I want a new bike for winter - any recommendations?
35dollars
Posts: 832 Member
At the moment I have a "Quest Audax Shimano Tiagra 10" which can be seen here. I think the wildly optimistic page heading of "race bikes" can be safely ignored in this case.
It's a decent enough bike, albeit entry-level, but with winter coming I want something with a bit more stability and stopping power in the wet - I still have very vivid memories of going down a steep hill last year in the rain as a series of front and rear wheel skids, and I'm keen not to replicate it this year.
My requirements. 1) Must have disc brakes, preferably with through-axles; 2) must accept tyres wider than 25s - probably going to go to 28s for the winter; 3) must take full mudguards and a rear pannier rack. I'm cycling ~30-50 miles a day in 15-25 mile installments over crappy urban roads, with the occasional longer ride, with no major hills on the route.
My local bike shop only stocks Pinarello and Giant. With the best will in the world, I'm not Pinarello material, so that's out of the question. The Giant Defy 1 Disc is a possible, and has had good reviews but (a) it doesn't use through-axles and (b) to my mind it looks dog-ugly - I really don't like the shape of the frameset.
So - any recommendations?
It's a decent enough bike, albeit entry-level, but with winter coming I want something with a bit more stability and stopping power in the wet - I still have very vivid memories of going down a steep hill last year in the rain as a series of front and rear wheel skids, and I'm keen not to replicate it this year.
My requirements. 1) Must have disc brakes, preferably with through-axles; 2) must accept tyres wider than 25s - probably going to go to 28s for the winter; 3) must take full mudguards and a rear pannier rack. I'm cycling ~30-50 miles a day in 15-25 mile installments over crappy urban roads, with the occasional longer ride, with no major hills on the route.
My local bike shop only stocks Pinarello and Giant. With the best will in the world, I'm not Pinarello material, so that's out of the question. The Giant Defy 1 Disc is a possible, and has had good reviews but (a) it doesn't use through-axles and (b) to my mind it looks dog-ugly - I really don't like the shape of the frameset.
So - any recommendations?
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What is that? Why does it have tractor tyres?0
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It's a fat bike. For snow, sand, mtn, and just generally feeling giddy. It's my winter ride. (and other seasons too)
I realize it's the furthest thing from what you're looking for, but it's so fun.1 -
So, what kind of weather are you travelling in? Are you able to trade a bit of speed for stability? I would look at a touring bike, something like http://www.somafab.com/archives/product/saga-dc-frame-set-disccanti
I have a soma as my main commuter. It is the most comfortable bike I ever rode.0 -
It'll be used as soon as it starts getting wet, hopefully all through winter. I'll give ice and snow a miss - might be fun on some deserted trail, but it's suicidal on London roads.
I'm definitely going to be majoring in stability and stopping power - I figure that any less efficiency will be just contribute to training and will be compensated next year when I swap back to thinner tyres and a possibly lighter bike. I'm also probably going to be reining in my miles a bit over the winter - I'm commuting about 110-125 miles a week at the moment, and that will probably come down to 80-100 as I concentrate more on weights in the gym and less on mileage on the bike.0 -
Well - I'll drop in the same advice as I did in another thread... (link included, as there's some other possible advice in there as well, which could help...)as an all-rounder that'll cope with either a bit of off-tarmac action (hell - it's pretty much made my MTB redundant since I bought it) or - with road tyres and fittings for guards and even a rack - winter commuting, or even winter training hack - I can definitely recommend the Cannondale CaadX Disc range - mines the 105 which may be just over C2W threshold of £1k, but if you can "top up" then the upcoming 2017 range may be a go-er - or, perhaps you may be able to drop on a discounted 2016 model. Failing that, taking one step down on the groupset which won't alter the fundamental character of the bike (same frame and wheels IIRC) and you may well get a 2017 model under the £1k.
just had a quick look on Evans Cycles (not that I'd particularly recommend them_ but...
https://www.evanscycles.com/cannondale-caadx-105-disc-2016-cyclocross-bike-EV214055
It's not quite an "all out" cross bike - the geometry of my '58 size is actually fairly standard "road" geometry - 58cm seat and top tube, 73° parallel angles, horizontal top tube - it's just got longer stays, a slightly higher bb-to-road height, and more raked forks - all of which make it more stable off-road, allow disc wheels, loads of mud clearance with 35mm knobblies, and plenty of room for 28c road tyres and full mudguards...
Brilliant, all round bike, tough enough to cope with 130kg of me on and off road - can't praise it enough.
Only downside i've had is the back wheel (this was on the 2014 models btw - they've probably sorted it now) wasn't that well built - if you're a big lad, if you get any problems with the rear wheel breaking spokes - get the wheel completely rebuilt with good quality DT Swiss Spokes by a reputable builder - it'll be £80-100 well spent - I can rebuild/re-true wheels myself, and I've just replaced them as they went ping, but out of the original 32 spokes, there's 12 at the last count remaining... the 20 that have broken and been replaced by proper quality spokes have all been fine, it's just the stock ones...
Still - at the price that Evans are selling them - you could probably just get the back wheel rebuilt (BY A PROPER WHEELBUILDER, NOT THE EVANS SHOPMONKEYS!!!!!) straight away...
Of course, if you're not limited by the ride-to-work threshold of £1k, then theres other options...
possibles off the top of my head include...
http://www.planetx.co.uk/c/q/bikes/road-bikes/london-road
http://www.planetx.co.uk/c/q/bikes/road-bikes/hurricane
or maybe the Genesis Croix de Fer range... (there's steel as well as the Ti job I linked to here - http://www.genesisbikes.co.uk/bikes/adventure/multisport/croix-de-fer-ti
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denversillygoose wrote: »It's a fat bike. For snow, sand, mtn, and just generally feeling giddy. It's my winter ride. (and other seasons too)
I realize it's the furthest thing from what you're looking for, but it's so fun.
Yep to all of the above.
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First port of call for me me would be one of the Boardman CX bikes.0
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First port of call for me me would be one of the Boardman CX bikes.
I've got a Boardman CX & if I had my time over again I'd have bought a Planet X CX instead
http://www.planetx.co.uk/c/q/bikes/cyclocross-bikes/xls1 -
First port of call for me me would be one of the Boardman CX bikes.
I've got a Boardman CX & if I had my time over again I'd have bought a Planet X CX instead
http://www.planetx.co.uk/c/q/bikes/cyclocross-bikes/xls
or for something a little more road focussed, and capable of taking mudguards (without clamp-on brackets) and pannier racks, look at their "london road" range of bikes as well - okay, it's a alloy frame and carbon forks, but, it definitely tcks all the boxes for a winter commuter/all rounder - and it'll cope with wider knobblies for the occasional bridleway/gravelbashing session.1 -
Thanks for all your ideas, folks. I'm back from holiday now and looking to buy ASAP. I've been working my way through the specs and online feedback for some of the models and it looks like my biggest issue is going to be pannier and mudguard fitting.
The Cannondale CAADX5 sounds like a wonderful bike (don't think I've seen a bad word about it anywhere), but it doesn't appear to support a full rear pannier, only something like this, which I think is going to be a deal-breaker (unless I encounter the same problem with all the others!) - I'm not carrying massive weights, generally, in my side pannier, though occasionally a less-that-svelte laptop, but still need the capacity.
The PlanetX website has fried my brain so far - I was OK with the basic bike until I got through to options and then 8-O ... which seat post bracket do I want, which chainset and bottom bracket etc - I have no idea!0 -
Well, unless they have changed the frame in the past year or two, the CaadX has got the bolt in mounts on the seatstays for a proper rack, along with very beefy threaded mounts in the dropouts for rack and panniers. I think that the only problem might be ensuring you get a rack that's designed for disk brake bikes... Give me a bit of time this morning and I'll look into it for you...
meanwhile here's photo proof of what you need to check for in the 2016/2017 frame versions...
Blurred CaadX rack and guard mounts on dropouts. by The Big Yin, on Flickr
CaadX rack mount bolts by The Big Yin, on Flickr 0 -
here we go...
cheap
https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/carriers-racks/topeak-super-tourist-dx-for-rear-rack-for-bikes-with-disc-brakes/
(don't be put off by the 2.5 star reviews, if you read them, both of the reviewers liked it, but it looks like one of them actually forgot to rate it! - hence 1x 5 star, 1x0 star, average 2.5stars!!)
https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/carriers-racks/axiom-streamliner-disc-rear-rack-for-29er-622/
Looking at this one, I think it'd work well - the "swept back" mounting points on the bottom of the rack look like they'd clear the disk brake nicely, and the adjustable top mounts would allow either seatstay OR seatstay bridge mounting (though I'd go for the seatstays every time!)
Commuter special...
https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/carriers-racks/blackburn-trx2-ultimate-commuter-rear-rack/
looks a bit "industrial" and solid, but it's a Blackburn - they don't give a lifetime warranty on them for nothing. Only downside is some people have mentioned it's a bit "tall" so moves the center of gravity of the bike higher when loaded up.
Posh Version...
https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/carriers-racks/black-tubus-disco-disc-rear-rack-for-28/
it's a Tubus - it'd go around the world a couple of times and still be ready for another trip when you've junked the bike it's attached to. Expensive, but superb.
(I picked SJS Cycles website for the reference links, basically because they're a "touring shop" and stock loads of stuff regarding panniers racks etc. Probably not the best prices you'll find, but if you need advice, then you can actually call or email them and they'll give pretty good advice.)
Personally, unless I was building a "cycle-camping" heavy-duty tourer, where I'd go for the tubus every time, I think that my money would be on the Axiom... indeed I'm actually considering doing just that at the moment!
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Thanks Mark, that is (as usual!) really helpful.0
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Well, unless they have changed the frame in the past year or two, the CaadX has got the bolt in mounts on the seatstays for a proper rack, along with very beefy threaded mounts in the dropouts for rack and panniers. I think that the only problem might be ensuring you get a rack that's designed for disk brake bikes... Give me a bit of time this morning and I'll look into it for you...
meanwhile here's photo proof of what you need to check for in the 2016/2017 frame versions...Blurred CaadX rack and guard mounts on dropouts. by The Big Yin, on FlickrCaadX rack mount bolts by The Big Yin, on Flickr
What tyres you running on your CX Mark?0 -
Well, unless they have changed the frame in the past year or two, the CaadX has got the bolt in mounts on the seatstays for a proper rack, along with very beefy threaded mounts in the dropouts for rack and panniers. I think that the only problem might be ensuring you get a rack that's designed for disk brake bikes... Give me a bit of time this morning and I'll look into it for you...
meanwhile here's photo proof of what you need to check for in the 2016/2017 frame versions...Blurred CaadX rack and guard mounts on dropouts. by The Big Yin, on FlickrCaadX rack mount bolts by The Big Yin, on Flickr
What tyres you running on your CX Mark?
Vittoria Cross XN Pro's - Planet-X had them on as a special last year for a tenner each iirc... they're normally way more than that though! Pretty good on road, okay on typical sustrans paths (beaten gravel) and towpaths, and okay on bridleways etc in the dry... as soon as it's any way muddy offroad, they're pretty terrifying though - basically their offroad surface of choice is "dust". Brilliant summer tyres, and just about to be swapped for something with some grip for the damper, more moist terrain we're likely to get (first the XG pro's for intermediate mud and mixed terrain, then the as winter draws on, the XM's for the real "slop".)
The XN's are a 31c section iirc, so they actually run quite nicely on the road - which is handy as my regular jaunt on the CaadX has around 30% of the distance on tarmac... the other two knobbly monsters are 34c's so a bit wider, and they're noiser and less smooth running on tarmac (and, a bit sketchier on wet tarmac to boot...) but by the time I'm riding on them, distance isn't often a problem and high speed handling certainly isn't...
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35dollers. If you're riding a quest bike and your local shop has pinarellos and trek I'm guessing you live in harrow? I'm up the road in Northwood.
I'm also the owner of a quest audax bike although mine is specced with 105. I've had it a long time and I'm in the process of replacing it. I'm thinking either the Dolan Dual which is a carbon full mud guarded bike or maybe the cannondale as suggested above. Not really sure yet. Admittedly it's a winter training bike for me and not a commuter bike as I only have a 5 mile commute and have a board an hybrid for that.0 -
Hi mate - you're spot on. Ideally, I'd get the bike from Quest - I've been happy with their service and I like the people there, but their range is just too limited. I'm going to go have a look at the Cannondale at a shop near my work site, which also allegedly stocks the Genesis Crois de Fer, which Mark also mentioned further up this thread.
I had a look at Northwood Bikes site (the shop is never open whenever I go past) and they only seem to sell Merida bikes, of which I know nothing.
PlanetX don't appear to have stores anywhere near civilisation, so I think they're off the table.
PITA that the local shops don't sell any of the bikes that I'm interested in, and that the shop which does sell the Cannondale and Genesis is an Evans shop with a terrible reputation, but such is life...0 -
PlanetX don't appear to have stores anywhere near civilisation, so I think they're off the table.
There's plenty of Civilisation in Yorkshire thank you very much... Not your fault that you live in the benighted south of england I suppose...
They are essentially a mail-order organisation though - the two "stores" in Sheffield and Barnsley are just a bonus for those of us living in god's own county...
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I'm happy to buy some things mail order, but I want to at least try the bike before I buy it, and ideally have the support of a fairly-local bike shop for after-sales. Having Evans as the shop is far from ideal, but it's within easy riding distance (Jason might consider London to Yorkshire a light training ride, but it's a bit of a long traipse for me)0
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Woohoo - just convinced the Cannondale website's dealer finder to work, to discover that I've got a dealer about 3 miles away from me, in Northwood Hills; and even better, it's a proper local shop, not an Evans.
Typically, they don't have a 105 in stock at the moment - anyone have any views about the CAAXX Ultegra, Sora, Synapse or Apex models (that they do currently have)?0 -
I can't comment to the Caadxx but in terms of groupset, Ultegra and Apex would both be fine, I'd stay away from Sora (it's Shimano, but low-end). Don't know about the Synapse model. I rode the crap out of an Apex groupset for several years and no problems with it at all. In fact, I liked it so much I'm all SRAM, all the time these days.0
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Ultegra's a brilliant groupset - it's just a little bit smoother, crisper, quieter and lighter than 105 - it's not as good as value in fairness, it's a fair premium over 105 for a fairly intangible performance benefit - but, especially when compared to 105 in black, it keeps its appearance much better - where 105 looks very second hand (especially the chainsets..) in the space of weeks when riding in mud/offroad conditions.
I like Ultegra - I pretty much adopted it as my Standard Groupset when I stopped racing and could no longer justify Campag Record / Shimano Dura Ace... back then it was called Shimano 600 of course
- since then, every road bike i've built myself has been 600/Ultegra - the CaadX was an exception - I bought the 105 because it was intended as a "hack" winter bike, and I thought "well, give it a couple of winters and I'll move the Ultegra groupset from the Dolan onto it, then buy myself Ultegra Di2 for the Dolan"... That plan's not happened, partly because the 105 was better than I expected, but mostly because in the last 2 years I've done less than a years worth of mileage, so I've not really worn anything much out...
Oh yes, there was another totally eccentric reason for not buying the CaadX Ultegra in 2015 spec. Put simply, the frame was black and green, and I'm very superstitious about not riding green bikes (or wearing predominately green cycling kit for that matter)- every time i've been in a nasty bike accident and been hospitalised it was on a green bike. So, I avoid 'em. Even if someone gave me a Super-Record Equipped De-Rosa, I'd have to get the frame re-finished before I'd ride it... it goes so deep in my psyche... Whoever said irrational fears had to be rational :shrug:
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Went with the 105 in the end - they sold their Ultegra yesterday, so there wasn't any great time advantage to me in pushing the boat out for the better groupset. Had a look at the Apex, but it was a bit outside my price range and only had a single front cog, which I would find a bit limiting at the moment. If I ever turn my "ooh, wouldn't cyclocross be fun" thought into actual cyclocross action, I might revisit that (after having a got with the 105, first)
I was very, very impressed with the bike shop - it's kitted out like a coffee shop with bikes, obviously has a great community (there were guys/gals dropping in the coffee and cakes all through the time I was there, all very friendly), and downstairs they had a laser measurement system for sizing me and setting up the bike. @chunkytg - is this your local shop?0 -
So, this is what I got:
(apologies to anyone in the October cycle challenge thread, who will already have seem this)1 -
ah, it's a shame that they appear to have dropped the integral rack mounts on the seatstays for the more recent models - they actually made quite a "play" about them in the advertising on my version a few years ago - the idea being that the versatility of the frame with all the mounts let you "ride to work through the week, then race on Sunday"... Still, there's a very solid mount via the seatstay bridge anyway, so you appear to be pretty well sorted.
I do like how they've moved the disk brake mount inside the rear stay triangle, as opposed to my version where it's on the top of the seatstay - tucked into the triangle has to be a better / stronger / more powerful location IMO and it certainly helps minimise interference with the racks / panniers.
Enjoy the ride mate, they're a great, versatile, fun bike.
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There are still rack mounts on the seatstays - they open forwards towards the seat tube and then the rack bridge screws into them.
I'm really enjoying the bike so far ... apart from a really annoying chirping/squeeking that's coming from somewhere in the front end, sometimes when I go over rough bits of road - I haven't managed to identify where it's coming from yet.
Other initial thoughts are posted on this thread: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/37945343 (that should be page 4 of the October 2016 Biking Cycling Bicycling Challenge! thread, if the link doesn't work)0 -
Check the front quick release is good and tight, and that the wheel is all the way into the dropouts so it's properly aligned. Mine does it a little too if the qr isn't perfect, I think it's the brake disc intermittently moving into the pads. They really aught to go to thru- axles I reckon.0
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