mrmacmusic
Veteran
- Location
- Tillicoultry
If you've seen any of my other recent threads, you'll know that I'm lucky enough to have become the owner of a new Trek Madone 3.5 (2012) and have just sold my Ridgeback Flight and Cube Attention mountain bike so I can do a sort of N+1-2+1 sort of thing... 
I only have room in the shed for 2 bikes (yes, I know I could start keeping them in the house but I quite like being married...) and now that I have my proper road bike, I wanted my second bike to be a half-way house between the Flight and Cube – not as fast as the Flight, but not as rugged or boulder-munching as the Cube since I don't do downhill, XC or anything like that.
Essentially, I'm looking for another flat-bar hybrid bike that a) I can use to commute on those days that I'd prefer to leave the Trek snuggled up in the shed/living room/bedroom
; and b) I can use for 'family' cycling – i.e. cycle paths, light trails round the lochs, Center Parcs, towing the tag-a-long etc..etc... I want 700c tyres (just not the skinny, fast-rolling trail-unfriendly 25c variety that were on the Flight), plus clearance for mudguards and the option of fitting 700x35c Marathon Winters.
Budget is maximum £500 this time, and I'm ready to buy this week, except I just don't know which way to go...
I'm not overly fussed about a suspension fork, or indeed disc brakes, although the former might make things more comfortable when out with the kids, and the latter might be beneficial on a wet, wintry commute. Having said that though, I'm aware that in the price bracket the suspension fork may not actually be worth having as it won't be anything special and will merely add weight, and likewise, the same could well be true of disc brakes?
The Giant Escape and Roam have caught my eye, as have Trek's 7.2FX and Dual-Sport range – thoughts on whether these are any good or not for my intended purposes would be much appreciated, as would direction on other models I've not thought of... Specialized Crosstrail? Cannondale Quick?
I only have room in the shed for 2 bikes (yes, I know I could start keeping them in the house but I quite like being married...) and now that I have my proper road bike, I wanted my second bike to be a half-way house between the Flight and Cube – not as fast as the Flight, but not as rugged or boulder-munching as the Cube since I don't do downhill, XC or anything like that.
Essentially, I'm looking for another flat-bar hybrid bike that a) I can use to commute on those days that I'd prefer to leave the Trek snuggled up in the shed/living room/bedroom
; and b) I can use for 'family' cycling – i.e. cycle paths, light trails round the lochs, Center Parcs, towing the tag-a-long etc..etc... I want 700c tyres (just not the skinny, fast-rolling trail-unfriendly 25c variety that were on the Flight), plus clearance for mudguards and the option of fitting 700x35c Marathon Winters.Budget is maximum £500 this time, and I'm ready to buy this week, except I just don't know which way to go...
I'm not overly fussed about a suspension fork, or indeed disc brakes, although the former might make things more comfortable when out with the kids, and the latter might be beneficial on a wet, wintry commute. Having said that though, I'm aware that in the price bracket the suspension fork may not actually be worth having as it won't be anything special and will merely add weight, and likewise, the same could well be true of disc brakes?The Giant Escape and Roam have caught my eye, as have Trek's 7.2FX and Dual-Sport range – thoughts on whether these are any good or not for my intended purposes would be much appreciated, as would direction on other models I've not thought of... Specialized Crosstrail? Cannondale Quick?
Yeah, I've seen lots on the side when I was roadie hunting... just not sure which way to go! Crosstrail might feel too much like an MTB when commuting (the same could possibly be true of all the front-sus options). Agree that whilst the Cannondale Quick 4 looks sweet, those wheels........
)
