beatlejuice
Gently does it...
- Location
- Mid Hampshire
I was planning to replace my hybrid for a while however after I got SMIDSYed by a van coming from the right the issue become more urgent. I wanted a bike for day to day local town work. I live half way up a steep hill so the lowest gear needs to be 30 gear inches or less for me to go up it and I need good brakes when I am going down it. When riding in town I don't like getting dressed up and looking like a cyclist i.e. wearing lycra. But I would rather not ruin any more trousers either.
I wanted a bike that had hub gears, eight of them would be enough and have disc brakes. V brakes work perfectly well but I have to replace the pads too frequently. Disc brake pad wear is suppose to be better.
Since Halfords stopped doing a hub gear Carrera Subway there wasn't much choice in the sub £600 hub geared bike market. Then Decathlon came out with the Network 700. I already own a red Triban 3 so was familiar with their offerings.
It seemed to fit my requirements. However while it makes a good attempt at being ready for work straight out of the box I did need to make it fit my requirements.
My first problem was the handle bars. Thanks to having short arms and an old elbow injury I need ones that are closer to me and raised. I opted for an adjustable stem and butterfly bars.
Having used modern dynamo lights I didn't want to go back to battery ones. I wanted a hub dynamo that was compatible with 6 bolt disc. Bike24 where able to supply me with such a wheel a long with a rear light. This with the 40 lux front light I retrieved off the old hybrid meant my lights conformed the German specification and where thus legal in this country. However since the Germans don't permit flashing lights I added a set of cheap 'be seen' ones.
With hub gears there are more options for chain guards. I wanted to enclose it as much as possible. After I had checked I didn't need to change the front chain ring I brought a Chainglide from Rose bikes. It was easy to fit and means I can put copious amounts of grease on it which doesn't end up on my trousers. I think it suits the style of the bike. Since the frame permits fitting a Gates belt drive without modification I looked into fitting it one but the cost was way too much. However if someone could sell a complete conversion kit for this bike at a reasonable price I might do it later.
I needed a rear rack and since it comes with disc brakes I suspected neither of mine would fit. However my Topeak did, without any modifications, but only just! I am going to get a clip on Topeak bag.
On the road it does what it says on the tin. I wanted a low maintenance day to day bike. To a large extent I've got that however having both cable operated discs brakes and gears I will have to adjust them as they wear. I also need to keep the chain well greased to cut down the friction in the chain case. But I hope only to have to do this once a month.
I wanted a bike that had hub gears, eight of them would be enough and have disc brakes. V brakes work perfectly well but I have to replace the pads too frequently. Disc brake pad wear is suppose to be better.
Since Halfords stopped doing a hub gear Carrera Subway there wasn't much choice in the sub £600 hub geared bike market. Then Decathlon came out with the Network 700. I already own a red Triban 3 so was familiar with their offerings.
It seemed to fit my requirements. However while it makes a good attempt at being ready for work straight out of the box I did need to make it fit my requirements.
My first problem was the handle bars. Thanks to having short arms and an old elbow injury I need ones that are closer to me and raised. I opted for an adjustable stem and butterfly bars.
Having used modern dynamo lights I didn't want to go back to battery ones. I wanted a hub dynamo that was compatible with 6 bolt disc. Bike24 where able to supply me with such a wheel a long with a rear light. This with the 40 lux front light I retrieved off the old hybrid meant my lights conformed the German specification and where thus legal in this country. However since the Germans don't permit flashing lights I added a set of cheap 'be seen' ones.
With hub gears there are more options for chain guards. I wanted to enclose it as much as possible. After I had checked I didn't need to change the front chain ring I brought a Chainglide from Rose bikes. It was easy to fit and means I can put copious amounts of grease on it which doesn't end up on my trousers. I think it suits the style of the bike. Since the frame permits fitting a Gates belt drive without modification I looked into fitting it one but the cost was way too much. However if someone could sell a complete conversion kit for this bike at a reasonable price I might do it later.
I needed a rear rack and since it comes with disc brakes I suspected neither of mine would fit. However my Topeak did, without any modifications, but only just! I am going to get a clip on Topeak bag.
On the road it does what it says on the tin. I wanted a low maintenance day to day bike. To a large extent I've got that however having both cable operated discs brakes and gears I will have to adjust them as they wear. I also need to keep the chain well greased to cut down the friction in the chain case. But I hope only to have to do this once a month.
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