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New commuter bike
I have rode a Bianchi Impulso for 4 years with SKS Raceblades almost every day for commuting. Its been ace. About 6 months ago I got a Orbea M20D (Di2 Hydraulic brakes) for best. Except its so ace I have been commuting everyday of the week on it and its getting worn and it doesnt have mudguards. The Bianchi had a siezed cable and when I tried to fix it the whole cable boss came off the frame.
I tried a CaadX 105 tonight. It was OK but the discs were rubbish. Im going to try a Genesis CDA on Friday. Basically I want something vaguely racy, able to have larger tyres, mudguards, discs and makes me feel special. Any ideas?
If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.
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13 comments
Pinnacle arkose, hydro discs, proper guards, and I run with 27mm or 35 mm tyres
Another CX team fan.
Great for commuting, takes a rack, takes guards ( though I use Mk3's) takes the bumps of the road.
I currently do c.40 miles a day on this across London with a pannier and lock etc, and love the ride.
Using the Schwalbe marathon Supremes which are the fastest 35mm tyres I have found.
1x SRAM plus hydraulic discs for c.£900. Could buy three a year for what I save on a travelcard!
Also Makes a comfortable audax bike, great for all day rides, where speed isn't the priority, and can mix in a bit of off road stuff if required
Loved the Cda but it was too racy and stiff for winter. Just bought a Boardman CX Team. The spec is fantastic and rides beautifully, once I set it the sram 1 x gears up - the chaps in Halfords didnt seem to know how to. Put black 42mm Blumels on it. They fit great although there isnt a fixing point on the rear stay bridge so thats been held by zip ties. Bit odd as there are fixings on the forks and eyelets all round. Just need to find some cross tres that are fast on the road as its quite a shock going from a super quick road bike to a CX bike
+1 Whyte Wessex. Mate just bought one and it's awesome. Basically an aero bike that can take big tyres with Hydraulic brakes and room for mudguards. It can do it all.
CdA is a lovely bike. Not sure if it comes with the option of Tiagra? Dropping down to Claris will be a shock compared to your Di2 bike.
How big do you want to go on tyre size? Fairlight Strael would make a cracking commuter if you don't need more than 28s with guards.
If you're doing it on a budget (relative term - these will still be around £1k) look at Pinnacle Arkose and Planet X. Both a little dull but great spec for the money.
Building my ultimate commuter at the moment. Surly Ogre, going to fit a boost rohloff with 27.5 x 3, but my commute is sloppy at the moment, and only going to get worse. There was a couple of dry weeks in June.
If the commute changes to more road, will fit 29 rims and a faster tyre.
Even got a can of (very expensive) JP Weiglys Framesaver for the inside of the steel. Prepping for the long haul.
What was rubbish about the discs?
I found that my Shimano disc setup needed an absolute thrashing to start working really well, put it down to bedding in the pads (discs were cleaned with isoprop before anyone asks).
Ended up too adjusting the reach in as do with all levers and also the free travel slightly to give quicker bite.
Could even be as simple as dirty discs or air in system.
The CAADX in lower-end versions came with Promax Render R mechanical disc calipers. Those were widely panned in reviews - not a patch on the Avid BB5/BB7 or TRP Spyre.
Bike is fine otherwise.
2017 Supersix ultegra disc can be picked up for aroun £1750 if you can stretch that far for a commuter.
Other than that, i'll be looking at one of Orro's bikes
https://www.orrobikes.com/bikes/road/terra-gravel-road?gclid=Cj0KCQjwub7...
How about a Mason Cycles Resolution or Definition, pricey but excellent https://masoncycles.cc/
Whyte Wessex.
The 2018 model is a little more expensive than last years but comes with Ultegra R8000 hydros (the front chainring and front mech are both 105 level).
Mudgaurds and 30mm tyre clearance, looks awesome too!
It might be worth having a look at the latest Cannondale Synapse range. Although it's considered to be more endurance than racy, they're more racy than most of the endurance geometries.
I did consider buying a Whyte Wessex but ended up getting a Genesis Zero instead which doesn't fit bigger tyres (though I did put some 30mm tyres on it) or have mudguard eyelets.
I'm going to be pulling the trigger on a Kinesis 4S frameset soon and will then shift all of my groupset and wheels from my old bike on to that. One of its big selling points is that it takes caliper and disc brakes so I can use my old 10 speed Centaur groupset and upgrade to Potenza disc next year or the year after. It sounds as though you've already got most of the gubbins from your Bianchi so could be a sensible option.