Carrera Subway 1 - A good commuters bike

[EasyCrank]

Hey everyone, I'm eyeing up this bike which on the face of things seems a good deal for the price.

I live in Bristol which is far from a flat city so one of my main concerns is weight. This sounds to be around 14kg, do you think that will be ok for tackling up-hill commutes?

My other question is, I'm more used to a roadbike setup and would love to go back to having drop handles. How much do you think it would cost to swap this out with drop handles and have dual break / gear control.

Thanks for your help.

 

[NorthernDave]

The Subway is generally considered a good bike at the price point. Mrs ND has one and loves it.

However it's not a road bike. You could make those changes, but I'd imagine it would cost more to do that than buying a bike with drop bars?

 

[EasyCrank]

The Subway is generally considered a good bike at the price point. Mrs ND has one and loves it.

However it's not a road bike. You could make those changes, but I'd imagine it would cost more to do that than buying a bike with drop bars?

Do you have any recommendations for sub £250 bikes for commuting?

 

[MartinQ]

Do you have any recommendations for sub £250 bikes for commuting?

You'd probably be looking for a decent s/h bike for £250. Push it to ~£350 and you have the triban 500 and some carreras
https://www.decathlon.co.uk/C-359113-road-bikes
https://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs...rrera?cm_re=Brand+Pages-_-Carrera-_-offerBox3

 

[EasyCrank]

You'd probably be looking for a decent s/h bike for £250. Push it to ~£350 and you have the triban 500 and some carreras
https://www.decathlon.co.uk/C-359113-road-bikes
https://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs...rrera?cm_re=Brand+Pages-_-Carrera-_-offerBox3

They do look good, but I'm also quite keen on having disk brakes. I've had an incident before that wouldn't have happened if I'd had disks and so quite keen for them on the new bike. I can probably stretch to £350 though.

 

[biggs682]

Do you have any recommendations for sub £250 bikes for commuting?

with that budget there are loads of good steel road bikes that would make ideal commuters , check out your local gumtree site

https://www.gumtree.com/p/bicycles/diamond-back-mountain-bike/1308738171 this would be ideal once given a going over and serviced as would this one https://www.gumtree.com/p/bicycles/23-raleigh-pursuit-road-bike-included-lock-helmet/1308632361

 

[Drago]

Slap some skinny Schwalbe rubber onto a Subway and they make superb tarmac terrorists for the daily assault on the commute. They punch above their weight.

 

[Cycleops]

You'll get much more bangs for your buck going secondhand if you're careful. The Subway is good but its a bit of a donkey.
If you're looking for a fast commuter this should fit the bill, discs as well:
https://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/cannondale-quick-cx4-hybrid-bike-as-new/1308550129
Almost unused.

Nearer to your budget a day discs too;
https://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/specialized-crosstrail-hybrid-bike/1307501391

 

[EasyCrank]

Slap some skinny Schwalbe rubber onto a Subway and they make superb tarmac terrorists for the daily assault on the commute. They punch above their weight.

One issue I have just seen on the Subway is that the smallest size Halfords seem to do is 18". I'm 5ft8/5ft9 so I guess their smallest model is too big for me?

 

[MartinQ]

They do look good, but I'm also quite keen on having disk brakes. I've had an incident before that wouldn't have happened if I'd had disks and so quite keen for them on the new bike. I can probably stretch to £350 though.

Not seen many disc brakes at that point, possibly
https://www.halfords.com/cycling/bi...uish-disc-mens-road-bike-black-51-54cm-frames

 

[Drago]

I think you'd likely just fit the 18. Go sit on one.

 

[EasyCrank]

If you're looking for a fast commuter this should fit the bill, discs as well:
https://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/cannondale-quick-cx4-hybrid-bike-as-new/1308550129
Almost unused.

Good find, I'll look into this one

 

[NorthernDave]

One issue I have just seen on the Subway is that the smallest size Halfords seem to do is 18". I'm 5ft8/5ft9 so I guess their smallest model is too big for me?

Best to go try one - you're a very popular height so I'm fairly sure they'll do one to fit.

 

[Cycleops]

One issue I have just seen on the Subway is that the smallest size Halfords seem to do is 18". I'm 5ft8/5ft9 so I guess their smallest model is too big for me?

Be aware that hybrid sizing is different to road bikes.

 

[cyberknight]

Not seen many disc brakes at that point, possibly
https://www.halfords.com/cycling/bi...uish-disc-mens-road-bike-black-51-54cm-frames

I quite fancy one of those myself as a winter commuter, guy at my new club has done club runs on it so its up to the task of putting the miles in .
If you dont like dropbars and still fancy the subway you could put slick tyres on it and it will certainly tazz along at a decent pace , obviously aerodynamics make you a bit slower as your more upright.