First Bike - Commuting and more - Please Help!

gonedownhill wrote:

I recently got a disc braked cyclocross frame (very little difference between cyclocross, gravel and adventure as far as I can tell) for my commuter bike and I love it. Disc brakes and enough room for wide (32mm) tyres even with full mudguards fitted both make me more confident when riding in crap weather. I also have a pretty nice road bike for long rides (tend to do one or two 100 mile sportives a year) and if I had to choose one to get rid of it would be the road bike as I can always put skinnier tyres on my 'cross bike if I wish. 

That Norco looks like a good buy. I was also looking at the Pinncale Arkose 3 (2016 model) which has full hydraulic brakes, but that's £1000 so maybe more than you wanted to spend unless you can get cycle to work scheme.

Advice on buying a bike as a tall guy who gets lower back issues - make sure you get a big enough frame. I have previously had shops trying to sell me frames that I felt were too small for me. They told me that you can just put the seatpost up a bit more. This is true but will mean that the handlebars are relatively lower so you're more bent over - although you can do things to raise the bars up, those are steps you might want to do on a bigger frame anyway to lessen the angle your back is at. I am 6'6" so a bit bigger than you so maybe most regular largest frames will be okay for you. 

 

 

Left field shout on the cross bike... Sounds interesting. I will look at that too. But yes, £1000 is too much for me right now. I do somewhat have a scheme worked out with work so I will be getting a % off.

I am most concious about my back. Golf and cricket have done a number on it and I will not get something that isnt right - so thanks for that. Seems as though 60cm is the size for me. But one guy did say he is 6'2 as well and has a 58cm Cannondale. I will see what fits best but Im not one to roll over to a salesman. They are the ones that feel worked over when I leave.. ha.

I'm going to call Rutland and see what they say. Seeing the Defy 5 at £299 is awfully teasing.

bikebot wrote:

Zoolaunder wrote:

I'm going to call Rutland and see what they say. Seeing the Defy 5 at £299 is awfully teasing.

Going back to your spec at the top, the Defy frame doesn't have much clearance.  Mudguards are awkward, many 28mm tyres are awkward.  For commuting as well, even getting a rack onto it can be difficult.  It's exactly the sort of frame I advise people not to buy as mixed use and I own one!

JI'd suggest you take a closer look at the Norco.  That's a good spec for the price, and Norco seem to do a good job of building bikes on which you can actually fit mudguards and racks for day to day use with very little faffing about.

If you're trying to save money, they also have a 9 speed sora version - http://www.evanscycles.com/products/norco/search-s3-2015-adventure-road-...

Sora is still a perfectly good groupset, and replacing chains and cassettes as they wear out will be slightly cheaper than 11 speed parts.

 

ive taken a punt and ordered the Norco Search S2. Going to have it ready for Monday and will test ride it to see how it feels. I got the one with the 105 and it has 28mm tyres on it. 

The reviews seem to be mixed and people have said that they're quite heavy... After choosing now I'm a bit worried. 

Guess ill ill have to find out on Monday 

bikebot wrote:

Zoolaunder wrote:

ive taken a punt and ordered the Norco Search S2. Going to have it ready for Monday and will test ride it to see how it feels. I got the one with the 105 and it has 28mm tyres on it. 

 

The reviews seem to be mixed and people have said that they're quite heavy... After choosing now I'm a bit worried. 

 

Guess ill ill have to find out on Monday 

Just took a look, and those reviews looked quite good to me.  Some people are just a bit obsessed about weight, but it doesn't matter a fraction as much as they might think.  I own a few bikes of different weights, and the biggest speed difference comes about from simply swapping the tyres between them.

For the frame, you're balancing the three choices of strong, light and cheap.  I can see on the Norco product page that the S2 and S3 are the same frame.  The S1 uses Reynolds 520 steel so it will be slightly lighter, but it's your choice if you want to pay another £200+ for a slightly lighter bike.  There's a rapid dimiishing return as the price goes up.  

http://www.norco.com/15search/

Anyway, the most important thing is to try it and see what you think of it.  I bought a Norco a few years ago because it was sat in my locan Evans and it was a a flippin bargain.  Didn't know the brand, but gave it a try and it felt really comfortable.  It is easily the most versitile bike I own, and probably put in more miles than the other bikes in my stable last year.

 

Thanks for the info - I took it for a test ride but it had a nasty dent in the top bar so they're getting another one in. I did like it. It felt good to me, but I really dont know what I am comparing it to.

So, what I have done is get an S3 in too - same bike, Sora set. I want to see and feel the difference. As theres £160 price difference. The disc brakes felt ok to me again, but some part of me was feeling that they werent set up correctly. Just a gut feeling. I am test riding the other two tomorrow so will hopefully be clearer. I think in principle its a good bike. It didnt feel that heavy to me, I guess I am working this against all these buzz words you hear...

 

I wont even look at the S1 - not spending that much. Maybe in a year or two if I get hooked. But not now.

 

Cheers

 

 

 

 

MoominPappa wrote:

arfa wrote:

 the norco has an alloy fork instead

Not according to the Evans URL above or Norco's website - it is chromoly. 

Now I absolutely agree about carbon having dampening properties compared to aluminium, but so does steel.

Which will be better - carbon fork and alu frame or all chromoly frame and fork - now I don't know. OP clearly has no budget for full carbon setup. 

Alu frame and carbon fork should be lighter than full steel setup although that itself isn't such an issue unless OP does a lot of hill climbing. 

As a matter of fact I was also looking at Caadx and Arfa is right about their frames. 

Safe to say hill climbing is not going to be happening early days. Chiswick and the surrounding areas are lovely and flat. The cars and traffic are enough to deal with for now.

What is this chromoly? Its just steel right? Or am I very mistaken..? (I turn to google...)

arfa wrote:

Cannondale have a great reputation for light weight aluminium frames and as an owner I have no complaints. Giant bikes have a great reputation and lots of happy owners too. A key difference I would point out on the synapse I highlighted is that it has a carbon fork which will take some of the "buzz" out of riding on crappy British roads and the norco has an alloy fork instead. The norco also has thicker tyres (only really necessary for gravel/off road). On groupsets, the cheapest is claris, sora, tiara, 105, ultegra and then on to dura ace/di2. For me, the cheapest i'do go is tiagra as it changes crisply and the components feel more durable than claris/sora. 105 is a little bit crisper in changes but as a first bike, I doubt it really would be noticeable over tiagra. On an aesthetic view, tiagra run the cables under the bar tape (which looks cleaner) and the cheaper sets run cables outside. Hopefully this helps and in short, either tiagra or 105 for me

Again, thanks. Very helpful. I will keep this in mind tomorrow when I'm testing.  It truly is crazy how many little differences there are and how these all seem to make quite large differences. The Norco for the money seems a good bet. But I am also driven by the look. The synapse takes the looks prize but parts for money is Norco. Maybe I'll just spray it one day and make it all matte and sexy.

Thanks though! Guardian angels here.

Re pedals, Shimano have a combo set for cleats and normal shoes which seems good to me and lets me get into them in my own time. Winning.

arfa wrote:

The norco is a great spec and i'd definitely consider it in your shoes. On discs, if you're commuting you will be using your brakes more than usual and I found i'd get 4000 miles out of a set of wheels before the rim wore out to the point of being dangerous not to replace - that's essentially 200 quid for a new set of wheels. Discs on a commuting bike are a must for me, especially in an urban environment

Ok. that makes sense then. pay more upfront to save more over time - logic. Argh.... Just looking through Evans and theres some good deals on Fuji's, Cannondales, Norco... Going to try and ride these three and hopefully make a desicion.

Are wheels really that much? Thats crazy.

MoominPappa wrote:

Zoolaunder wrote:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/norco/search-s2-2015-adventure-road-...

 

Been pointed towards this. Spec looks great?!

 

I was dribbling over this one, however C2W provider limitations precluded me from buying it.

What is not to like in that price,  105 groupset and chromoly frame?!

I really hope that one day I will appreciate all the diiference in sets etc. To me they are cool names with varying price ranges which make me sad that this could cost a lot of money...! Ha.

I have been looking... more... and saw the Giant Defy 0 (as well as the 5,4 and 3 etc) on offer at Rutland for £650. Are Cannondale and Giant quite similar? See, I am a cricketer and golfer. And I understand all the differences between forged and cast, fitted and standard as I play to a high level. I want to push myself to get the equivalent bike, but I dont know if I would appreiciate or benefit...

How much of a difference is there with these Claris and Sora and 105 etc?

arfa wrote:

I am going to stick my neck out and recommend this: http://m.evanscycles.com/products/cannondale/synapse-alloy-tiagra-disc-2... Why ? I commute on one in London, they're excellent bikes and very comfortable. It comes with disc brakes which are better in crappy weather (plenty of it at the moment), your wheels will last longer (the rims don't get ground down by caliper brakes). This bike has a tiagra groupset which is way crisper than claris and sora. Essentially, this is a bike that will meet all your needs and it will last better and should avoid the maxim of "buy badly, buy twice". Yes it is more than your budget but this bike is a bargain if you think of getting several years use out of it. To put it into context, I have done 7000 miles on mine and have only had to get a new set of disc pads on mine - minimal cost per mile.

I didnt realise/really think about the caliper brakes eating at the wheels... Its the little things you neglect. Do they really take that much away from the life of your wheels? For instance, if I went for the Mango and got the Team Vision wheels - would they just need replacing after X amount of miles?

Thanks for the advice! Looks like a lovely bike. I was looking at the green and black ones, however, the 61cm frames all seem to be sold out... Will 58cm be too small for me? (I'm 6'2")

I was looking at the Fuji Sportif - any good? Any other recommendations? Like you've all said, would like to have 3 good options.

Guys, thank you all so much for the advice! I was not expecting such a response! Really appreciate it.

Dr. Ko wrote:

I think the important step is to define your needs and the related features. Back in my storage I have so called race bikes as well as touring/commuter bikes. The commuter bikes are for riding to/through town. I can change my daily commute between 8 and almost 20 miles one direction.

- tyres 25 to 28 mm wide, you're still in town so 28 mm is totally enough, Schwalbe Marathon are a good option

- ass savers

- saddle for a more relaxed position e.g. Brooks sometimes combined with a Caradice saddle back. 

These commuter bikes are usually based on a used steel frame and used 10 speed Shimano Ultegra parts. Here a example with a new aluminium frame and a low budget: Budget bike of course for London it needs some add-ons London extras.

I must admit building your bike is an unlikely option for you, but I wanted to give you ideas for a commuter bike. A friend had almost the same situation, he opted for a second hand bike.

Final idea: If you want to convert your commuter bike for weekend fun, get a second set of wheels like Fulcrum 3 with lighter racing tyres like Conti GP 4000 II, while your working day wheels will be 3 kg including tyres, these weekend wheels are about 2 kg a major difference.

Good luck!

Dr. Ko

Hi Dr Ko,

Thanks for the info - I clicked on the budget build but only saw part 3 of your build. What commuter bikes have you got? And I wouldnt be against building, but saying that I also just want it asap so this may not be a good idea for now.

Mango have the team vision upgrade they offer for only 69.99 - are they good and light enough? I think I am going to try get the Canondale Synapse and go from there. Evans have last years model on a good offer and that seems good to me... Unless of course theres better options?

What are good tyres for commuting then? I see all these puncture resistant ones - are they what I should get? And the Canon comes with 25mm - should i get slightly bigger or are these good enough for the job at hand?

Thanks

. . wrote:

Zoolaunder wrote:

I think I am going to try get the Canondale Synapse and go from there. Evans have last years model on a good offer and that seems good to me... Unless of course theres better options?

Evans are very good for test rides, so go and try it out, and maybe compare with one or two others.    Just don't bin it!

http://www.evanscycles.com/help/test-rides

Stupid question - if I stack it, will I get nailed by charges?!?! I am hoping to pop in this evening and do some test rides on Saturday am.