Author Topic: Help! What bike do I want??  (Read 2042 times)

tonycollinet

  • No Longer a western province of NĂºmenor
Help! What bike do I want??
« on: 21 April, 2008, 09:33:40 pm »
My current bike is a hardtail MTB. Most of my riding is solo, and much offroad - albeit flat tracks trails. and towpaths, and for this it is great - I love it. I also periodically take it off to Wales, or Cannock for some more technical off road stuff.

However, I have a hankering for something a little faster which (I think*) would enable me to join in some more of the shorter yACF rides, without being so concerned about pace.

For about a year now, I have wanted to get a recumbent - somthing like a streetmachine. However, more recently I have been thinking I am attracted more to the *idea* of a recumbent rather than the reality, and there is a risk that it would not be used as much as i think. Plus - would it be as fast as a conventional road bike.

So do I really want a drop handlebar road bike (not ridden one for about 20 years), and if so, what type. Don't think I want a pure bread racer - somthing comfortable for longer journeys, probably with mudguards - or do I really want the 'bent after all, for ultimate long duration comfort.

Bugger.

*and can I really expect a 'bent or roadbike to be significantly faster than my hardtail, given that the vast majority of the weight I am hauling around is me.

tonycollinet

  • No Longer a western province of NĂºmenor
Re: Help! What bike do I want??
« Reply #1 on: 21 April, 2008, 10:03:28 pm »
Thanks for the suggestion.

Should have pointed out that I will keep the MTB for all offroad. Any additional bike is only worth having if I can go faster - with comfort also an important consideration.

LEE

Re: Help! What bike do I want??
« Reply #2 on: 21 April, 2008, 10:28:57 pm »
Check out Thorn's Rohloff range.

I rarely ride anything but my Raven Tour now.  It's as close to a "do everything bike" as I can think of.

I've done around 6000 miles on it.  I've carried luggage on cycle tours, it's done a 300km Audax (as well as several 100s and 200s) and will hopefully be doing a 400km and 600km this year. It's not a fast bike compared to a carbon road bike but it will be quicker than a typical MTB and they also do a Raven Sport Tour if you want something more lively.

I'm definitely not the slowest on the Audax rides and, if I was, it wouldn't be the bike's fault.

Most of all it's comfy, very comfy.  It has a very relaxed geometry (check out where the pump fits) and it super stable.  I use drops but my friends has same bike with flat bars and also rides Audax on it.

It's not maintenance-free but unless you get a single-speed it's hard to beat.  Add about 20ml of oil to the hub every year and tension the chain every few months.

Best of all though, you get 3 months to try it and send it back if you don't like it.  That's really tough to beat when you are spending over a grand and personally I think it's crazy not to at least try it for 100 days.

Best thing I have ever bought, I really love it even though it looks a bit of a bruiser when parked next to its carbon equivalents.




A lot of people seem anti-Rohloff or anti-Thorn but I've yet to meet an owner who is either.



Wibble

Re: Help! What bike do I want??
« Reply #3 on: 22 April, 2008, 03:30:24 pm »
However, I have a hankering for something a little faster which (I think*) would enable me to join in some more of the shorter yACF rides, without being so concerned about pace.

*and can I really expect a 'bent or roadbike to be significantly faster than my hardtail, given that the vast majority of the weight I am hauling around is me.

Much depends on how fast these yACF rides are.  If the average speed is below 15mph then 'performance' gains from drop bars and thin high pressure tyres will be negligible - the sensible solution here is to get some slicks on the hardtail and lockout the front suspension.  That, however, will make for a boring thread.

IMHO there's bugger all point going for flat bars - it'll ride just like the hardtail-with-high-pressure-slicks 'cept be a kilo or two lighter, which means bugger all unless you're in a group that likes to play at racing (lots of accelerating), in which case you'll be wanting drops too.

For reasonably fast-but-steady riding, a sportive/audax bike is designed for the job.  Tweaks to it's geometry sacrifice a few % of performance for more comfort, and gets rid of that twitchy 'race' handling that scares the wossname out of me on fast downhills.

Summary: drop bar sportive/audax bike, or fit high pressure slicks to the hardtail and spend the rest on beer and pies.

gonzo

Re: Help! What bike do I want??
« Reply #4 on: 22 April, 2008, 03:49:10 pm »
How much do you want to spend?

PaulF

  • "World's Scariest Barman"
  • It's only impossible if you stop to think about it
Re: Help! What bike do I want??
« Reply #5 on: 22 April, 2008, 03:51:32 pm »
I bought a Ribble Winter trainer for faster in town commutes longer rides etc. as an alternative to my aging hard tail and I'm very pleased with it.