Bike buying advice

[Spinney]

I've been riding an old Claude Butler hyrbid (~20 years old), but have recently started to get a bit more ambitious, entering a couple of easy sportives (not done them yet!).

I'm wanting to buy a road bike that will also do for light touring. But I want lower than normal gears as I can't get up hills with arrows on them once I'm about 30 miles into a ride. I know I can get my legs stronger with more training, but lower gears would also be helpful when touring.

I've visited a couple of bike shops (Arthur Cargill in Richmond, and Askews in Kendal), and both pointed me at the Dawes Galaxy (or the Galaxy Plus, which has STI shifters, the basic model has bar end shifters). Both say they can put mountain bike gear sets (is that the right word?) on no problem.

The list price for the Galaxy is £1150, and for the Plus is £1299. I can afford it, but have an in-built reluctance to spend money if I'm not convinced I'm getting value.

Askews also had a range of cheaper Dawes models (e.g a Horizon at £750, which also had STI shifters).

So - any thoughts about value for money? Is it really worth spending as much as you can afford on a bike? Or would I be just as well off going for the Horizon?

I also went to a much smaller bike shop in Kendal (Brucie's), who said they could build me a bike to a similar spec to the Galaxy Plus for £900 using a "paggarina" (I didnt write it down at the time - may have heard wrong) frame. But is this really a bargain or would they just put cheaper versions of the components on it?

Sorry this is a bit rambling. The last time I bought a bike I just went to shop and handed over a couple of hundred quid for one that seemed the right size. It takes a bit more thought to spend over a grand! Any advice appreciated.

 

[Gerry Attrick]

Hi Spinney, welcome to the forum.

You should be aware that afaik, Galaxy range comes as standard with mountain bike gearing. No wonder they said they could fit it no problem!

The main difference between the Horizon and Galaxy models is the frame material quality. All the Galaxies use a higher spec tubing than the Horizon which can affect ride quality. Whether that is enough to justify the extra greenbacks is a matter between you and your wallet. I would certainly test ride both models before you decide.

In general, like most things you get what you pay for in bikes, and many people who have had Galaxies since Adam was a lad swear by them.

However it might be worth also considering some of the smaller builders such as Thorn, Roberts, Hewitt etc. as your budget appears to be close to that level. Comfort and practicality are your main considerations for touring and all of the mentioned outfits produce Audax style frames which are light, comfy and suited to light touring. (You may need to deviate from the standard spec as Audax bikes usually have road gearing).

If you really want to push the boat out and don't mind the lead time, I can personally recommend Dave Yates in Lincolnshire. He has recently built Mrs A and I light tourers in Reynolds 631 which are the most perfect bikes we have ever ridden.

 

[Spinney]

Thanks Gerry. Lead time is a bit of a problem (mainly due to me not getting my finger out and starting to look for bikes until 1 month before I'd like to use it for a sportive!). I went with a friend to Thorn a few months ago, when he was looking for a similar bike, and their lead time was 6 weeks minimum.

If you're right about the MTB gears on Galaxies - cheeky buggers, fancy not just telling me that!

 

[Gerry Attrick]

I may just qualify that by saying that certainly the chainsets of Galaxies are MTB, but the cassettes could be road. But if that is so, it is a five minute job to change the cassette and chain, if necessary.

Hopefully a Galaxy owner will be along soon to clarify.

Oh and a point about bar end versus STI. Don't discount bar end shifters. If like I do you tend to clutter up your bars with bag fittings, map holder, computer, light fittings etc, bar end shifters keep the gear cables out of the equation. I specified them for My Dave Yates bike and have not regretted it.

 

[jack the lad]

Quite a lot of issues there.

1. 'Light touring' and 'sportives'. Might depend on how light you mean by light. A Dawes Galaxy type touring bike will carry heavy panniers, camping gear etc. It will be strong, but with strength comes weight, which you don't want on a sportive. If you just want to carry a rack pack for weekend B&B ing you could get a lighter bike - like an audax bike. There is a Dawes Audax which you might be able to compare in the same shop as a Galaxy to see what the differecnces in approach are

2. Gears - most touring bikes will come with 3 x 9 gears. Use your experience with your current bike to judge what range of gears you need personally. It doesn't really matter whether they are nominally road bike gears or mountain bike gears as you can mix and match them. Off the peg the highest low gear (if you see what i mean) you would get from road gears would be 30Fx25R which should, eventually, get you up anything you will find in the UK. The lowest low gear would be mountain bike gears which go down to 22Fx34R and you would only need for rough track touring with full camping gear (in which case you would be better off on a mountain bike based tourer anyway). If you find you need lower gears, it is not difficult or too expensive to change them, for example you could fit a mountain bike cassette to a road tourer to get 30Fx34R for about £15.

3. Spend as much as you can afford - but don't forget to include the price of racks, luggage, locks, pumps and tools and decent bike clothing (which can make more difference to how much you enjoy your trip than the bike will).

4. Any decent shimano, sram or campag drivetrain components will be good enough for anything less than a world tour. The most important component will be the wheels. One advantage of getting a bike built is that you can specify higher quality wheels without having to pay to upgrade every other component unecessarily. For light touring go for well built road wheels, for heavier touring you want strong touring specific rims and mountain bike hubs.

5. Judging from the bike shops you have been to I guess you are not too far from Hewitt's Cycles at Leyland in Lancashire http://www.hewittbikefitting.co.uk/
I have no personal experience of them, but they are never less than highly recommended by others. They make a wide range of light to heavy touring bikes at good prices, are wheelbuilding supremos and take a lot of trouble to make sure that a bike fits and is fit for purpose. If I were doing what you are I would at least check them out. I think you would probably get a better bike, or save money or both if you did.

 

[Spinney]

hi Jack
Thanks for that. Went to have a look at Hewitts - seem like a good shop. They have an Audax frame that might fit the bill. The man in the shop said to think about tyres - the max that the audax frame will take is 28 mm.

Being a newbie, I've not much idea about tyres - other than mountain bikes have thick knobbly ones, and racers have really thin ones with not a lot of tread. And I've been told that thinner tyres mean less effort if you are on tarmac.

Would 28 mm be OK for light touring on roads? (Not likely to do much off road, other than maybe the odd bit of cycle track that may not be tarmac). What do you lose by going thin - grip? Ability to stay on in wet and slippy conditions?

 

[accountantpete]

"Thin" tyres pumped up to the equivalent pressure will have less Rolling Resistance and are generally lighter - both of which will make for an easier ride. You can get all-weather treads if you are concerned about staying upright although as long as you avoid taking wet corners too quickly,metal covers and painted lines they are perfectly ok.

 

[Spinney]

"Thin" tyres pumped up to the equivalent pressure will have less Rolling Resistance and are generally lighter - both of which will make for an easier ride. You can get all-weather treads if you are concerned about staying upright although as long as you avoid taking wet corners too quickly,metal covers and painted lines they are perfectly ok.

Thanks
Just been watching the effect of painted lines in the wet in Barcelona!!