Third Way

I would like the group's views on which bike to buy.

I currently have a Specialized Allez Sport and a Kona Hahanna. The Kona
is multi-purpose covering winter commuting, family leisure rides and
light touring (i.e. hotels/B&B/youth hostels, not camping) as well as
off-road.

I am looking to treat myself for losing weight (a stone and a half -
target two stone) and would like to get a new bike (budget about £1,100-
1,200). My thoughts were to leave replacing the Kona until another time
and get a new bike to cover the commuting, leisure and touring side. I
would like something that is happy on "gentle" off road stuff (towpaths
etc) but also is as light/sporty as possible. It needs to be able to
take rear panniers but I'm not too fussed about mudguards.

I have read many good reports about the Specialized Tricross and the
Comp version would fit in with my budget but I fancy something other
than another Spesh (no good reason really - just for a change).

So maybe a cyclocross bike from another maker?

Another thought is a custom made frame but this might blow the budget?
I'm no mechanic so would need to get the full bike built for me.
Recommendations of framebulders would be welcome - I'm in Surrey so
would prefer someone relatively local if poss.

Would a steel frame be light enough? I'm no climber and need all the
help I can get on the hills!

"Steve Smith" wrote in message
. ..

I am looking to treat myself for losing weight (a stone and a half -
target two stone) and would like to get a new bike (budget about £1,100-
1,200). My thoughts were to leave replacing the Kona until another time
and get a new bike to cover the commuting, leisure and touring side. I
would like something that is happy on "gentle" off road stuff (towpaths
etc) but also is as light/sporty as possible. It needs to be able to
take rear panniers but I'm not too fussed about mudguards.

A bike built on a Kinesis Racelight-T frame might well suit - and there are
now two versions, the normal one and the light expensive one :-)

S'an audax frame, ally, with eyes for a 4 point rack and mudguards, sized
for standard/deep drop dual pivots and clearance for 28mm tyres with
mudguards (*), 130mm OLN at the back, vaguely integrated headset thingy. So
lots of things some people hate, but it actually comes out to be a very nice
ride.

Of course if 28mm tyres will be too small for your gentle off-road, it's
probably out, and ditto if you're planning on carrying serious amounts.

(* I doubt you'd find a bike with rack mounts but no mudguard eyes - but you
don't have to fit them :-) )

cheers,
clive

Clive George wrote:

Of course if 28mm tyres will be too small for your gentle off-road, it's
probably out, and ditto if you're planning on carrying serious amounts.

28mm not the greatest choice, but they'd be perfectly adequate. Before
I had a garage of different bikes I had one drop bar tourer with 700 x
28s and I did everything on it/them. Including mountain biking in the
Cairngorms (and with only 12 gears: guess I was just harder in those days!).

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Steve Smith wrote:
I would like the group's views on which bike to buy.

I currently have a Specialized Allez Sport and a Kona Hahanna. The Kona
is multi-purpose covering winter commuting, family leisure rides and
light touring (i.e. hotels/B&B/youth hostels, not camping) as well as
off-road.

I am looking to treat myself for losing weight (a stone and a half -
target two stone) and would like to get a new bike (budget about £1,100-
1,200). My thoughts were to leave replacing the Kona until another time
and get a new bike to cover the commuting, leisure and touring side. I
would like something that is happy on "gentle" off road stuff (towpaths
etc) but also is as light/sporty as possible. It needs to be able to
take rear panniers but I'm not too fussed about mudguards.

I have read many good reports about the Specialized Tricross and the
Comp version would fit in with my budget but I fancy something other
than another Spesh (no good reason really - just for a change).

So maybe a cyclocross bike from another maker?

Another thought is a custom made frame but this might blow the budget?
I'm no mechanic so would need to get the full bike built for me.
Recommendations of framebulders would be welcome - I'm in Surrey so
would prefer someone relatively local if poss.

Would a steel frame be light enough? I'm no climber and need all the
help I can get on the hills!

Have a look at www.byercycles.co.uk I have an Aravis Super Tourer,
steel frame, which although not super light, does all that you seem to
want, and with the right gearing copes fine with Perthshire hills.
They'll make it up to meet your requirements, measurements, etc. I've
been pretty pleased with mine over the past year or so.

--
Brian G
www.wetwo.co.uk

Steve Smith wrote:

I would like the group's views on which bike to buy.

I currently have a Specialized Allez Sport and a Kona Hahanna. The Kona
is multi-purpose covering winter commuting, family leisure rides and
light touring (i.e. hotels/B&B/youth hostels, not camping) as well as
off-road.

I am looking to treat myself for losing weight (a stone and a half -
target two stone) and would like to get a new bike (budget about £1,100-
1,200). My thoughts were to leave replacing the Kona until another time
and get a new bike to cover the commuting, leisure and touring side. I
would like something that is happy on "gentle" off road stuff (towpaths
etc) but also is as light/sporty as possible. It needs to be able to
take rear panniers but I'm not too fussed about mudguards.

I have read many good reports about the Specialized Tricross and the
Comp version would fit in with my budget but I fancy something other
than another Spesh (no good reason really - just for a change).

So maybe a cyclocross bike from another maker?

Go for it. I got mine for my birthday last year. I've used it for one
serious cyclocross race (in which I came last, but what the hell - I was
the oldest rider by a good fifteen years), a lot of on and off road
pootling about, a bit of mountain-bike stylee single track with friends,
and on-road commuting all through the winter. It's an enormously fun
adaptable bike that does everything reasonably well.

Mine's a Dolan:
http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/album/getting_cross/
http://www.bikes-dolan.uk.com/en-us/dept_92.html

and actually I'd strongly recommend it; a hell of a good price for what you
get, and, as I say, a great fun bike.

Would a steel frame be light enough? I'm no climber and need all the
help I can get on the hills!

The full carbon frame on my race bike[1] - also a Dolan - weighs slightly
more than a kilogramme. The build bike weighs around 8.75Kg. A good steel
frame will weigh substantially less than 2Kg, meaning that if you built it
up with the same sort of parts I used you'd end up under 10Kg. The frame
isn't a sufficiently big part of the all up weight of a bike for 50% extra
weight to rule it out. Steel is still a good material for bike frames, and,
indeed, if I was building a bike to last a lifetime, it's what I would
choose.

[1] http://www.jasmine.org.uk/dogfood/story/article_12.html

--
(Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/


... a mild, inoffensive sadist...

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. Much food for thought!