Reply With QuotePersonally I'm not a fan of drop bars, especially the brake lever position. If you're not head down racing it's not the most comfortable riding position so I'd rule out Cyclecross bikes unless they have a flat bar.
I’ve been riding a beat-up road bike to work, and for general recreation for many years so don't know a lot about bikes. Hence, I'm looking for some recommendations.
I know this forum is packed with lycra-luvvies, and I've just treated myself to a £1000 cyclescheme voucher. Thinking I’ll keep around £150ish back for accessories, so looking at spending £800-900 on the bike.
I cycle to work about 3 times a week 7 miles each way on a mix of tarmac, trail and a bit of mud. The rest of the time I’ll be mostly using it for river paths, parks and tarmac.
I’m thinking either a cyclocross or hybrid bike, probably favouring the cyclocross as I like the functionality of a road bike with wider tyres. Also, most of the hybrids seems to have very wide flat bars and don’t seem that good on tarmac. But, I am open to suggestions.
Looking for something with 32-35mm wide tyres, a nice wide comfy seat, mudgauards and not too heavy (say <12kg)
Thanks in advance for your suggestions.
Personally I'm not a fan of drop bars, especially the brake lever position. If you're not head down racing it's not the most comfortable riding position so I'd rule out Cyclecross bikes unless they have a flat bar.
maybe something like a Genesis day-one or a Boarman HYB 8.9. Are you bothered about frame material? Those two are steel and alloy respectively. You can always find something more expensive but for me the x1 on the Boardman is nice and the flat bars/mudguard mounts.
https://www.boardmanbikes.com/gb_en/...6-hyb-8.9.html
Saddles/pedals and cassette can all be changed of course
Get an Ebike, they're great. If you're not too bothered about how they look there are some real bargains about. If you want to look 'cool' there are the mid-drive (Bosch, Shimano, Yamaha) powered type that can be had from £1000 upwards from names like Haibike, Trek, Specialized etc.
By law they are restricted to 25kph but you can buy devices to remove the restriction easily. That does compromise battery life a bit but I bought a spare battery to solve that problem.
I would argue the opposite, you get 3 positions with drops. Admittedly you will not use the drops as much but being able to use the tops for cruising and hoods for traffic means they are more versatile than flat bars and more nimble when you do meet heavy traffic.
Cross bikes or ‘road plus’ bikes are usually a little bit lighter than out and out commuter bikes too especially with the wheels. It’s a bit of a trade off between weight/durability and a nicer riding slightly lighter bike.
Some cross bikes come with tubeless ready wheels which will give you less punctures if you run tubeless and run lower pressures if you go off road.
Not really up on models and price points but the big dealers usually have some good value with their own brands and then there is Rose, Canyon and whatever Merlin are doing a deal on.
I think a Gravel Bike would be a good choice for you
Difficult to advice due to the various brands in the UK vs The Netherlands. However, Cannondale has a nice Urban Tesoro on its webpages. Basically, this is a dirt-road bike with fenders and a softer saddle. I'm sure that Cannondale is sold in the UK. About an eBike: well... I 'met' the pretty steep Devon hills last summer. If all British hills are like the hills in Devon, I would not hesitate to go out and buy the strongest eBike my wallet would allow me to buy!
Menno
So many brands to choose from, but Trek or Cube are worth looking at imo
Have a read up on this:
https://road.cc/content/buyers-guide...are-home-lanes
Yup. Exactly what we ride - and there's more to choose from over here: Koga, Rih.Originally Posted by henk
Germans are doing fine as well with their Bulls Bikes. Their 'Movers' series looks good and is relatively cheap. I think you can order them online.
Menno
Last edited by thieuster; 6th March 2019 at 17:00.
Halfords are doing 20% off bikes when you trade in an old helmet or bike so you could get the Boardman ADV8.9 for £800. It has full hydraulic brakes which at this price point is extremely rare.
https://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/adventure-bikes/boardman-adv-8-9-mens-adventure-bike
The Cannondale Topstone Sora at around £900 is worth a shout. It's a really nice looking bike in the flesh. I had a quick gander at one but they didn't have my size.
Last edited by doubledee; 6th March 2019 at 17:45.
Loving the fifty percent who give zero attention to the original poster's stated preferences and use the thread to state their own bike preferences.
Like drop bars, get a flat bar, like road bikes, nah mate you want to get a Dutch bike.
Suggest you try a good UK cycling forum instead!
Not personally well up on the current cycle to work options.
Last edited by ernestrome; 6th March 2019 at 19:59.
‘Cycle to work about 3 times a week 7 miles each way on a mix of tarmac, trail and a bit of mud. The rest of the time I’ll be mostly using it for river paths, parks and tarmac.
...I am open to suggestions.
wide tyres, a nice wide comfy seat, mudgauards and not too heavy...’
Who’s given zero attend to the original request? The posts seem sensible so far. Nobody’s suggested he buy a Downhill bike, a BMX, or a Time-trials carbon whippet.
You’ll get no better opinion on a cycle forum than here, as plenty of us cycle daily and contribute to a variety of forums.
I’ve a Boardman pro hybrid, bought on CTW scheme about a year ago, was £1k but I reserved it when it was down to £800 and the had a 10% off day
I think it’s. A pretty good bike - I don’t have a car so use it daily for everything and it’s perfect
Pretty light and well built-
Pro by biglewie, on Flickr
I just bought a Trek Domane AL3 on cycle to work after visiting a few shops and seeking advice
Have a look at the Planet X range, I've had 4 bikes and frames from them and they are fantastic value.
https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/EBPXLO...on-road-apex-1
Sorry, I should've said little attention and to be fair the same happens on cycling forums
I’ve got a genesis Croix de Fer 10 - you should be able to get one for your budget (especially the 2018 model) . It’s not light at about 12 kilos, but should be good for your use and budget.
https://www.cyclerepublic.com/genesi...bike-2018.html
... and no flat bars.Looking for something with 32-35mm wide tyres, a nice wide comfy seat, mud guards and not too heavy (say <12kg)
First, the width of the bars has to do with your shoulder width. Don't skimp on that: cycling with your hands too close together might be a good idea for a time-trial racer, but for everyday cycling it's best to adapt the bars to your physique (and.. wider bars make steering easier). Flat bars come with curves as well. I don't think that 'flat bar' is the correct term then... The curved & slightly raised bars make it easier for you hands and wrist to find a proper position when resting you hands on top of the bars. There's no need to simply accept the shape of a bar as in: "That's how they build 'm, sir!"
Same goes for the geometry of the bike. Invest in a proper measurement of your body and find/adapt the bike that 'fits' An badly chosen bike (sizewise) will prevent you from enjoying cycling!
Finally, there's one aspect not often mentioned: when you look at the pic below you see all sorts of distances. Distance 'N' is often overlooked, but important. When N = 60mm, the bike will have a neutral handling. As in: easy to take your hands off the bars and the bike will follow its route. When N >60 (e.g. 70 or more), you'll notice that the bike tends to go on in a straight line - and it is not so easy to turn the frontwheel when steering. On the other side: when N <60, you can end up with a bike with nervous steering! Great for a 'criterium' around the local church. But not assuring when you simply want to go to work. N=60 is the way to go.
On the risk of getting shot down in flames by ernestrome... most suggestions here that include fenders and wider tyres are good ones. When looking a the Cannondale I suggested or the Bulls Bikes Mover, it's right up the OP's alley.
Menno
decent hybrid like the boardmn shown above or a gravel bike will do you fine, nothing with flat bars , for the distance you are quoting, try and have a ride on one ,if you can
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A croix de fer or similar would be a good choice although a bit over budget. Agree with mudguards which are essential for commuting and good tyre clearance for wider tyres for comfort
I have a seven mile commute too and I would not want to do it on a Dutch bike. Instead I opted for a Genesis day one singlespeed as it is very flat here. I use something similar to a Dutch bike for shorter rides with kids etc.
I like that ebikes have made cycling accessible for some who otherwise wouldn't or couldn't. However if the OP is currently happily cycling to work unaided it would be a bit odd to switch?
Last edited by ernestrome; 6th March 2019 at 23:38.
Cannondale topstone
Bargain. Lovely bike, try and have a look at one in a dealer.
The Sora version is c£850.
It’s twice the weight of my road bikes!?mudgauards and not too heavy
There’s a reason you don’t see that many Dutch bikes around, they are so heavy and often don’t have the gear range for rolling UK terrain. Very sit up and beg position which is fine for bimbling around town but not much good for going fast efficiently.
Op not sure if you CTW scheme includes it or not but look at the decathlon website. They have gravel bikes available now... normally you get a lot for your money including things like disc brakes.. I think you should be able to get a basic one with discs and larger tyres for about £600 leaving plenty over for extras...
If you look past the brand snobbery then you get a lot of bike for your money. If you look up reviews of the red triban you will see a big following for what effectively was a bargin basement bike but was an absolute work horse of a bike that was massively customisable.
If you're going to be riding for more than 1-2 hrs in a day I'd definitely go for drop handlebars. With a flat bar bike over longer times you tend to get aching wrists.
A gravel bike seems to fit you well.
That ADV8.9 is a good-looking, well-specced bike to me. Mudguard mounts?
If you look past brand snobbery Boardman or one of Go outdoors offerings is the way to go. Both full suss and hardtail get top marks in the sub £1000 catergory in MTB magazines.
For what you do a Boardman will be fine , a hybrid type with discs etc and no drop bars . Lob some slime in the tyres and job done
I have had this for the past year for my commute to work and it is great, if like me you want something that is almost maintenance free - no chain 11 hub gears (range is very good for the type of riding you are suggesting)
Cube Editor Pro (a bit over budget but worth it)
I've seen pics on Instagram with it fitted with racks and mudguards. The lesser ADV8.8 model reviewed on road.cc states it is mudguard ready. https://road.cc/content/review/243904-boardman-adv-88
Thanks for all the advice. As Op I thought I’d come full circle on this.
I ended up buying a Cannondale Bad Boy 3 Hybrid. Seemed to get a good deal of £590 with my beater traded in. Plus all the usual tax savings with CTW scheme
https://www.evanscycles.com/cannonda...-bike-EV280375
Not a bad weight at a smidge over 11kg, and certainly lighter than the other Cube bikes I was looking at in the £700-800 price range which were coming in around 14-15kg.
Left me with a load of cash for accessories, which was a good job as it was easily spent across other bikes, plus new lights, locks etc....
Looks like a cracker for the money.
I've lost track of cycling over the last couple years and haven't heard of a 'rigid' leftie fork.
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I did take a look at this bike, but even with trade in, it was more than twice the price if the Bad Boy 3 I bought, and peculiarly the Cube weighs 100g more.I have had this for the past year for my commute to work and it is great, if like me you want something that is almost maintenance free - no chain 11 hub gears (range is very good for the type of riding you are suggesting)
Cube Editor Pro (a bit over budget but worth it)
I’m sure components are better, but couldn’t justify the extra spend.
Don't have much to add apart from don't get a single speed or fixed but definitely get something with mudguards.
I know the OP has bought a bike, but if anyone else is in a similar postion.
Another vote for a Genesis Croix de Fer. I have probably done 2500 miles on mine. Lots of lugs for mudguards I have esge full guards fitted . 35 mm tyres lots of grip, great for gravel tracks canal tow paths etc.
Steve
Last edited by higham5; 17th March 2019 at 18:08.
good choice, always wanted one of those.
Get some mud guards on it, your bum will thank you.
Last edited by jegger; 20th March 2019 at 00:00.
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