Expensive lightweight bikes for commuting....is it worth it?

[kevin_cambs_uk]

Well mine was not cheap at all, but I do think that if I had bought myself a cheaper bike, my 8,000 miles a year would have destroyed it by now.

I like to have nice things, I work hard and I look after it, so its going to last, but thats my own personal view.

I am having the same dilemma over a mountain bike for winter, as I have decided that the ice was tricky on the road bike.

I am a firm believer that things are cheap for a reason.

 

[cyberknight]

I am a firm believer that things are cheap for a reason.

People are lulled into the false sense that expensive /branded is always better

(runs and hides from the fallout ...)

 

[DrSquirrel]

People are lulled into the false sense that expensive /branded is always better

(runs and hides from the fallout ...)

Aye, it's neither "expensive is best", "cheap for a reason".

Expensive - R&D, QC, marketing, taxation (import etc), brand naming etc
Cheap - no R&D (or none needed, clone), lower QC, no marketing, no taxation (direct import from china etc)


I really hate the "buy cheap buy twice" phrase, as far as I am concerned - "buy cheap, buy twice (the cheaper item)... still save money".

 

[BlackPanther]

Well mine was not cheap at all, but I do think that if I had bought myself a cheaper bike, my 8,000 miles a year would have destroyed it by now.

I like to have nice things, I work hard and I look after it, so its going to last, but thats my own personal view.

I am having the same dilemma over a mountain bike for winter, as I have decided that the ice was tricky on the road bike.

I am a firm believer that things are cheap for a reason.

I agree with what you're saying about having nice things (although unlike you, I don't work hard). What I meant though was is it really worth spending loads of money for a lightweight bike for commuting, when any weight loss is cancelled out by work related weight gain (panniers full of stuff)? I bought my Dawes Tanami for £300 (rrp was £450) and it's been perfect....no probs after 12 months and 5,000 miles. I hope I have a similar level of reliability with the Allez.

Also, as a motorbiker, high price does not mean high reliability. I've always bought Hondas. You can spend a lot more on Italian exotica and it may be a kg or 2 lighter, and lap 1/2 a second faster........but only if you can get it started! Still on motorbikes, the lightweight bikes tend to be more prone to corrosion due to thinner plating etc in a bid to shave of a few grammes (the manufacturers don't actually expect you will ride your bike through the Winter!), where as a 'budget' heavier bike will not be built to compete with the latest sports bike weights, so they don't skimp on corrosion protection.

 

[kevin_cambs_uk]

Aye, it's neither "expensive is best", "cheap for a reason".

Expensive - R&D, QC, marketing, taxation (import etc), brand naming etc
Cheap - no R&D (or none needed, clone), lower QC, no marketing, no taxation (direct import from china etc)


I really hate the "buy cheap buy twice" phrase, as far as I am concerned - "buy cheap, buy twice (the cheaper item)... still save money".

Well were all different !

But I stick with what experience has taught me, cheap is cheap for a reason, its usually crap !

 

[kevin_cambs_uk]

I agree with what you're saying about having nice things (although unlike you, I don't work hard). What I meant though was is it really worth spending loads of money for a lightweight bike for commuting, when any weight loss is cancelled out by work related weight gain (panniers full of stuff)? I bought my Dawes Tanami for £300 (rrp was £450) and it's been perfect....no probs after 12 months and 5,000 miles. I hope I have a similar level of reliability with the Allez.

Also, as a motorbiker, high price does not mean high reliability. I've always bought Hondas. You can spend a lot more on Italian exotica and it may be a kg or 2 lighter, and lap 1/2 a second faster........but only if you can get it started! Still on motorbikes, the lightweight bikes tend to be more prone to corrosion due to thinner plating etc in a bid to shave of a few grammes (the manufacturers don't actually expect you will ride your bike through the Winter!), where as a 'budget' heavier bike will not be built to compete with the latest sports bike weights, so they don't skimp on corrosion protection.

I think there is a medium ground, I think an expensive bike to commute to work in would be around £3-4K, which I think is over kill.

Between 1 - 2K is I think reasonable for the mileage.

I certainly would not expect a bike of around a couple hundred quid to withstand the 8,000 miles a year commuting, but even I would say that a bike of £4K for commuting to work is maybe a bit excessive, but if thats what people want to pay the thats great.

I see such bikes in the shop and they are lovely, if I could afford it I would have one, just as I would love an Aston Martin, even if it was only to go to Tesco in.

I think if you are doing a big mileage every year and you want the bike and components to last, then a bike needs to be up to the job and a more expensive one I think will do the job.

Thats my opinion !

 

[DrSquirrel]

I agree with what you're saying about having nice things (although unlike you, I don't work hard). What I meant though was is it really worth spending loads of money for a lightweight bike for commuting, when any weight loss is cancelled out by work related weight gain (panniers full of stuff)? I bought my Dawes Tanami for £300 (rrp was £450) and it's been perfect....no probs after 12 months and 5,000 miles. I hope I have a similar level of reliability with the Allez.

Also, as a motorbiker, high price does not mean high reliability. I've always bought Hondas. You can spend a lot more on Italian exotica and it may be a kg or 2 lighter, and lap 1/2 a second faster........but only if you can get it started! Still on motorbikes, the lightweight bikes tend to be more prone to corrosion due to thinner plating etc in a bid to shave of a few grammes (the manufacturers don't actually expect you will ride your bike through the Winter!), where as a 'budget' heavier bike will not be built to compete with the latest sports bike weights, so they don't skimp on corrosion protection.

Panniers don't get heavier or lighter with a different weight bike.

So you cannot say "what is the point in a light bike if I am going to put xKG of weight on it". Although from a practical stand point, light weight racers tend to have less rack mounting options etc.


I don't think £1000 is spending "loads of money for a light weight bike" anyway, that is up to the realms of 2k+ etc

 

[cyberknight]

Well were all different !

But I stick with what experience has taught me, cheap is cheap for a reason, its usually crap !

And others have had better experiences with shrewd buying you can get good value and good quality, if you have been stung then maybe you have been unlucky.

 

[Christopher]

A halfway house is a set of light weekend wheels for your commuter. Bit of a faff changing the cassette if the spare rear hasn't gears on it. My light tourer is postively lively with light wheels onit while it is a little staid with the bombproof commute wheels. I think the most important thing is a decent frame that you can upgrade piecemeal - a bit like Spesh do (or did) - same frame but better components as you go up the range. My Yates tourer was £700 for frame/fork/headset for example and the rest of the components £400 maybe.

Also I think some on here need lightweight bikes as their commutes are quite long - buggi for example (IIRC).

 

[MacB]

If you have a lengthy commute then you can justify almost any price as long as you have secure storage. If you're doing 30+ miles a day then it's very likely that your commuter will cover the lions share of your bike riding. Having experienced a long commute I spent a fair bit(about £1500) on a dedicated commuter. This actually weighed 6kg more than the bike I had been using but I'd prioritised low maintenance, quality durable parts and comfort over speed. I think the problems can arise when people have to try and make a bike a do it all, you'll always end up with some sort of compromise. I explored options around second wheelsets etc but decided that I needed a weekend bike and a dedicated commuter.

I agree with the comments about saving weight on a commuting bike removing some of the training aspect. Cycling 200 miles a week on a bike that weighs in at 35lbs before adding panniers really makes the weekend bike feel light and fast. Yes you could always add bricks to your panniers on a lighter bike but I'd rather add the weight through bigger tyres, puncture resistance, hub gears, etc. Plus, by having the bigger tyres, comfy Brooks saddle, I also found the bike a lot comfier when I was tired. Those times when you can't, or don't want to, expend the usual effort so you need to slump a bit.

It's interesting when you look at cycling forums, here included, and see what people use for the longer commutes. There's a lot of cross/tourer type frames chosen and steel or titanium are very popular. As are handbuilt wheelsets, generous tyre clearances, dynamo lighting and so on. If you cycle 10k miles a year and 8k of those are commuting then you'd be crazy not to spend whatever it takes to get you the ride that suits. Whether that's full Dura Ace and superlight carbon or some steel/ti solidity, is really up to personal preference.

 

[BentMikey]

I've got to admit my main commuting bike is a few times £1K in value. It's not the cheapest to run either, but I do love riding it.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Its up to the rider to decide whether they think the expensive bike is OK to commute on. Personally the expensive bike, Verenti Kilmeston, is for keeping up with the lads on summer Sundays. For every day riding and commuting I use a fixed, Pearson Touche.

 

[cyberknight]

It also comes down to budget , to some a £600 bike would be a dream bike .

 

[MacB]

It also comes down to budget , to some a £600 bike would be a dream bike .

true, but in my instance I had been driving prior to cycling so my petrol savings alone were about £150 a month. I could also do some additional mental gymnastics to convince myself I didn't need to buy a gym membership either.

I accept that once the bug had bitten there was a fair amount of indulgence as well but I now have two bike frames that I expect to see out the rest of my life, I can't say that about a car.

 

[Nebulous]

I hardly know where to start on this!

I've cycled occasionally for most of my life - for the last 5 years or so on a hard-tail mountain bike. It's mainly been family rides on towpaths and disused railway lines and the bike cost me about £270. I had tried taking it to work a few times, but there is quite a climb and I really hated it.

Over the last year I've lost a lot of weight, and on a weeks holiday last October I did over 100 miles, some of it with my family, but quite a bit of it on my own. I came back and decided I wanted a road bike. I met a lot of cynicism and concern about the cost from the people around me, but I must admit I kind of choked myself on looking in bike shops. The idea that a starter road bike would cost over £500 when the most expensive bike I had bought before was less than £300 really didn't compute. I still don't understand how they can charge the prices they do, other than because they can. I also have the idea that the cycle to work scheme has contributed massively to bike inflation. Just like 100% mortgages did to house price inflation.

Anyway I bought an allez elite, pretty much unused, for £543 from ebay. I absolutely love it and have been frustrated by the weather since I bought it, but really regard it as a hobbyhorse rather than a workhorse. While it is certainly a favourite gizmo I had some difficulty justifying it, nevermind spending 4 or 5 times that.

For a variety of reasons last month I decided to give up my car and had to work out an alternative way to get to work. Now I have 1.92 miles to go, up the aforementioned hill, so much smaller a distance than most people, but what I did was kit out the mountain bike with mudguards and buy new lights, high viz vest and waterproof trousers. I can wheel my bike in and leave it inside, so security isn't a worry, but it just wouldn't feel right to commute on my allez. At the same time although the distance is quite short I really attack that hill every day, so doing it regularly will hopefully improve my climbing and fitness when I am out on my roadbike.

Now after having almost convinced myself how virtuous I am, anyone got any views on a good value carbon bike with 10 speed gearset?

James