Absolute beginner, 32m round trip commute, C2W Scheme, best bike?

[Mark Green]

Hi All,
Trying to sift through all the excellent advice on the forums for commuting and bike buying advice but getting a bit stuck and brain is getting overloaded!

I am a complete beginner and, although relatively fit being a marathon runner, I understand that I will have to build up to being able to commute the 16 miles to work on a regular basis. I do however want to try and get the *right* bike for me under C2W scheme first time …hence this thread in the forum. In all honesty I will still be going to my local bike shop in Inverkeithing/Edinburgh too for advice but I want to go armed with some knowledge at least!!

I’m happy to pay £1k for my C2W bike BUT I am starting totally from scratch so wouldn’t want to spend £1k on the bike if I then had to spend another £200-£300 on mudguards, pedals, panniers, rack, helmet (contentious issue I know), clothing, lights, and anything else I might need.

First question I have is what ‘type’ of bike?
The 16 miles is a bit of a mix of terrain but mainly road and national cycle path. A road bike seems obvious but I like the idea of being able to fit panniers (as opposed to wearing a rucksack) and mudguards – can road bikes take panniers & mudguards? Can road bikes take the stresses of a 150-mile-a-week pounding? Will my ass stand up to 150-miles-a-week on a road bike or will I need an ass transplant?

I’ve heard Cyclocross, tourers and Hybrid’s being mentioned but I’m not really sure of the benefits/disadvantages of each type. Would everyone avoid these types for a first commuting bike? or are there gems out there for under the £1k.

I suppose a list of bikes to look at would be useful for that budget too.

Any help greatly appreciated and apologies if I don’t ‘talk the talk’ yet but maybe once I’m not a beginner I can help to advise others!

Cheers,
Mark.

 

[vickster]

Cx has dropped bars, pannier mounts and clearance for full mudguards. Also fatter tyres which are a bit more comfortable in rougher surfaces. Some have disc brakes for better braking in wet and less wear on wheel rims.

Most dedicated road bikes don't have these features.

For your bum, good padded shorts, a saddle that suits you and some toughening up down there needed

You don't specify what brands your lbs stocks, but ebc worth a look, something like one of these

http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/products/revolution-cross-sport-disc-14?bct=browse/bicycles/cyclocross-bikes

http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/products/genesis-cdf-14?bct=browse/bicycles/cyclocross-bikes

Or if shorter in stature

http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/products/revolution-cross-pro-13?bct=browse/bicycles/cyclocross-bikes

 

[Mark Green]

Thanks Vickster.

My employer uses http://www.cyclescheme.co.uk/ so there are plenty lbs in my area. I'm likely to use sandywallacecycles in Inverkeithing (near home) or Evans Cycles which is just round the corner from my work. Between the two I think they cover quite a few makes.

Height 6ft 0in so maybe a 20/21 inch or something like that. I'm kind of hoping that being of average size I could get any bike frame.

Mark.

 

[Stephen C]

I cycle a 32 mile round trip to work everyday, and have been for 2 years now on a £300 road bike with a backpack. I went with the road bike because my whole commute is on roads, so haven't really needed wider tyres, and the aggressive position makes winter headwinds a bit easier. I also don't have mudguards, I sweat a lot regardless of the weather so shower when I get to work whatever, so don't mind getting wet and dirty, and I can carry everything in a small sized backpack, so don't have the extra weight of panniers etc (not that I can fit them anyway!).

You can get road bikes that take mudguards and racks, for example http://www.merlincycles.com/merlin-malt-4-season-road-bike-62701.html. I like dropped bars as they give more hand positions than flat bars.

As said above, a good pair of padded shorts is the way forward, your bum will get used to it! I didn't build up to it, I just went straight for 5 days a week, which was a bit of a shock to the system as I started from nothing (I was getting a bit lazy), but after a few weeks of learning how to pace things better, how to use my gears properly, how to recover and my leg muscles changing a bit, it t got a lot easier!

 

[Cyclist33]

At that height you'll want to look for frames in the region of Medium through Extra Large but bear in mind there's a lot of variation across different brands. In general if you get a smaller frame you can expand it by lifting the seatpost and/or getting a longer stem (horizontal bit about 10cm long linking handlebar to vertical fork tube). If you get a larger bike you shorten the seatpost extension and/or shorten the stem. Lots will say, though, get the right size frame in the first place and that is very good advice. Often by just visiting stores and sitting on a few built up models and getting the shop person to tweak the height etc you'll find what fits you. You *can* pay to get them fitted but I suggest that might come later on. For what it's worth I'm a shade under 6 ft with longer legs and a shorter torso, and have generally speaking fitted bikes that are Medium-Large or Large, with a shorter than usual stem.

I am putting in a good word for flat bar road bikes or flat bar hybrids with a road focus, something like a Giant Escape or Cannondale Quick, at the 1000 quid budget you should find either of these highly enjoyable if it fits you right.

My new local bike shops deal in Merida bikes and I hand-weighed a Merida T2 Speeder this lunchtime, which was pleasingly light compared to my Cannondale Quick 3, and retails around £600. The T2 is http://www.zeevon.com/cycle/bikes/m...Speeder+T2-D&gclid=CM_wn4rcl74CFfShtAodVycAEg

Plenty left over for accessories!

Stu

 

[Andrew_P]

Depends what you intend to carry to and from work, I started out 4 years ago on a hybrid and rack, I ride a carbon road bike now and a small rucksack. Look carefully at what you need to take before you decide you need a rack and pannier bags. I drop all my weeks clothes off at the weekend and pick up the dirty stuff just so I could drop the panniers and enjoy the ride on a road bike. 30 miles for me and my ass is still in tact!

 

[Cubist]

You can also get a seatpost mounted beam rack which will mount a trunk bag, and some, like the Topeak versions, have expandable pannier compartments for more cargo. It means you can ride a road bike for leisure simply by removing the quick release rack. That way you aren't beholden to bikes with rack mounts.

 

[Cyclist33]

Depends what you intend to carry to and from work, I started out 4 years ago on a hybrid and rack, I ride a carbon road bike now and a small rucksack. Look carefully at what you need to take before you decide you need a rack and pannier bags. I drop all my weeks clothes off at the weekend and pick up the dirty stuff just so I could drop the panniers and enjoy the ride on a road bike. 30 miles for me and my ass is still in tact!

you know you're hooked when... you plan your work around the ride and not your ride around the work

 

[Mark Green]

Thanks folks, some good tips! Thought I was leaning towards a Cx but now not so sure. I have access to a shower at work and wouldn't carry much in a pannier other than my lunch box and my work clothes as not really practical to drop off at weekend. Some threads said rucksacks weren't great as stuff got sweaty. Borrowing a hybrid from my brother for a few weeks to test a few routes so that might help.

 

[vickster]

An hour cycling with a rucksack, I would get a really sweaty back even with one designed for cycling and I really don't sweat that much on the bike

 

[Andrew_P]

Thanks folks, some good tips! Thought I was leaning towards a Cx but now not so sure. I have access to a shower at work and wouldn't carry much in a pannier other than my lunch box and my work clothes as not really practical to drop off at weekend. Some threads said rucksacks weren't great as stuff got sweaty. Borrowing a hybrid from my brother for a few weeks to test a few routes so that might help.

I have a CX bike bought for the winter, it got ridden for 3 months 2011-2012 winter and I couldn't wait to get back on the carbon so I did in Feb. Been on that ever since I just slip some raceblade longs on for the winter as I cannot stand the drenching from the front wheel over my feet in the winter. Don't care when it is warm and wet.

Never had a problem with a rucksack. I remember riding with all my clothes boots or shoes everything in the panniers used to always hate the feel of the bike with weight on the back when all I wanted to do was crack on! Like @Cyclist33 said I have worked everything around the ride, and making it enjoyable and honestly a touring bike/CX would have limited appeal for me all year round commuting but it might be different for you. I did work my way up to it.

 

[Martin p]

I went for an Eastway fb2 from Edinbro' cycles for my winter commute . Absolutely fabulous road bike although it did take quite a while to get used to the flat bars . Just got round to putting rack & panniers on last week due to being fed up of a sweaty back , now im not sure about the weight on the back or the handling ! Btw love the Sram group that much im thinking of.changing my drop bar over to it :-)