How was your cycle commute?

[han]

I'm looking for a lightweight bike with lots of gears for long distance cycling but I don't want a road bike - I prefer an upright cycling position. I think I might have to build it in bits, as it'll be quite specific. 46cm frame (I can't afford carbon, prefer steel over aluminium, but lightness is crucial). My preference is for a traditional thin racing frame style with men's crossbar, 700c wheels, cyclo-cross tyres. Very light, thin rack for a minimal pannier with virtually nothing in it.

Anyone got any ideas of where I could get such a thing off the shelf? Or will I need to get a cyclo-cross bike and just change the handlebars?

Budget about £500 so I'm probably asking for the moon on a stick here.

 

[han]

I like Surlys. But the frames alone are £500 aren't they?

 

[han]

I did consider the possibility of a lightweight mountain bike because I do want good puncture resistance and something that's OK on knobbly paths, but there's the issue of mountain bike tyres slowing me down on smooth roads....

 

[youbeauty]

Surly frames aren't that expensive - about £350 for a Crosscheck or Long Haul Trucker which sound like the sort of thing you're after. I had a cross check for ages and loved it but it couldn't be described as light. I wouldn't discount a mountain bike just because of the knobbly tyres - you can easily get slick tyres to fit a 'traditional' 26" wheeled MTB and loads of new mtbs have bigger 29" wheels which are, in effect, the same size as 700c road wheels anyway.

 

[steeeve]

I'm looking for a lightweight bike with lots of gears for long distance cycling but I don't want a road bike - I prefer an upright cycling position. I think I might have to build it in bits, as it'll be quite specific. 46cm frame (I can't afford carbon, prefer steel over aluminium, but lightness is crucial). My preference is for a traditional thin racing frame style with men's crossbar, 700c wheels, cyclo-cross tyres. Very light, thin rack for a minimal pannier with virtually nothing in it.

Anyone got any ideas of where I could get such a thing off the shelf? Or will I need to get a cyclo-cross bike and just change the handlebars?

Budget about £500 so I'm probably asking for the moon on a stick here.

If you want to travel really light drop the rack/pannier and look at frame bags, alpkit do a good range including a 13 litre dry bag tapered to go under you seat for £15 @ 150 grams:

https://www.alpkit.com/explore/bike-luggage

Think most panniers are nearly a kilo each

 

[han]

Thanks, youbeauty and steeeve. That's really useful. I think it's partly about working out what I want. Good point about the MTBs youbeauty - I can always chop and change tyres according to the conditions of where I'm going to go.

I like the look of that Alpkit stuff. Didn't realise you could get stuff like that.

 

[steeeve]

Thanks, youbeauty and steeeve. That's really useful. I think it's partly about working out what I want. Good point about the MTBs youbeauty - I can always chop and change tyres according to the conditions of where I'm going to go.

I like the look of that Alpkit stuff. Didn't realise you could get stuff like that.

I've got most of the alpkit bags which I use in different combinations depending on what I'm doing. You can cram a surprising amount of stuff in them

 

[Sigmund Fraud]

I'm looking for a lightweight bike with lots of gears for long distance cycling but I don't want a road bike - I prefer an upright cycling position. I think I might have to build it in bits, as it'll be quite specific. 46cm frame (I can't afford carbon, prefer steel over aluminium, but lightness is crucial). My preference is for a traditional thin racing frame style with men's crossbar, 700c wheels, cyclo-cross tyres. Very light, thin rack for a minimal pannier with virtually nothing in it.

Anyone got any ideas of where I could get such a thing off the shelf? Or will I need to get a cyclo-cross bike and just change the handlebars?

Budget about £500 so I'm probably asking for the moon on a stick here.

Have you checked out spa cycles han? Some good pricing on complte bikes.

Otherwise I would say Planet x Kaffenback or Surly cross check. If you want to go for lighter, 631 steel a Bob Jackson end to end frameset is about £650 quid. S/h frames in that size are pretty rare sadly.

 

[steeeve]

Thanks, youbeauty and steeeve. That's really useful. I think it's partly about working out what I want. Good point about the MTBs youbeauty - I can always chop and change tyres according to the conditions of where I'm going to go.

I like the look of that Alpkit stuff. Didn't realise you could get stuff like that.

Also check out Planet X for lightweight good spec cheap bikes:

www.planetx.co.uk/

Both UK companies!

 

[han]

That's great, thanks Sigmund Fraud and steeeve. Plenty for me to drool over and think about. I'll report back! Never heard of Spa Cycles. Ta.

 

[a_chap]

I'm looking for a lightweight bike with lots of gears for long distance cycling but I don't want a road bike - I prefer an upright cycling position. I think I might have to build it in bits, as it'll be quite specific. 46cm frame (I can't afford carbon, prefer steel over aluminium, but lightness is crucial). My preference is for a traditional thin racing frame style with men's crossbar, 700c wheels, cyclo-cross tyres. Very light, thin rack for a minimal pannier with virtually nothing in it.

Anyone got any ideas of where I could get such a thing off the shelf? Or will I need to get a cyclo-cross bike and just change the handlebars?

Budget about £500 so I'm probably asking for the moon on a stick here.

Second hand?

My first "proper" road bike was 2nd hand from my Local Bike Shop. They had a selection of bikes to choose from, they made sure it was a good fit and came with a 6 month warranty. I paid about £500 for a bike that was a year old and had cost nearly double that when new.

 

[weepiper]

£500 for just a frame, or £500 for the whole bike han?

 

[Sigmund Fraud]

That's great, thanks Sigmund Fraud and steeeve. Plenty for me to drool over and think about. I'll report back! Never heard of Spa Cycles. Ta.

£690 for a Reynolds 631 frame,avid BB5s, sora gears, brooks saddle and rear rack seems a bargain to me. If I didn't already own a fuckload of bikes I would buy one on general principles of n+1.

and what about the genesis smithfield? Pricier but...

 

[han]

Weepiper, I was going to say £500 for the whole bike, but maybe I could stretch to more for the right setup.

I really really liked that Spa Cycles site and the Planet X one as well, plus am looking at Isla Bikes as they do small frame sizes, light(ish) - which is important to me - I do not want another heavy bike - and have excellent reviews.

 

[han]

I absolutely love the look of that Raleigh - but at 50cm for the smallest frame size it's way too big. Where did you see the Smithfielder, Sigmund?

 

[han]

I'm looking at this at the moment :
http://www.islabikes.co.uk/products/bikes/item/beinn-29

 

[han]

It's 12kg. I'm starting to consider aluminium due to weight (the Isla one is) and was looking at this as well http://www.wiggle.co.uk/verenti-tec...t87djKyQ_dm|pcrid||pkw||pmt||prd|5360631107uk
- could swop tyres for cyclo-cross ones and swop handlebars. But also am thinking about a cross-check frame, building one with upright handlebars. Or even a carbon cyclo-cross frame. Anyway! It's all good fun and there's lots of drooling to be had. Thanks folks.

 

[han]

How many bikes have you got, Sigmund? I'm curious.
[emoji3]

I've got my commuting hybrid workhorse (Marin Larkspur with rack which I load up with panniers, trumpets and all other kinds of nonsense). I also have a lightweight steel single speed racer (Iro frame). And my beloved apple green Brompton, also with rack. I also borrow my partner's (heavy) old 'mountain' bike for rides that are offroadish, or icy conditions.

Ideally I'd complete this collection with a tourer with upright handlebars , a road bike with drops, and a proper lightweight mountain bike with full suspension and disc brakes..... one can dream.

At the moment though, my priority is something light and fast with lots of gears, and puncture resistant tyres, either Marathon+ or cyclo-cross. With the possible addition of a very lightweight rack. I can see that this is really a combination of all the above! Maybe it's sensible to just get one of the above rather than trying to combine them all. A road bike, perhaps.

 

[DownwardDog]

. But also am thinking about a cross-check frame, building one with upright handlebars. Or even a carbon cyclo-cross frame. Anyway! It's all good fun and there's lots of drooling to be had. Thanks folks.

The Cross Check has bar end shifters which is going to look strange with flat bars. Why not just get an Ogre?

 

[han]

I was thinking about getting just the cross check frame.

 

[han]

Wow, the Ogre does look like an excellent multifunction bike. Like a Swiss army knife. Not sure how light it'd be but I'll find out.

 

[han]

God, I love Surlys.

 

[weepiper]

didn't know Islabikes did a 29er but you could do a lot worse than that! They're generally very well made and nice to ride.

 

[han]

It's definitely a frontrunning contender!

Thanks folks, didn't mean to take over the thread! Really appreciate your feedback. I'm going to have a good old think for a bit.

 

[steeeve]

It's definitely a frontrunning contender!

Thanks folks, didn't mean to take over the thread! Really appreciate your feedback. I'm going to have a good old think for a bit.

Last post! Should really be on the chat thread I guess but if you can stretch to £700 and weight is the priority check out the Planet X Pro carbon flat bar, medium frame is 8.65kg the frames are really compact too is you after something small (my mates got the road version) they'll swap out the tires for their kevlar ones too if you need punture resistance

http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBPXSLPFBTIA/planet-x-pro-carbon-shimano-tiagra-flat-bar

 

[han]

Wow. That ticks all the boxes - thanks steeve! Now for some mulling....

I love Urban...

 

[han]

Ah, cyclo-cross tyres don't go as small as 24mm, but still you can get Marathon tyres of that size for puncture resistance. Thanks steeeve! I'll shut up now.

Back to commuting!

 

[Crispy]

Left the house 20 minutes late and it's amazing how much quieter the roads are. Warm sunshine and a tailwind. Lovely ride in

I get the feeling the ride home isn't going to be so nice.

 

[steeeve]

Ah, cyclo-cross tyres don't go as small as 24mm, but still you can get Marathon tyres of that size for puncture resistance. Thanks steeeve! I'll shut up now.

Back to commuting!

Planet X do there own kevlar tires that are very good, imagine they'd switch out for free.

Anyway lovely on the way in this morning. Out of interest how many on this thread do Brixton to Waterloo or London Bridge or thereabouts?

 

[han]

Me, I do Brixton Hill to Euston via Waterloo Bridge (all along the NCN / sidestreets - Lyham Rd etc).