Looking at my upgrade options...

[Cyclist33]

Nope but one of our local lbs specialists highly touts whyte.

Can i throw a spanner in the works and recommend keeping the Flight? Its not exactly heavy or slow afaik. And also whats wrong with rim brakes? I was chatting about it with a mate today. We all used to use them coz there were no disc brakes, and everyone got on fine. I used to commute
25 miles a day and never had to get a new rim coz of the braking. Are you braking too hard and late?!

Just my thoughts
Stu

 

[GrasB]

And also whats wrong with rim brakes?... ...Are you braking too hard and late?!

Let me see. So I pull on brake lever, no response. Pull a bit harder, the hint of braking. A bit harder still, we start to get reasonable amount braking... for about 1 second then the brakes actually decided to grip the rim properly, hard locking up the rear wheel or throwing me forwards unbalancing the bike. Compare to disc brakes. Gently squeeze the brake lever & I get a smooth consistent response even though the whole wheel, including the disc, is covered in a fine coating of muddy water.

Actually hard/late braking is kinder on rims than slow progressive stopping, especially when your rims & pads are covered in the grinding paste that is watery grit & mud slime which tends to cover the rims (along with the bike & anything in a 1m radius of a wheel around here. I used to lose about 1/2 to 3/4 of my rear rim sidewall over winter & around 1/4-1/3 of the front rim sidewall. However I'd lose a barely measurable amount of rim sidewall over summer on both rims, exactly the same braking technique was applied - lots of early feathering of the rear brakes at low speed with big stops & coming down from high speeds on the front.

 

[mrmacmusic]

Nope but one of our local lbs specialists highly touts whyte.

Can i throw a spanner in the works and recommend keeping the Flight? Its not exactly heavy or slow afaik. And also whats wrong with rim brakes? I was chatting about it with a mate today. We all used to use them coz there were no disc brakes, and everyone got on fine. I used to commute
25 miles a day and never had to get a new rim coz of the braking. Are you braking too hard and late?!

Perhaps rims and pads just aren't made the way they used to be? Bit like televisions and watching machines.....

Seriously, I don't think there's anything wrong with my braking technique either – feathery or sharp depending on the situation – and I adjust them so the stopping power is as effective as it can be, given the rate at which the pads wear! It's just that in my experience of commuting since last August, there's a whole lot of cr*p gets on the rims/wheels and pads along my route, and quite often I can feel that gunky mess grinding under braking... Not a lot I can do to prevent it, other than not use the bike. Or upgrade to disks.

Regarding weight, I put the Flight on the scales and it weighs 18kg OK so that's equipped with mudguards, rack etc, but I would have thought I could shave a few kilos off that with a bike like the Whyte.

 

[mrmacmusic]

Let me see. So I pull on brake lever, no response. Pull a bit harder, the hint of braking. A bit harder still, we start to get reasonable amount braking... for about 1 second then the brakes actually decided to grip the rim properly, hard locking up the rear wheel or throwing me forwards unbalancing the bike. Compare to disc brakes. Gently squeeze the brake lever & I get a smooth consistent response even though the whole wheel, including the disc, is covered in a fine coating of muddy water.

Actually hard/late braking is kinder on rims than slow progressive stopping, especially when your rims & pads are covered in the grinding paste that is watery grit & mud slime which tends to cover the rims (along with the bike & anything in a 1m radius of a wheel around here. I used to lose about 1/2 to 3/4 of my rear rim sidewall over winter & around 1/4-1/3 of the front rim sidewall...

Thanks GrasB – nice to hear that it's not just me! That's exactly my scenario – rear end (more-so than front) always covered in a watery gritty muddy slimy paste that's causing rim wear and poor braking performance. Discs just seems like a logical upgrade given my commuting route, road conditions and perpetual miserably dreich Scottish weather.

 

[theloafer]

you can get the boardman cx for £730 too..
I just have

am thrilled to bits with mine.. mrmacmusic get one test rode mate the double tap soon gets easy to use and if fitted with these http://road.cc/content/review/2716-tortec-reflector-mudguards

 

[mrmacmusic]

am thrilled to bits with mine.. mrmacmusic get one test rode mate the double tap soon gets easy to use and if fitted with these http://road.cc/content/review/2716-tortec-reflector-mudguards

Cheers Larry ...maybe I should just wait until you decide it's time to upgrade

 

[HLaB]

Whatever....

Anyway.. back on topic.... new commute bike for the OP.....
Forget cross bikes... too heavy. I tried a Spesh TriCross but instead went for the Secteur.

He changed the wheels and tyres but after he did so my brother's Trex felt as light as my road bike; albeit he now want a road bike

 

[mrmacmusic]

...I used to commute on a Spesh Secteur but have just upgraded to a Kona Honky Inc which has disk brakes. But that's a couple of hundred squid over your budget.

Just saw pics of your Honky Inc via another thread... I think I might need to extend my budget

Seriously, I've been told that steel is a very comfy ride, and given the drops, geometry, disks and Shimano 105 equipment, that there Kona ticks all the boxes that ideally I'd like to tick.... How to you find it compares for the commute to your old Secteur then, and how heavy is this super-commuting-machine? As mentioned above, my Flight is tipping the scales at 18Kg

 

[ianrauk]

Just saw pics of your Honky Inc via another thread... I think I might need to extend my budget

Seriously, I've been told that steel is a very comfy ride, and given the drops, geometry, disks and Shimano 105 equipment, that there Kona ticks all the boxes that ideally I'd like to tick.... How to you find it compares for the commute to your old Secteur then, and how heavy is this super-commuting-machine? As mentioned above, my Flight is tipping the scales at 18Kg

It is a lovely ride especially compared to the Secteur which was Alu frame of which I do find to not be the most comfortable of rides. The Kona is about 10kgs which is the same as the Secteur.

The only thing I don't like it is that the rack I have got which is a slimline road bike rack doesn't fit because of the disc brakes so I have had to revert back to a rucksack for the time being.

I got it from CycleStore for £1169+10% free accessories. It was in a New Year sales so unfortunately the price has gone up to £1299+10% free accessories.

 

[mrmacmusic]

It is a lovely ride especially compared to the Secteur which was Alu frame of which I do find to not be the most comfortable of rides. The Kona is about 10kgs which is the same as the Secteur.

The only thing I don't like it is that the rack I have got which is a slimline road bike rack doesn't fit because of the disc brakes so I have had to revert back to a rucksack for the time being.

I got it from CycleStore for £1169+10% free accessories. It was in a New Year sales so unfortunately the price has gone up to £1299+10% free accessories.

Cheers Ian Not heavy at all then, and similar to the 9.8Kg quoted for the Charing Cross.

My Flight is obviously Alu (and no carbon fork) and I do find it can be a bit twitchy, harsh and unforgiving, especially on those variable road surfaces I mentioned earlier... The LBS where I bought the Flight was recommending I check out the Croix de Fer, but I a) wasn't sure about steel; and b) didn't particularly like the white frame/brown tape and saddle look.

I stuck the inexpensive ALDI rack on mine, but a lighter "disc-friendly" rack would have to be factored into the equation for me too.

Bought Altura waterproof gloves on special recently from CycleStore (only £12!), and their service was excellent – how was it buying a full bike?

 

[ianrauk]

I have always found CycleStores service to be excellent.
I asked them for a certain day for the bike to be delivered, they said no problem and it was. I was even able to track the delivery online.

 

[theloafer]

Cheers Larry ...maybe I should just wait until you decide it's time to upgrade

you will have a long wait mate... hope tohave it for a long time good thing aswell it has the same gearing as my carbon cannondale so when she comes out in the good weather..all will be the same just lighter... re steel frames ... my tourer a custom built caygill is very comfy i used to only have that one so it got used non stop shopping-work w/ends its my fav bike the weight is not a prob once its loaded cant really notice

 

[mrmacmusic]

you will have a long wait mate... hope tohave it for a long time good thing aswell it has the same gearing as my carbon cannondale so when she comes out in the good weather..all will be the same just lighter... re steel frames ... my tourer a custom built caygill is very comfy i used to only have that one so it got used non stop shopping-work w/ends its my fav bike the weight is not a prob once its loaded cant really notice

No worries Larry Definitely going to check out the Boardman though, and some steelies too


Carbon will need to wait a few years

 

[GrasB]

Forget cross bikes... too heavy. I tried a Spesh TriCross but instead went for the Secteur.

Just had a look around, at the £700-£1200 mark discs cost you up to 820 grams... I mean they're lighter than a cheap aero road bike.