looking for a cyclo cross (that takes a rack and guards for w/e rides etc).

Kinesis do a 105 build for the racelight at £1099.

How much importance should be focused on the groupset.....most bikes up to the £1000 are nearly all Tiagra or Tiagra/Sora. Is it worth spnding a little bit extra and stretching to 105?
Mcgoo :smile:
Click to expand...

Wiggle also have the verenti Kilmeston on special offer at the moment http://www.wiggle.co.uk/verenti-kilmeston/
at £800 all bar a penny its a bargain, I paid full price for mine.
 
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david1701

Well-Known Member
Location
Bude, Cornwall
DCCD said:
I like the look of that.Nice spec with the SRAM onboard. Certainly makes a great all year round commuter.


Would probably need to rule out the cyclo cross ability though, and that would probably make it a non starter for me.
Click to expand...

whats your reasoning behind ruling it out on CX ability. A lot of the things from cx transfer well to touring which tend to transfer to commuting. Like the strength, low gearing and responsiveness at low speeds which are all useful even if you never set foot off road. (which btw the tricross is pretty awesome for :biggrin:)
 
D

DCCD

Über Member
Location
South Ayrshire
david1701 said:
whats your reasoning behind ruling it out on CX ability. A lot of the things from cx transfer well to touring which tend to transfer to commuting. Like the strength, low gearing and responsiveness at low speeds which are all useful even if you never set foot off road. (which btw the tricross is pretty awesome for :biggrin:)
Click to expand...

It would mainly be round wheel/tyres and brakes. The spec is good for 25mm maybe 28mm without the guards. For cyclocross you'd need somewhere around 32-35mm, depending on terain. Cantilevers would be better in those conditions as the side pulls would struggle with build up of dirt etc near the rim. It may still be a contender....the weight is also good at around 19.2ibs (small)
 
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ray.m

Active Member
With the state of the roads today all bikes need to be capable of withstanding some off road stuff . I have a Kilmeston and I’m no light weight, I’ve fitted 25mm tyres and it’s stood up to some serious potholing when riding at night.
Like you I considered a hybrid and in fact bought one but it wasn’t long before I wanted a decent road bike as I found my hybrid (fitted with slicks) to be neither one thing or the other - although I’m sure some cyclists swear by them. Reading between the lines your leaning towards a road bike so I hope you get your choice right first time unlike me. If most of your cycling will be road work then I would get a road bike now sooner than later.
 
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tbtb

Guest
If current bike keeps changing gear on you, google adjust bike gears and look at the youtube videos. There's a small plastic nodule you can twirl to alter the tension in the gear cables. It's easy - just like turning a tap and seeing what works - once you sit through the 2 minute videos.
 
OP
OP
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Mulgy

New Member
I had a look at the tricross and looks to be more or less what I'm after. I did read something worrying about the front forks under breaking although this may have been an old post.

I've still not got the voucher so will still be shopping around for a few weeks. If anyone spots a good deal or has anything to say good or bad about a cross bike then let me know..

Thanks for your time
 
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rossjevans

New Member
Location
Bournemouth
Mulgy said:
I had a look at the tricross and looks to be more or less what I'm after. I did read something worrying about the front forks under breaking although this may have been an old post.

I've still not got the voucher so will still be shopping around for a few weeks. If anyone spots a good deal or has anything to say good or bad about a cross bike then let me know..

Thanks for your time
Click to expand...

I think the front brake judder was an issue with the older Tricross models and has been solved since. I haven't experienced anything like this on my 2011 model.
 
The Dwaff Family

The Dwaff Family

Senior Member
Location
Bucks
Looks like the voucher I got through work isn't a wiggle one so wiggle bikes are out of the question.. which is a pain in the ass ass I'd kinda decided on the focus mares .. good spec and good reviews .. nothing against the tricross looks like the perfect bike but I can't help but feel I'm paying a little more for the name.. So now I'm back to considering the fuji cross with the 105 spec/tiagra specs or upping it to the next model up and has 105 and ultegra spec gears etc.
 
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