CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 15years old!
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RULES No personal insults. No swearing.
not resolvedI have a road bike (a Raleigh), but it isn't my regular short distances around town commuter/utility bike (the Brompton does that). The Raleigh is used for anything longer distance, including cycling all the way to Livingston and back when I do that.
It was fairly cheap and is quite solid and chunky. It has mountings for a rack (which I have and which I find very useful) and mudguards (which I intend to get 'sometime').
I like it. I have no idea how big the tyres are.
Go for low maintenance. Belt drive plus 8 speed hub. Self adjusting hydraulic disks. Marathon plus tyres. e.g Marin SC4.
Trust me, when you haven't had to touch the bike in 18 months commuting, you'll love it
I bought a cheap tourer second hand (EBC country traveller) and built it up for commuting - I spent the money on decent wheels and brakes - the rest is pretty simple. It's hardy as anything and as it's not very pretty I've never ever had anyone hint at wanting to steal it.
Having said that I have had a brief go on nedd1e_h's bike and it's what I'd go for if I had the money and didn't already have a bike with which I am in a committed relationship.
As a pure commuter, what @nedd1e_h said. £1,700 well spent.
What are you planning on using it for? This is the first question I ask customers. People think they need a certain type of bike, when often they are very impractical for what they are planning on using it for.
Road bikes are a good example. Unless you are commuting 20+miles a day, they're not a great choice, unless the only thing you care about is speed.
That Rose is rather expensive at £1700. Here's Gazelle's
CityZen C8 offering if you're after that type of bike (belt, discs). £999.
https://www.gazellebikes.co.uk/bikes/cityzen-c8/
Or the Ultimate S8 at £1399:
https://www.gazellebikes.co.uk/bikes/ultimate-s8/
Sorry, I don't normally do sales pitches on here, but....
I like those nice upright Gazelles but live up stairs so 17kg is no go. I enjoy my roadbikes's light weight but sometimes wonder if I've been sold a pup sort of, in that I'm not Pedro Delgado in real life and why am I here stretched out and squashed down on a drop bar road bike rattling my way over cobbles, not quite in full visual grasp of the cars approaching from my side. This is offset by the enjoyable weight, which feels light next to my town mtb. I'd like a ti Brompton 2-speed maybe, as an as-well-as, not an instead-of, as it'd be upright but also light. Bad on cobbles, I've heard. I'm less drawn to the CdF, which surely is weightier but not upright. An 11kg Gazelle would be just the ticket.
Can't say I notice I'm any faster during the occasional outing on my road bike (I like to avoid the wet when riding with no mudguards, so not often) as opposed to the Thorn Audax with rack etc, but it is easier going.
A good attitude says that a "slow" bike is just one that offers a better training opportunity☺
But my next bike would probably be of the gravel/CX variety, at the risk of being seen as trendy. I gave up the beard years ago.
IWRABTS
As a pure commuter, what @nedd1e_h said. £1,700 well spent.
If I had £1700, I'd buy a guitar, a new computer, and a bike that's a lot less than £1700!
@gibbo
Indeed. Practical bikes are very expensive, doubtless due to so very few people buying them.
The cheapest option of course would be to rebuild your hybrid.
They're not very expensive. Here's an extremely practical bike for £579.
https://www.gazellebikes.co.uk/bikes/esprit-c7/
Still plenty to spare for a guitar. There's a great guitar shop in Corstorphine ;-)
(Sorry, I'll stop the plugs now :-) )
"Sorry, I'll stop the plugs now :-)"
No need -
"Shops are welcome to add information about particularly interesting stuff."
(Not just in the "Stuff" section.)
I commuted on a road bike for years. There was a bit more sense to my bike choice as I could use the drops into the headwinds along the coast. I used to make the most of it by doing laps of Arthur's Seat on my way home. I did eventually switch to an off-road route using an MTB after one too many encounters with idiot drivers though. I was lucky I had the choice.
I'm another Croix de Fer commuter but I also have a Genesis Equilibrium steel road bike. It's a custom build with hand-built wheels and came out pretty light at 9kg, which is about 2.5kg less than the CdF, even though both are made of the same frame material (Reynolds 725 steel). I commute (16 miles each way) on the CdF because (a) I've set it up for commuting with dynamo lights, luggage carrying and bombproof tyres, and (b) it's good for off-road detours through the Dalmeny estate. But there's no doubt at all which bike I prefer riding: the Equilibrium is far more responsive (probably due to wheel and tyre choice) and just as comfortable, despite the narrower tyres. I occasionally commute on it if the roads are dry, and I'm typically a couple of km/h quicker on it than the CdF. So if you really want the 'road bike' experience without sacrificing practicality, you could look at something like the stock Equilibrium - it can take a rack and mudguards, and there is a disc brake version too. It would be great for year-round commuting if you stick to tarmac.
Current Cdf 10 (the £900 one, medium size) is 12.2kg says my pal Evan(s), which means 13+ w/ mudguards/rack, but it's a nice green colour.
If you happen to be the right size, Evans have a 2017 ex-demo CAADX cyclocross bike with much nicer components (and 2kg lighter) than the CdF10, for the same price. Not so good for the big panniers holiday though, maybe but they're pitching it as the ultimate "race on Sunday, commute on Monday" bike, whatever "race on sunday" means.
I was rooting around yesterday and came across my Tubus Tara front rack that I'd forgotten I had. It seems a shame not to have a bike to put it on. It used to live in partnership with my good old Bor Yeuh Blackburn-copy rear rack.
Now supposing* one was looking to buy a touring bike, in the traditional but ideally disc braked sort of style, in the £1–1.5k range, would you go for, for example:
or something else again?
* and nothing at all about being worried about never being able to get my recumbent bike onto the Azumæ to That York anymore.
Touring you say?
Criterium cycles had a very nice Trek at the upper end of your price range when I was in the a few weeks ago. It had luggage fitting points all over the frame but I don't recall the model just now.
Might the the Trek Checkpoint. I was recently in admiring the Bianchis and doing a bit of homework for a potential new commuting bike and was impressed by these. They had a base model with Sora + cable disc brakes for £1000 but the upgraded model with hydraulic discs and Tiagra for a bit more would be my pick but unfortunately this is over our Cyclescheme limit.
I ended up getting a cracking deal on the last Merida Mission CX600 from my LBS under the Cyclescheme which means my Boardman has moved onto pastures new.
I have a surly trucker. It's great, very stable.
Spa Cycles is a good place to go. They have bikes to test.
I really like the look of some Condor bikes. Eg
https://www.condorcycles.com/collections/cyclo-cross-bikes/products/condor-heritage-disc-frameset
I can vouch for the Condor Fratello Disc. It’s a really great bike. Also have a look at Thorn Cycles-they are a bit of a touring specialist. Their website has an almost bewildering range of advice and set up options. I have an old Thorn Raven. It weighs a ton but is very well put together. It’s non disc but I think they do disc brakes now.
If I was in the market for a steel framed disc brake tourer, the Spa Cycles Wayfarer would be my choice. Great value for a 725 frame, similar or better components to the Dawes Ultra Galaxy. Good choice of different frame sizes and lengths, and handbiuilt wheels.
I recently picked up a "B grade" late model (2017) Raleigh Sojourn* for my disc brake equipped touring steed. Only thing wrong with it was a minor paint chip near the top of one rear stay, plus a tiny dent in one of the mudguards; otherwise brand new in its original box. Reduced to a third of the original RRP. 631 frame, 27 speed triple, disc brakes, Brooks saddle and bar tape.
That was a bargain, there may be similar deals around on touring bike models from a couple of years ago if you shop around on the internet.
* - Steve Abraham rides a Raleigh Sojourn. If it's good enough for him...
Another couple of disc brake touring bike options in the sub-£700 price bracket here:
Pinnacle Dacite 1 (bar end shifters):
https://www.evanscycles.com/pinnacle-dacite-1-2019-touring-bike-EV318241
Roux Etape 250 (STIs, looks very similar to the former Revolution Country Explorer):
https://www.discountcyclesdirect.co.uk/catalog/product.php?CI_ID=23118&O_ID=4
Might the the Trek Checkpoint
I was in Criterium Cycles today and had a good look at the Trek 520 tourer. Underwhelming* component spec but otherwise I thought it looked rather nice.
I spent a long time talking with one of the staff about bike fitting. I only understand laid back bike ergonomics, and admitted as much. He quite quickly cottoned on that the red torpedo he's seen at speed near Hillend many times was me. But I am not upright bike fit, at all. Every upright bike hurts me one way or another. If it's not the saddle it's the reach or the drop to the handlebars. He was incredibly helpful, but some of his theories and explanations were completely at odds with my expectations, actually. I do wish I could find an upright bike that worked for me, as they are really quite practical things.
* I mean I am a component snob.
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