Road bike OFT advice please

[fox hawkins]

Hi everyone. My first post on this forum which looks to be full of great advice.

I want to upgrade my hefty hybrid and move to a much faster and lighter road bike. My commute is about 9 miles each way across London - all on roads and fairly flat.

I have toyed with the idea of singlespeed - but think that gears make sense for me as I prefer a quick getaway at the lights and the option to climb steep hills without my knees exploding.

Please can anyone suggest an entry level off the peg bike that will be a light and fast ride and suit these criteria:

I am a woman, 5foot8 [but open to advice whether woman-specifc frame is best]

Want to use paniers, as I can't face arriving at work feeling like a sweaty hunchback after carrying laptop, shoes etc on my back

I like the idea of drop handlebars - but how are they for commuting?

Budget: 450, 500, maybe up to 600 [thankyou cyclescheme]

Lemond or Bianchi look good to me - whadya think??


Any advice much appreciated.

 

[John the Monkey]

If you want panniers, you have to have the fittings for a pannier rack (unless you're using a beam rack, which attaches to your seatpost - good to about 15lbs of weight, and don't use on a carbon seatpost...)

I commute on drops, and find it fine - you can always ride on the hoods if you need a more upright position.

 

[mickle]

... a beam rack ... and don't use on a carbon seatpost...

Really? Why?

 

[andyfromotley]

Mickle................ leave it........

 

[bonj2]

Mickle................ leave it........

eh? should be fine, as long as you don't tighten it too tight like a moron would.

 

[Freewheeler]

You can fit a standard rack without rear lugs using 'P clips' to attach to the frame. Click here for details. However, putting a heavy load onto a lightweight bike might result in the frame flexing a bit, which can be disconcerting when cornering at speed. Having said that, I'm using a light-ish bike with panniers to commute and it's fine once you get used to it.

 

[tombolaprize]

Hi Freewheeler

thanks for the advice as I was unsure about heavy load on light bike.

Guess I could learn to leave stuff at home, but those panniers just ask to be filled

 

[Tynan]

audax type frames will have eyes for guards and racks, arguably a tad more robust for commuting

 

[yello]

Go singlespeed. You'll love it and your intended journey cries out for it!

Not sure which readily available singlespeeds have lugs for racks, probably all of them, and the gearing as standard is usually London friendly. Go on, do it! At least try one!

 

[Plax]

I use a Dawes Ultra Galaxy for commuting, and it is fabulous bit overkill and expensive though. I would suggest the Dawes Horizon based on my experience of the Galaxy. I think Cathryn has one which she thinks is fab;
http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m1b0s21p893
It has a lightweight alloy touring/commuting frame with a rack.

EDIT - I'm 5ft 7 and female. Went for the 52cm frame and it is fine for me.

 

[John the Monkey]

Really? Why?

'pologies - every write up I've seen of them suggests that the user swap out carbon posts for alloy before using a beam rack - is it one of those "Carbon will explode if left in direct sunlight/shatter if tapped in the wrong direction" things?

 

[HJ]

My advice would be to find a good local bike shop (LBS) and try a few bikes, make sure you are comfortable riding with drops in traffic before you buy.

There are also plenty of light fast hybrids in your price range, so it might be worth trying out a few of those as well, rather than just going for a road bike because your current bike is heavy.

Just go in with an open mind try as many bikes as you can in your price range, then buy the one that feels best...