Advice on a new bike / change in style and function?

[Rowe]

OK. So i've been riding an Apollo Vortice for a couple of years and whilst i've never had any real problems with her, the frame is about 2 inches too small so although i'll probs keep her for my winter commute / beater i need some serious advice on what kind of ride i should get next and the pro's and con's of bikes i've been looking at.
I have posted this in the beginner section as that's currently what i consider myself.

A bit of info on what i currently use it for, what i've been looking at and how much i have to spend:

My budget is £350
Commute is 6 miles daily over potholed roads and the odd detour on some rough(ish) cycle paths.
I have family that live in Beamish so would like to start cycling there 15 miles(ish).
I was 18 stone a couple of years back and trudging into work on my Apollo has got me down to 13.5 but it wasn't until i had a go on my mates Sirrus last week that i realised how hard i'd actually been working to ride such a short distance.

I am able to get the 2011 Langster for about £300 new and this was my initial plan as i want to go fixed to improve fitness and stamina but have been unable to find one locally to try out. Instead i went to my LBC (Edinburgh Cycles) and tried a few and am now completely lost!!
Don't get me wrong, the guys were really helpful and spent 2 hours letting me test bikes and when they noticed that one of my pedals was broken they swapped them out for new ones - they didn't ask, they just started changing them in front of me and never asked for any money or anything - it was a bit strange..... but greatly appreciated.

I digress.

I like the idea of fixed - no maintenance, good for stamina and fitness.
Would maybe compromise for just rear gearing.
I like the idea of much longer rides so want something appropriate which is good for my commute but also maybe mini tri's 3 days a week (Not competition - just me).
Intend to keep for at least a year.
Don't think i could cope on 23 wide tires (Which the langster comes with) too scary.

I have tried a Sirrus - Ruled out as to uprighty for me.
Tried a Courier Race - Nice but crap front forks and heavy, feel everything through the bars.

Does anyone have any ideas as to what i should be aiming for?
The options i've given myself thus far are:

1) Buy the langster and put wider tires on - but would it withstand my commute?

2) Buy the Courier Race (Its cheap) and put some bulls on it and a new fork to dampen the vibrations. The only downside here would be the resale value (or lack thereof) and is it ridiculous to put good parts on a heavy frame? The old saying is true that 'You cant polish a turd'.

3) Buy a frame off fleabay and put one together myself - i'm sure i could do it within budget with decent parts and may never sell it.

4) Go and try a dedicated, geared road bike and see if i like it then cut out the rough bits of my commute. How well do these hold up on potholes?

Any info from experienced riders would be greatly appreciated as well as info from anyone riding the above mentioned bikes, especially in the Newcastle area. Any other suggestions on bikes to try within my (really low) budget would also be helpful. Like i say, i'm completely lost. I could pretty much make the most of any ride that i get but i want something that i feel confident on more than anything and that wont break and takes no upkeep - asking a lot i know

Ideas?

 

[amasidlover]

Cheap cyclocross bike? Would be faster than a mountain bike and able to cope with most things off-road and will take reasonably wide tyres. Not sure of any examples though - have a feeling they may start a bit out of your budget.

 

[Rowe]

Yup, they seem to start at about 599GBP. I've heard some good stuff about the Paul Milne bikes and frames and if i built my own i'd probably grab a frame there. I think they do mainly cross stuff.
The amount 'off roady' stuff i do is minimal. I think i'd manage on a 28 - 32 tyre but i'm not sure if the langster would take one - dunno how well the wheels would hold up to the potholes either - they're cxp22s, apparently much better than the alex rims that used to come with it.

 

[amasidlover]

The cheapest I could find from a quick google was this - but Winstanley's rings a bell and I don't think its for a good reason... That said the components etc. look ok for the price. Or this from Giant, a brand I've heard of... but its quite a bit over your budget. You could look for a second hand cyclo cross bike.

 

[amasidlover]

This is a nice bike for the money... And that's just me going to ebay and searching for 'cyclocross bike'

 

[Rowe]

Oooooooh.... the Giant looks nice. I've heard the Winstanleys compared to Viking bikes which probably isn't a good thing, i've yet to find anyone who has a good word to say about them.
I do a bit of town riding also - forgot to mention that - cross bikes probably still the best option, seem to be good all rounders.

 

[Rowe]

Thanks for that ebay link - bit too small though, i'll need a 58 methinks. I hadnt really looked on ebay for a cross but will do so now. I'd been searching 'Fixed' and 'Giant' etc.

 

[Rowe]

OK - so i've had a look on fleabay again and still cant find anything within price-range that's the right size and ticks all or most of the boxes. Sorry for the additional post but i cant find a way to update existing ones.

 

[Cyclist33]

Triban 3 from decathlon? If you dont want the upright feel of flat bars this may be the One. In budget. Dont let potholes put you off... Its par for the course.

 

[Aiden_23]

I went from riding a MTB to 23's on a Road Bike it takes a bit to get used to but wouldn't go back unless I had to. My route has some terrible potholes throughout.But I'm lucky I commute at 0400 and 1400,do not have that many cars at these times, I just take Primary more often than not and the cars go into the other lane to overtake(they always get the thank you wave). Triban 3 is defo worth a look but bide your time something will come up eventually.

 

[Rowe]

Hi Aiden_23 and Cyclist33 - Thanks for the heads up on the Triban 3. I just assumed the decathlon bikes would be well out of my price range but that seems like a pretty good bike to start out on. Judging from the used ones (Higher spec though) they seem to really hold their value pretty well too so if i didnt like it or needed to upgrade at some point i could do so without any great loss.
I'm going to have a serious think about it though because i'm toying with the idea of spending a few bob on the Apollo to convert it to fixed for through spring and grab myself a cheap frame and some 700 rims etc and throwing a knockaround road bike together by summer to see how i like it. If its much cop i'll ride the Fixie through winter so it needs no upkeep and then break it down and sell the bits i don't want and keep the bits i do for a new build.

Parts i'll need and costs should be somewhere in the region of......

Fixie:

Sprocket £4
Bottom bracket £10 (current ones buggered)
Spacers £6
Tensioner if needed £10

Road bike:

Frame and fork (Alu) £115 (Waiting on weight info) This includes headset and stem
Specialised Turbo S (25's) £15
Bottom bracket £20
Mavic rims £60 front and back (Black)
Spokes £12 (Black)


Hubs aren't on the list as yet because i'm not too sure what to do with them yet.
I acquired a kickback hub yesterday and don't know whether to stick this on the fixie or build it into one of the mavics. I was thinking of just sticking one cog on the front and 8 or 9 on the back of the new build but i really want to mess on with this Sturmey


Anyway - this takes me up to about £250 which is the same price as the Revolution Courier Race and slightly lower than the Decathlon (which i am tempted to buy) - this gives me the added pleasure of building my own wheels and bike and setting it up but also i get to ride around on a fixie until summer to see what that's like.
I figure 3 months is more than enough time to find the rest of the bits i need.

Like i say - something i'll have to think about.

 

[Rowe]

Ha! My bad - should really have said:

'I want to go fixed to improve fitness and stamina but have been unable to find one locally to try out. Instead i went to my LBC (Edinburgh Cycles) and tried a few bikes of the non-fixed variety and am now completely lost!'

And it kind of also looks like i'm having a dig at the shop but that's taken out of context - they were really helpful.

Still lost though. My mates got a Campy velose / veloce? group that he says i can have for £200 so the build is looking like the way forward. How do i get rid of this grey highlight? Ooo-eer...

Jesus Christ, i started the week wanting an OTS fixie and now i'm building a bloody road bike that i'll probably kill myself on. Why do they make all of the bits on them so shiny??!! Thats the problem!! Once you've got the frame sorted everything else you need is shiny and begging to be bought!

 

[Rowe]

Ignore my grey highlight comment, it vanished!!Laptop trying to make me look (More of) a fool. Bah.

 

[Rowe]

OK - Another update......

The frame i was looking at turned out to be not as light as i'd hoped. I know it's not all about weight (Especially when you're just starting out) but it seemed to me to be ridiculously heavy at a couple thousand grams.
Also, all of this talk of road bikes and gears and whatnot got me a bit overexcited and i totally lost track of what i was after in the first place - Fixed gear bike in more of a road style than i'm used to for fitness etc.

So i just bought a Langster

Got it for less than expected (£280 Brand new - 2011 Model / Black / Mavic CXP22s)

At least i've got a whole bike with some OK components on that meets the above criteria. I figure it'll get me used to drop bars and riding on wafer thin wheels and as long as i enjoy that then i'll move over to a 'Proper' geared road bike.
I've also still got the kick-back hub in case i fancy mixin' it up a bit and some 25 tyres en route in case the 23's are a bit too much

I'm seeing my mate tonight to give him 50 clams off the Campy stuff cos i know i'll be needing that in future and i'm gonna start stripping down the Apollo now to sell the wheels and frame and of course the brand spanking new pedals that i got a couple of days ago - i'm sure someone on ebay'll buy them.

Still looking for a decent frame in case i do put together a road bike in the next few months and i notice that Rible bikes have some pretty good offers on bikes and frames at the moment and some seem pretty good.
Has anyone had any dealing with them? What sort of quality are the frames?
This one caught my eye:

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/ro...bble-Deda-SC6110A-Horizontal-Road/RIBBFRAR600

 

[lulubel]

I haven't had any personal experience, but I nearly bought from Ribble (before I decided I wanted steel). Their frames are well reviewed, and there are a few people here who have bought from them. Take a look in the Bikes, Accessories, etc forum, and it might be worth starting a thread there too. Their customer service seems like it can be a bit hit and miss, but that should be less of an issue if you're just buying a frame rather than a whole bike.