New bikes unveiled at Cycle Show from Boardman

[mjr]

[QUOTE 4977083, member: 45"]For rides I use drops. For commuting I prefer the more relaxed, higher position where the brakes are easier to use and visibility is better.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, but North Road bars give that without bending the wrists inwards so much, so I don't understand the flat fashion for commuting (rather than MTB).

 

[confusedcyclist]

Most people buying flat bars probably haven't tried other styles, or are intimidated by them, sticking with what they know. You see a lot of people worried about drops in the beginners forum for instance. Flats are ubiquitous, so they sell better. Looking at north road style bars, I'm half tempted to get one to try out on my commuter

 

[confusedcyclist]

[QUOTE 4977159, member: 45"]Some people prefer flat bars and bar ends.[/QUOTE]
Indeed, but I would wager most people in the UK under 40 never had a bike without flat bars (before their first road bike), never mind riding north road style bars.

 

[derrick]

Good lord, that flat bar commuter is gorgeous.

http://road.cc/content/tech-news/229848-boardman-unveil-new-urb-and-asr-commuter-bikes

Didn't even know you could get Di2 Alfine.

I WANT IT NOW.

What do you all think?

Nothing exciting there.

 

[confusedcyclist]

[QUOTE 4977170, member: 45"]That's not a but though is it? You're talking about a different group.[/QUOTE]
A significant proportion of the commuting population would be in this age bracket, no? Most older are nearing or already retired. The reason I bring it up is because younger generations would have ridden on mountain bikes as kids (flat bars).

 

[petek]

Good lord, that flat bar commuter is gorgeous.

http://road.cc/content/tech-news/229848-boardman-unveil-new-urb-and-asr-commuter-bikes

Didn't even know you could get Di2 Alfine.

I WANT IT NOW.

What do you all think?

A penny less than two-grand seems a bit steep.
Hub gears are brilliant, Sturmey-Archer especially.
I'd have nowt less.
Nice looking bike though.
Will it take mudguards do you think?

 

[petek]

Hmm, that thread didn't appear when I did a search for 'Boardman'. Oh well - interested to hear what people think about the urban/commuting bike in particular.

Does anyone here already commute on hub gears, are they an improvement over a traditional chain/derailleur arrangement? What differences are there in the ride, if any?

Hub gears are probs more 'traditional' than derailleur. I never got on with derailleurs, possibly because I only bought cheap ( Halfords) bikes so never had a decent one. Lots of trouble IMO. I switched back to hub gears and my last commuter bike had a Sturmey Archer 3-speed. Totally bomb proof in to work every day and home with nary a problem and loved it. Trading up this year I was going to have a non-standard 3-speed hub setup on my new Pashley because I had heard that the 5-speed had wrinkles. Louth Cycle Centre advised a 5-speed so that's what I got and they were bang right. It is brilliant. Apparently the 5-speed issues mostly stem from people not taking new bike back after a month for a cable re-set.

 

[mjr]

[QUOTE 4977159, member: 45"]Some people prefer flat bars and bar ends.[/QUOTE]
I think that's accepted but is it fear of the unknown like @confusedcyclist is suggesting or is there some benefit to the less ergonomic option that makes people seek it out?

 

[mjr]

Apparently the 5-speed issues mostly stem from people not taking new bike back after a month for a cable re-set.

Or checking that the cable/shift tension is still aligned. I think there's other wrinkles with it, but that could explain most of them, like so many old 3-speed problems were caused by not looking in the indicator to set the cable tension and trying to guess it by feel, resulting in slipping into the neutral that some old hubs had between normal and high gears. Modern hubs also have their wrinkles, but the ones I've heard of are fewer, less damaging and easier to avoid.

 

[J1888]

Nothing exciting there.

It's purely subjective

 

[mjr]

[QUOTE 4977341, member: 45"]For me, I like north road style bars for pottering around. They're comfortable, but you've only got one hand position. I prefer flat bars with stubby bar ends for commuting as I've got more hand position options.[/QUOTE]
Two on flat bars with ends (the bar and the ends), four on north roads (grips, ends, bends and sweep, although I've usually put stuff like lights by the stem, which prevents me using the sweep) and you can't slide your hand back to the brakes from most flat bar ends.

 

[mjr]

[QUOTE 4977440, member: 45"]If you're going to start being silly I'll give you bar end ends, bar ends, bar/bar end interface, grips, inner bars, stem. But that's stupid.[/QUOTE]
There's a definite difference holding the front of the bends on north roads from the grips or ends, whereas most of the stupid list are pretty near duplicates or almost always obstructed by controls.

 

[Bonefish Blues]

Does that seatstay arrangement give greater comfort I wonder?