What bike to replace my dead hybrid commuter?

[I like Skol]

I know, but if nobody challenges his opinion people might think all cyclists are like this!

 

[Salty seadog]

Now I have a bit of spare time maybe I can be bothered after all.

@SkipdiverJohn I don't know how old you are but your extreme views often aired on this forum in a critical manner make you sound like some of my long deceased grandparents that lived through the war years. They obviously managed in hard times but even when things were better they just couldn't change their ways and lived the rest of their lives in conditions almost at the edge of poverty. The ironic thing is that when they died and their estates were realised they were actually far from poor, and not just from property that had appreciated in value. They also had considerable sums of cash savings, sat stagnating in underperforming bank accounts, earning next to nothing and benefitting nobody except the banks.

At the other end of the spectrum we have people like @jowwy whom I suspect will readily admit has a problem with buying new bikes and bike kit without ever wearing out the old ones. It seems like barely a month goes by without him posting a thread about buying a new bike/bike frame/groupset to try something different or update one of the bikes in the fleet. It's his money, his choice and if he can easily afford it without negatively affecting his financial responsibilities then who am I to criticise?

I fall somewhere in the middle. I'm careful with my money and buy stuff to last, so look at owning something for a long time. I pay cash and if I don't have the cash then I am unlikely to get it. I am happy to pay higher prices for things that I consider to be of good quality and that are satisfying to own so in many purchases it is not price that is the deciding factor of the purchase but value. However I am not stupid so, once I know what I want, I look for the best price and if this means getting last years model or an end of season discount or doing some of the legwork myself rather than just paying the 'turn-key' price then that is fine with me.

Now getting back to the new bike scenario, which after all is what this whole 6 page thread is all about, lets discuss some of your comments....

I cannot think of a worse attitude to getting to work by bike. Why make something a misery when it doesn't have to be. The only reason I would consider using a bike I didn't like for such a regular journey would be if it were very short (less than 3-4 miles) and there was a high risk of a decent bike being targeted for theft or vandalism. Actually there is a second reason. If the bike was rubbish but it was all I had and replacement was not an option, then I would bare the situation with good grace and be grateful that at least I had a bike. Luckily none of this applies to me as I commute 10 miles each way and bike facilities at work are reasonably secure (so secure that I only use a cheap, light cable lock to secure my bike at work, more to prevent any of my colleagues goofing around and hiding my bike than to protect it from theft ).

I could almost agree with your point that a commute bike should be as cheap as possible, providing it is still reliable and pleasurable to ride, but my problem is that the commute bike is not just for commuting. My personal bike fleet now consists of 3 bikes as follows;

• A hardtail MTB. Purchased new by me in 1996 for a little over £1k. It was getting a bit tired so I freshened it up a few years ago with a new groupset, wheels and converted to disc brakes at a cost of around £500-600. Still beats many of the big money guys when I do take it out and I do stuff on that that only an MTB will do. Money well spent IMO and with the recent rebuild will still be going strong in another 10yrs.
• A carbon Allroad/Enduroad bike. I know the marketing term Allroad/Enduroad will make you scoff, but ignoring the gimmick sales term, this bike is actually a road bike that suits me down to the ground. Fast for long road rides of 100+ miles, tough enough for some pretty rough trail use except the most extreme MTB stuff and finally something new for me is to throw on a pair of 35mm knobblies and go CX racing. It wasn't cheap but I bought it in 2016 with an end of season discount, it was replaced by a third parties insurance earlier this year with the same (near as damn it) bike and it should be in my fleet for decades to come. This is my nice ride toy so doesn't get used all the time but is always there for those sunny day rides when it is just nice to head of with just a phone, £20 note and cashcard in your pocket. I am not a weekend bike polisher so will gladly get this bike wet and muddy, just not prepared to spend a long day in the saddle with a wet bum when I can use bike 3 with mudguards instead.
• My commuter is the 3rd and final piece of the jigsaw. It obviously does the commuting (unless it is a nice day and I have nothing to carry when the sunny day bike might get a look-in, except we all know how that ended last time it happened!). This bike is also so much more than 'just' a commuter. It often does my long forum rides if I want mudguards or panniers. On family rides if I need to carry locks, snacks and coats obviously the panniers are chosen again. Camping/road trips, yep you guessed it! Going out at night in the dark, well it is fitted with lights 365 days a year so obviously the commuter. Cycling with the kids to school or scouts, nipping in to town on errands, 185 miles in one day to my dad's house in South Wales, the list is endless and the commuter bike is normally the answer to most of my riding requirements and easily covers the most mileage each year by around double what the other two bikes do together.

As you can see, the cheapest, nastiest, most basic, least desirable, most unpinchworthy bike I can muster just isn't going to fit the bill in this case. The GT Traffic hybrid covered around 2-3 thousand miles a year and I think I was very lucky and struck gold finding a bike that was so capable in so many different ways. A hybrid is often cited as being a compromise, a jack of all trades but a master of none! My experience has been that actually it was bl00dy good in nearly all situations.
I knew relatively little about cycling when I bought the hybrid back in 2010, having owned nothing else except MTBs since being a teenager, but knowing what I know now I can definitely say that I know which bike will be a suitable replacement for the hybrid and hopefully give me many years more of leisure, pleasure and utility cycling, clocking up the miles as well as the smiles.






New bike is the Kona

Good lad.

 

[avsd]

Enjoy the new bike and please post photos

 

[I like Skol]

Enjoy the new bike and please post photos

ASAP on both counts

 

[I like Skol]

That's good to know. Despite all other sellers being sold out it appears CRC are good on their stock. Since I placed my order there has not been any contact apart from the initial automated confirmation. Just checked the website and stock of my 56cm bike has dropped from x5 to x4 following my purchase.

Still think it is jaw droppingly beautiful in this colour. I am tempted to spend cash on all new attachments but reality probably means all the old bits from the out-going commuter will get swapped over (XT pedals, lights, wireless computer, mudguards, maybe tyres, not sure about pannier rack?). Talking of pannier racks, I found the Tortec Velocity rack this week. It looks ideal for me as I never carry anything on top so the narrow profile should really suit such a good looking bike. Just not sure if I will get away with the full skinny version combined with mudguards for 30-35mm tyres or if I will need the slightly wider hybrid version?
Also not sure that the existing Blackburn MTB rack for 26" wheels will fit as it was close already and the rack mount points on the Kona appear to be considerably lower.

 

[I like Skol]

Come on...…

I know I dragged out the ordering process but now I pulled the trigger it has all stopped. I would like this before the end of the week please.

 

[Crackle]

 

[Salty seadog]

Come on...…

I know I dragged out the ordering process but now I pulled the trigger it has all stopped. I would like this before the end of the week please.

View attachment 431544
View attachment 431545

My order numb.......I mean, your order number seems to be blurred at the end, just pm me it ,oh, and your bank details please, thanks, k....

I'll post pics of the bike as soon as it arrives.

 

[I like Skol]

Just logged into my CRC account and found this

No CRC confirmation emails (if they will send one?) and tracking number hasn't gone live at this moment in time so I guess that means the order hasn't actually been collected from CRC yet

 

[potsy]

All this fuss over a pushbike

 

[HLaB]

Just logged into my CRC account and found this

View attachment 431822

No CRC confirmation emails (if they will send one?) and tracking number hasn't gone live at this moment in time so I guess that means the order hasn't actually been collected from CRC yet

OT, Rutland Cycles phone up the other week to say the lights I ordered on line were in. I've collected and used them but their system still says 'pending' and the 'next step' collection email has never been sent

 

[I like Skol]

OT, Rutland Cycles phone up the other week to say the lights I ordered on line were in. I've collected and used them but their system still says 'pending' and the 'next step' collection email has never been sent

This has jogged my memory a little and i seem to remember that when i ordered and received a bike from Wiggle (the same company now) earlier this year the order status remained as 'processing' for weeks after the bike had actually arrived!

 

[I like Skol]

It's been a long time coming but finally got a chance to start preparing the new bike for duty today.

Here's a few initial pictures just to whet your appetite (@ianrauk )….

Old bike before the cannibalisation begins.

.
New bike as it came out of the box (apart from fixing the handlebars on).

And now after some messing about today. Starting to come together and certainly looking a lot more purposeful, but still lots to do to get it up to scratch.

Old rack is too tight so I will be fitting a Tortec Velocity or Velocity Hybrid as soon as they arrive. Also had to settle for my 32mm tyres as the 35mm did fit but were just too close for comfort. Old mudguards have fitted just beautifully.

More details to follow as the build continues......

 

[I like Skol]

Not sure how long the 24 spoke wheels will last on commuter duties?

 

[I like Skol]

Stayed up late last night after the family had retired just so I could get this bike finished but have hit a frustrating snag on the final job!

Gear cables have now been swapped over to pass around the head tube and then the wires cross under the down tube. This gives a much better cable line coming out from under the bar tape and bending less sharply at the headtube.

Checked the BB cups were in tight.

Fitted Cateye wireless computer and bottle cage.

Removed the rack as it was pressing on the mudguard and causing tyre rub. Will have to wait for the new Tortec ones to arrive to fix this.

Final job was to play with brake set-up and cable routing. Brakes had not been done right, they had wound in the cable length to get the right biting point rather than backing off everything and then setting pad clearance with the adjusters. This limits the arm travel at the caliper and potentially causes the arm to bottom out. Also, the rear caliper was nowhere near centred but these are the easiest calipers I have ever set up. because it is mechanical the pads can only move equally on each side. With new pads just back off the adjusters, loosen the mounting bolts then squeeze the brake before tightening the mounting bolts, perfect alignment.

It was here that I found the big problem. The front brake cable was binding in the outer and not allowing the brake to release. I ended up unwrapping the bar tape on that side as far as the brake lever so I could remove the casing and found this....

CRC have been emailed but I have realised that as the casing strands have pushed through the stop in the lever body they may have gouged out the hole so the problem will happen again? Further investigation required and I fear I will need to strip the rear brake cable out to check for the same problem there. I thought we didn't use cable casing with longitudinal strands due to problems like this and bursting when used for brakes? Not impressed with the compresionless stuff as this is the 1st time I have encountered it and it has failed before even being used!