What bike - hybrid for my wife - light frame - up to £600
Discussion
Sorry for the blatant thread highjack, but I'm looking for a road bike for the better-looking other, as she fancies herself at bit of chain gang action... 
I guess a lot of it comes down to personal fit, but what are the thoughts on the necesity of heading down the women spec frames route generally?
I guess a lot of it comes down to personal fit, but what are the thoughts on the necesity of heading down the women spec frames route generally?
In the end the OH went for a Jamis Allegro Comp Disk.
I'd never heard of Jamis bit someone on a thread here or on Bike Radar mentioned the Allegro ao I checked it out and saw it had been reduced from £670 to £535. It ticked a lot of the boxes; reasonably light, decent spec inc carbon forks. It came with decent grips so no need to shell out on new ones. Might swap over the saddle from her old bike or at least the post as it's suspended. The 17" was a perfect fit. Not so sure about the discs but at least it makes it easy to pop the front wheel off
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/jamis/allegro-...
Conclusion; the OH wanted something lighter and more fun than her 5 year old Trek 7.2 FX step thru and this fits the bill.
EDIT the Trek 7.5 she looked at at was the wrong size for her and she wanted to stick to the original budget. If I'm ever in the market I'd love a 7.5 (although I'd much prefer discs for the commute). And the Whyte wasn't available from Evans - that was just me having a senior moment after having visited too many bike shops on the same day.
I'd never heard of Jamis bit someone on a thread here or on Bike Radar mentioned the Allegro ao I checked it out and saw it had been reduced from £670 to £535. It ticked a lot of the boxes; reasonably light, decent spec inc carbon forks. It came with decent grips so no need to shell out on new ones. Might swap over the saddle from her old bike or at least the post as it's suspended. The 17" was a perfect fit. Not so sure about the discs but at least it makes it easy to pop the front wheel off
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/jamis/allegro-...
Conclusion; the OH wanted something lighter and more fun than her 5 year old Trek 7.2 FX step thru and this fits the bill.
EDIT the Trek 7.5 she looked at at was the wrong size for her and she wanted to stick to the original budget. If I'm ever in the market I'd love a 7.5 (although I'd much prefer discs for the commute). And the Whyte wasn't available from Evans - that was just me having a senior moment after having visited too many bike shops on the same day.
Edited by AC43 on Monday 11th August 07:28
Finally got our hands on the 2015 Whyte Carnaby today.
Wife had a quick spin up and down the road to get the seat position right prior to a short (8-mile) test ride tomorrow. Her first impressions were that it was a harsh ride but once I explained that she's come from a heavy bike with front sus, fat tyres, suspension seat post, and a fat seat, I think she appreciated the fact that this will be a doddle to whizz to the park and back on.
I have a Whyte Portobello so I appreciate what she says but you do forget/get used to the harshness eventually and glory in the sheer speed of it next to other hybrids and MTBs. You just seek out the smooth surfaces on the bike paths.
Anyway, here it is:
Wife had a quick spin up and down the road to get the seat position right prior to a short (8-mile) test ride tomorrow. Her first impressions were that it was a harsh ride but once I explained that she's come from a heavy bike with front sus, fat tyres, suspension seat post, and a fat seat, I think she appreciated the fact that this will be a doddle to whizz to the park and back on.
I have a Whyte Portobello so I appreciate what she says but you do forget/get used to the harshness eventually and glory in the sheer speed of it next to other hybrids and MTBs. You just seek out the smooth surfaces on the bike paths.
Anyway, here it is:
Interested in this thread as Mrs. Scruff is bugging me to get her a new commuter bike.
Issue I have is that she's determined that she needs some degree of suspension, is there much around that will fill the 'light' brief but also have front suspension forks? She doesn't do long rides (work is about 9 miles) but she uses the bike pretty much every day and in all weathers. She's currently commuting on an old Rockhopper but franky she's worn it out over the last few years!
Issue I have is that she's determined that she needs some degree of suspension, is there much around that will fill the 'light' brief but also have front suspension forks? She doesn't do long rides (work is about 9 miles) but she uses the bike pretty much every day and in all weathers. She's currently commuting on an old Rockhopper but franky she's worn it out over the last few years!
Originally my wife wanted suspension too which is why she ended up with a heavy Marin hardtail. She only got interested in the possibilities when she saw this:
http://whyte.bike/gb/models/all-terrain/c7-all-ter...
It had everything she thought she wanted. It's lighter than the Marin and has 700c wheels with discs but I convinced her to try the Carnaby instead, advising her that she never needs suspension and that she could have a bike significantly lighter still.
The rest is history.
She has just been out on it on her own for a 14Km circuit. I've never known her do that before.
http://whyte.bike/gb/models/all-terrain/c7-all-ter...
It had everything she thought she wanted. It's lighter than the Marin and has 700c wheels with discs but I convinced her to try the Carnaby instead, advising her that she never needs suspension and that she could have a bike significantly lighter still.
The rest is history.
She has just been out on it on her own for a 14Km circuit. I've never known her do that before.
Keep chipping away at Mrs Scruff. She really doesn't sound like a rider who needs suspension.
I hate suspension forks on the road. i can never be sure what the front wheel is doing in a corner.
If she really wants something sprung on the bike then maybe a Brooks Champion Flyers S saddle?
I hate suspension forks on the road. i can never be sure what the front wheel is doing in a corner.
If she really wants something sprung on the bike then maybe a Brooks Champion Flyers S saddle?
Gizmoish said:
Carbon forks >are< suspension. Find a quiet road with some choppy Tarmac and watch the front hub as you ride across it. You'll be able to see the deflection: just because there are no springs or rubber doesn't mean it's ultimately, completely rigid no matter what the provocation.
This is why carbon forks were on all the bikes I shortlisted.Mr Scruff said:
Interested in this thread as Mrs. Scruff is bugging me to get her a new commuter bike.
Issue I have is that she's determined that she needs some degree of suspension, is there much around that will fill the 'light' brief but also have front suspension forks? She doesn't do long rides (work is about 9 miles) but she uses the bike pretty much every day and in all weathers. She's currently commuting on an old Rockhopper but franky she's worn it out over the last few years!
With MTB's the only way to get a reasonably light front suspension forks is to go for air and then you're in the £850+ price range.Issue I have is that she's determined that she needs some degree of suspension, is there much around that will fill the 'light' brief but also have front suspension forks? She doesn't do long rides (work is about 9 miles) but she uses the bike pretty much every day and in all weathers. She's currently commuting on an old Rockhopper but franky she's worn it out over the last few years!
I'd assume the same applies to hybrids (-ish?).
If she wants a really comfortable hybrid then tell her to try the Trek 7.5 FX with the rubber insert in the rear drop outs and carbon forks. Remarkably smooth. despite the narrower tyres getting very near the absorption of my Trek Cobia on 1.8 slicks. I thought it was uncanny.
AC43 said:
With MTB's the only way to get a reasonably light front suspension forks is to go for air and then you're in the £850+ price range.
I'd assume the same applies to hybrids (-ish?).
Rather disappointingly, Whyte used to spec air forks with their hybrids but have reverted to coil sprung this year, probably for cost reasons. In fact I've noticed a few bikes in their range having real headline specs one year, only to be seriously downgraded the following year (the Montpellier from 2011 was £3000 with SRAM Red but half that the year after).I'd assume the same applies to hybrids (-ish?).
AC43 said:
If she wants a really comfortable hybrid then tell her to try the Trek 7.5 FX with the rubber insert in the rear drop outs and carbon forks. Remarkably smooth. despite the narrower tyres getting very near the absorption of my Trek Cobia on 1.8 slicks. I thought it was uncanny.
I've been experimenting with tyre pressures recently. I used to just pump them up to near-bursting in the belief that harder was faster but after a few rides where the jarring was just unbearable, I let some air out. Bizarrely (to my mind) I was faster. On smoother roads I felt as though the bike wasn't rolling as well but overall I was consistently two or three "minutes" quicker over an hour's circuit.Gassing Station | Pedal Powered | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff