Discussion
So I recently began the process to get a BH road bike through Cyclescheme to start cycling to work. I initially went for a pure road bike for two reasons:
So, now I'm having last minute thoughts about changing the order. I don't strictly need a full-on road bike and I'm worried it might struggle with our trail-like road surfaces.
What do people think?
Despite the surface I'm reluctant to pedal anything with a suspension fork uphill on the way to work! So I'm thinking a rigid hybrid is the way to go? Budget remains up to about £700 and my local shop recommended the Kona Dew and Giant CRS. Of those I'm tempted to stretch the budget a tad and go for the Dr Dew.
That is quite a pimp looking comuting bike I reckon!
- I'm a bit out of shape and thought it was my only chance of making it up the hills
- It's on a road, anything more would be overkill, right?
So, now I'm having last minute thoughts about changing the order. I don't strictly need a full-on road bike and I'm worried it might struggle with our trail-like road surfaces.
What do people think?
Despite the surface I'm reluctant to pedal anything with a suspension fork uphill on the way to work! So I'm thinking a rigid hybrid is the way to go? Budget remains up to about £700 and my local shop recommended the Kona Dew and Giant CRS. Of those I'm tempted to stretch the budget a tad and go for the Dr Dew.
That is quite a pimp looking comuting bike I reckon!
Hi Chris
Been reading your other thread, I am in the same position, looking for a bike suitable for my 12 mile each way commute (urban start then country lanes). I also do a 15 mile urban training route with a few gravel tracks 3 times a week. So was looking for a tough hybrid that could carry a good speed on tarmac.
I had my heart set on a Cannondale Bad Boy with the 700c wheels. Gave it a brief test ride and was impressed. I then tried the Marin Lucas Valley and immediately found it more nimble and speed focused. The sales guy said the Marin was basically a road bike with a flat bar, but it seemed really precise and the carbon fibre bits looked good. So that would be defiantly worth a look, seems a nice bike I think I'm gonna go for it.
At the moment I'm covering upto 100 miles a week on a 10 year old Kona Fire mountain, with rigid forks and slick tyres. Most of the miles are on my route round the town centre that includes a 3 mile gravel track and to be honest its great, the tyres make a massive difference meaning I can cruise at 20mph on the flat. I find that with urban riding its more like interval training and fitness is more important than what bike you are riding , where as when I get in the open country roads a road bike would be more suitable as you really benefit from the Efficiency.
I like the upright sitting position , so I stuck with a Hybrid rather than a true road bike. If I was buying a bike strictly for an commute through London I would want something tough and simple . I would probably go for a Single Speed Bad Boy.
The Dew looks a nice bike, I'd love to try one but haven’t found anywhere with one in stock near me, I would defo recommend not bothering with suspension, its not needed until you go off road, plus I really work the bike up hills so the more rigid the better. In regards to pot holes, you will be fine, just keep focused on looking for them and tense your arms and keep your weight back and stable. It can be a pain on slick tyres in cities, esp when it rains, all the crap and mud on the edge of the road is slippery. Also standing water gathers there meaning you either get soacked or ride further out still!
If I was you Id get really familiar with the route on your current bike and then choose a bike based on that , rather than choosing a bike before you are really familiar with the route
Apologies for the waffle and spelling errors, thought Id share my opinion
Been reading your other thread, I am in the same position, looking for a bike suitable for my 12 mile each way commute (urban start then country lanes). I also do a 15 mile urban training route with a few gravel tracks 3 times a week. So was looking for a tough hybrid that could carry a good speed on tarmac.
I had my heart set on a Cannondale Bad Boy with the 700c wheels. Gave it a brief test ride and was impressed. I then tried the Marin Lucas Valley and immediately found it more nimble and speed focused. The sales guy said the Marin was basically a road bike with a flat bar, but it seemed really precise and the carbon fibre bits looked good. So that would be defiantly worth a look, seems a nice bike I think I'm gonna go for it.
At the moment I'm covering upto 100 miles a week on a 10 year old Kona Fire mountain, with rigid forks and slick tyres. Most of the miles are on my route round the town centre that includes a 3 mile gravel track and to be honest its great, the tyres make a massive difference meaning I can cruise at 20mph on the flat. I find that with urban riding its more like interval training and fitness is more important than what bike you are riding , where as when I get in the open country roads a road bike would be more suitable as you really benefit from the Efficiency.
I like the upright sitting position , so I stuck with a Hybrid rather than a true road bike. If I was buying a bike strictly for an commute through London I would want something tough and simple . I would probably go for a Single Speed Bad Boy.
The Dew looks a nice bike, I'd love to try one but haven’t found anywhere with one in stock near me, I would defo recommend not bothering with suspension, its not needed until you go off road, plus I really work the bike up hills so the more rigid the better. In regards to pot holes, you will be fine, just keep focused on looking for them and tense your arms and keep your weight back and stable. It can be a pain on slick tyres in cities, esp when it rains, all the crap and mud on the edge of the road is slippery. Also standing water gathers there meaning you either get soacked or ride further out still!
If I was you Id get really familiar with the route on your current bike and then choose a bike based on that , rather than choosing a bike before you are really familiar with the route
Apologies for the waffle and spelling errors, thought Id share my opinion
TwistingMyMelon said:
If I was you Id get really familiar with the route on your current bike and then choose a bike based on that , rather than choosing a bike before you are really familiar with the route.
That's the thing...When I actually tried the route on my mountain bike I realised some of the surfaces are so bad it's almost like trail riding on concrete! (Slight exageration, but you get the idea - it's not smooth central London streets, it's neglected suburban back roads). To compound matters I'm quite heavy for a road rider at the best part of 14 stone.
Also realised that I could probably do it on my relatively heavy, nobbly-tyre'd full susser if I really needed to, so with a bit of training to get my fitness back any rigid bike with road tyres should be relatively easy.
The logic is that I could end up breaking a pure road bike or even going over the bars and while something more hybrid/urban may be overkill some of the time it'll still be an awful lot easier than my Orange and without the nagging worry that would be in the back of my mind on a more fragile road machine.
In my experience the mile munching ability of Hybrids come from the low resistance/narrow/high pressure tyres more than any gains from a rigid frame/forks and any weight savings.
If you're riding 24 miles a day (12 each way?) then you really don't want a FS, I ride my Spesh Enduro to work when I can (maybe 2-3 times a year if I'm lucky) and it's OK for 3-4 miles of flat out kerb jumping, stair nailing hooliganing fun but I get passed by hybrid riders who are barely making an effort.
If I were you I'd look at a light weight XC originated MTB with a 100mm or less fork and fit some semi/full narrow slicks and run them at 60psi or something. It'll be more comfortable on the wrists than a hybrid, brake better and be more stable, but most of all, all you need do is fit the mud tyres again if you fancy some mud plugging at the weekend.
If you're riding 24 miles a day (12 each way?) then you really don't want a FS, I ride my Spesh Enduro to work when I can (maybe 2-3 times a year if I'm lucky) and it's OK for 3-4 miles of flat out kerb jumping, stair nailing hooliganing fun but I get passed by hybrid riders who are barely making an effort.
If I were you I'd look at a light weight XC originated MTB with a 100mm or less fork and fit some semi/full narrow slicks and run them at 60psi or something. It'll be more comfortable on the wrists than a hybrid, brake better and be more stable, but most of all, all you need do is fit the mud tyres again if you fancy some mud plugging at the weekend.
I run my full-susser every day to and from work, but it's only a couple of miles.
If I was running further, but wanted to maintain the ability to rough it a bit, I'd be tempted by something similar to that kona.
Something like this perhaps?
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/cannondale/bad...
If I was running further, but wanted to maintain the ability to rough it a bit, I'd be tempted by something similar to that kona.
Something like this perhaps?
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/cannondale/bad...
Mr E said:
Badboy Vs Kona DewWhat do people think?
One of my old housemates used to have a black hybrid bike which I think was a Cannondale Badboy - would have been a while back though 2004 I think. Went well on the hills around Swansea! There's also the Giant CRS - it simply doesn't look as 'rad' (or indeed gnarly) as the other two, but that might not be a bad thing when it's chained to a lampost!
Thats a good point, do you have secure storage at each end of the journey? If not I would not spend that much, someone will try and steal it, regardless of what it is and a cheaper bike is cheaper to replace...
Badboy was a nice ride, same geomtry as a mountainbike, the base model seems the best buy at around 450-500. Heard they are poplular with thieves tho...
Badboy was a nice ride, same geomtry as a mountainbike, the base model seems the best buy at around 450-500. Heard they are poplular with thieves tho...
I suspect that'll be the same for any half decent hybrid though. It is one advantage of pure road bikes I guess - they don't look quite so exciting (no offence to the roadies 
).
Will have to see about secure storage. I was promised something by my boss, which has since degradeed to a maybe, so we'll see...
Hypothetically, how safe is a bike secured to a lampost with a good quality lock in broad daylight in a reasonable area of North London?
).Will have to see about secure storage. I was promised something by my boss, which has since degradeed to a maybe, so we'll see...
Hypothetically, how safe is a bike secured to a lampost with a good quality lock in broad daylight in a reasonable area of North London?
CX bike a possibility? Slightly tougher and more relaxed than a road bike, yet wih 99% of the "efficiency", if that makes sense.
Set o' slicks on it and you could use it for commuting/TTs. Stick some knobblies on it and you've a bike that'll cope with mud, smooth-ish trails and let you enter CX races.
Set o' slicks on it and you could use it for commuting/TTs. Stick some knobblies on it and you've a bike that'll cope with mud, smooth-ish trails and let you enter CX races.
Edited by Jimbo. on Monday 13th April 14:35
I got a 2009 Kona Dew Plus through a cycle to work Scheme in October last year.
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Kona_Dew_Plus_20...
Admittedly I only have a 2 mile each way journey (all tarmac) but I find the bike spot on. It’s light and feels solid. You can get quite a pace on it (due to the lack of friction between the tyres and road).
I have used it on average 3 times a week since I got it and with summer arriving I plan to use it everyday. Huge thumbs up from me.
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Kona_Dew_Plus_20...
Admittedly I only have a 2 mile each way journey (all tarmac) but I find the bike spot on. It’s light and feels solid. You can get quite a pace on it (due to the lack of friction between the tyres and road).
I have used it on average 3 times a week since I got it and with summer arriving I plan to use it everyday. Huge thumbs up from me.
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