Road / Audax / Tourer or Cyclocross

[Jason37]

I am driving myself mad

I started cycling a few months ago on a cheap road bike and hoping to get a better bike once the c2w scheme opens in a couple of months time

My riding is with CTC so long steady rides (I prefer longer distance), I do not race but would not be adverse to doing an Audax or sportif or something similar. I would like a bike that can take mudguards or rack and pannier nothing heavy but light touring would be good and to top it off I go light off road sometimes (tow path, trails etc) went offroad(ish) on Sunday on skinny, slick 23's

I want to spend around the £ 800 mark on a quality bike, and have not got the wallet for multiple bikes (I know this would be ideal) but I am after a bike that will cater for all the types of riding I do / want to do

I've been going from Tourers to Audax and now I'm looking at cyclocross bikes and to tell you the truth it is driving me mad.

I know whatever I get will have to be a compromise in some way but I am going slightly insane at sheer amount of choice out there.

I don't have a very helpful LBS and although they sell road and cyclocross because of their "not helpful attitude" I am a bit loathe to give my money to them plus if I do buy on C2W it is with Halfords. My next nearest LBS is something beginning with E and I am back to the point I made at the start of this paragraph.

Anyone been in this position and can anyone help......please!!!

 

[andyp]

I've been cycling about 5 weeks now, using a Marin Hawk Hill but i've just ordered on the Cycle to Work Scheme a Kona Jake for almost the same type of cycling you are doing, 75% road 25% woodland track/canal towpath and bridleway stuff also looking to increase my ride lengths have done a couple of 30 milers but my usuall is about 25.

 

[Randochap]

Here's a guide to long-distance bikes.

 

[accountantpete]

Ask 10 people on here Jason and you will probaly get 10 different answers!

I use a road bike and wouldn't ride anthing else so I would get a road bike and an extra pair of compatible wheels mated to some really wide 25 - 28mm tyres for off road use.

 

[delb0y]

Hi Jason, I know exactly what you mean. Some days I think that, were I able to justify a new bike, something like the Specialised Tricross Sport would be ideal - lots of great reviews, can take a rack and mudguards and wide tyres, great on towpaths and forest tracks as well as the road... That's the one for me! Then I'll go out and have a decent fast (for me) paced ride or I'll be struggling up a slight incline and I'll think nah, I need a proper road bike, something nice and light with skinny tyres... and look there are some amazing bikes out there for around the £700k mark - Specialised and Bianchis and Giants and all sorts... Those ar ethe bikes for me! But another day I'll find myself thinking "wouldn't it be nice, one day, to go on a tour? I really fancy that. I'm slow and steady... surely I should be looking at a nice comfy tourer, not one of these super fast super light things? I'm way too old for that... And all that talk of comfort... surely it's relative? How can those bikes be as comfy as a nice tourer..." No, what I need is a tourer - and look at the deals available. Those are the bikes for me, for sure! But then I'll read a review of a great looking audax bike, something like the Tifosi CK7 (or whatever it is) and I'll think "That's the one! That could do it all..." That's definitely the bike for me...

Sigh. Like you said, it drives you mad.

But in the end I just grab the old Claud Butler out of the garage and use that and, at the moment, it does everything that I require of it (which isn't much) and thus how can I justify buying something else? Though, maybe, if I just up my mileage...

Del

 

[Jason37]

Nice to know its not just me who umms and ahhhs,

I think maybe the best one for me is a roaudtourcross bike (copyright Jason37 2009)

Manufacturers form an orderly clue

 

[John the Monkey]

I've done gravelly/cobbled towpaths on 25C slicks, and did not enjoy myself at all.

Depends on what you mean by "off roadish", but based on my experience, I'd discount a "true" roadbike right off - I'd want 32C tyres under me at minimum, personally, which puts you into CX/Tourer country.

If you can limit your activity to tarmac, I'd suggest a road bike that can take 'guards and a rack - you're unlikely to be the double mounts (one for 'guards, one for rack) of a tourer, but you can mount a rack on the same bolt that mounts the 'guards.

I went for the Giant SCR2.0 for my first bike, and I love it (renamed to the "Defy", this year, I think) but it isn't an offroader, and I don't kid myself that I could do an unsupported tour on it.

 

[Plax]

Go for a touring bike. I have a Dawes Ultra Galaxy (bit out of your price range, but there is always 2nd hand or the standard Galaxy).
My reasoning is thus (based on the Galaxy);
- 700 x 32 tyres as standard, and the rims allow you to take at least I believe 700 x 25 so there is always the option to put slicker/thinner/lighter tyres on (or even larger tyres, I think you can probably go up to 700 x 40s, certainly 38s).
- If you take off the mudguards and rack it's like a different bike. Combine that with thinner tyres and you can whizz round.
- I can get up to 41mph on my tourer with rack & guards and 700 x 32 tyres (Marathon's) and can go jolly fast on it on the flats (I can maintain circa 20 - 25 mph - usually until I get to the next hill!).
- MTB gearing for all those lovely hills, and a high enough gear ratio for speed (48 x 11 I believe is the largest gear. A lot of road bikes don't go much higher than that).

I've found my touring bike to be very versatile, and glad I went for that and not a racing bike, although I do often long for one (n+1 syndrome!).

EDIT - my tourer copes well with crappy tracks and even had an outing up a track that sensible people just walk or use a MTB for. This was a "shortcut" one of the CTC lot found and it caused much hilarity)

 

[simon_brooke]

For what it's worth I have a cross bike and two sets of wheels for it - one with 25mm tyres which I use for audax and commuting, one with 32mm tyres which I use for off road. I also have a pure road bike and two good (Cannondale and Klein) full suspension mountain bikes, but frankly of them all the cross bike is used most often.

The only thing it doesn't do well is very technical off-road singletrack.

I strongly recommend cross bikes to anyone who wants something versatile!