Seeking advice on £800-£900 quick bike

[EasyPeez]

You'll be missing out on that lovely steel ride!

I've gone for steel in the end

http://www.genesisbikes.co.uk/bikes/road/road-disc/equilibrium-disc-10

 

[shadow master]

Wow...thanks for all the advice everyone. Though I'm not sure if it's helped or made things more difficult!



Is this a good thing then? I'm surprised - I was thinking the steel frame was one of it's weak points and the aluminium or carbon would be both lighter and more felxible - thereby offering more comfort. But steel frames are generally more comfortable without adding too much extra weight? Another reason I was put off the Raleigh a bit is that the dealer said I couldn't take a test ride, whereas the Trek dealer positively encouraged me to ride out on a few.

The Kona does look good but I'm wary of buying online as it's a big decision to make for something you can't even sit on.


Gearing was one of the things that I was wondering about in relation to the CX models. My current mountain bike (understandably) has plenty of gears (low?) that I never use as I don't go up steep trails - in fact I'm always on the biggest cog, and mostly use 3 or 4 gears of the 7 on there. I often 'run out of gears' when pushing hard on the flat or downhill and wouldn't want to go for a CX if it's likely to be geared similarly. Thoughts? Forgive the complete novice naivety, but what exactly does "geared high" mean?!



Those Cannondales do look good, though their website isn't the clearest - I'm not sure I can grasp the difference between the different bikes in the Quick series from looking on there. But thanks for drawing my attention to the brand as;- I've now discovered through the store locator that we have a dealer right here in the city, a shop I didn;t even know about, so will def be paying them a visit next week :-)
Are Cannondales seen as good bikes generally on here?



Thanks for the advice. I am tempted by this option. how do people feel about the Domane as a road bike, if i do decide to go road? Is it as good as the equivalent priced Specialized and Cannondales? I am very impressed by the knowledge of the Trek dealership and their aftercare and after-sales discount schemes. Must admit I don't think the Treks look all that compared to the Cannondales and Boardmans! Am trying not to let aesthetics should not cloud my vision though.



Thanks for the advice. Looks good, but again I don't think anywhere near me stocks those and I don't want to buy without seeing it in the metal. Can you even do the C2W scheme if buying online?


Cheers. That Caadx looks a top bike. I hope they have some CX's and Quicks in my local dealer when I get there next week so I can compare. Just a bit unsure of the gearing on a CX as mentioned above, and guessing they come in a bit heavier than the hybrids and road bikes?

Just 2 more quick questions - do those of you riding in traffic wear a filter mask?
And when it comes to bags, could I get away with one of those brackets that fixes to the seatpost to take my panniers, or would I be much better off with a proper rack? I generally carry lunch, waterproofs, a book and sometimes a folder. Occasionally a laptop. Just thinking the seat post bracket would be much quicker to whip off when going out for a country ride.

Thanks again for taking the time to help me with this, feels like a minefield of options...if only the local dealers all got together and had a quarterly test day at a local track! Cheers.

Don't forget the second biggest bike maker in the world Merida offer great value and lifetime frame guarantee!

 

[John_S]

Hi EasyPeez,

Reading through this thread you've put a lot of thought into your new commuter and so I hope that you're looking forward to picking it up and using it on your commute!

Having read a recent post by Steezy it sounds like you'll be onto a good thing having ordered the Genesis Equilibrium Disc 10 because they seemed very impressed with it on a test ride, so much so that their brother who came on the test ride as well cancelled an order for another bike and bought the Equilibrium.

http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/best-cx-bike-for-£1-000-or-less.171993/page-4

If you report back once you've been using it on you commute I'll be interested to hear how you get on. Although I've ridden for about 25 years I've only ever owned two MTBs and one hybrid bike so I don't have experience of CX or road bikes however I'm saving up for a new bike to use on my 20 mile roundtrip commute and would like to make the switch. I'm a fan of steel (one of my old Raleigh MTBs had Reynolds steel tubing and although it was low end I was still a fan) and I really like the look of the Genesis range and I was impressed with the Day One Alfine 8 2014 model that I've tested.

Hope that you enjoy the new bike when you get it and hope that it's an enjoyable ride on your commute compared to your previous bike!

John

 

[EasyPeez]

Having read a recent post by Steezy it sounds like you'll be onto a good thing having ordered the Genesis Equilibrium Disc 10 because they seemed very impressed with it on a test ride, so much so that their brother who came on the test ride as well cancelled an order for another bike and bought the Equilibrium

Er...that'd be me @John_S !

Testing and securing the Eq10 made for a great day. And seeing my bro go arse over t*t on the CAADX was icing on the cake!
I'll let you know how I get on commuting on it, mate. Have decided to change my tactics though and only use it in good weather though and stick to the MTB in the rain and mud. It gets me to work on time after all, so I'd rather keep the Genesis pristine for as long as possible. I'll be doing a lot more weekend riding once I get the Genesis though, and am hoping to do a couple of sportives. Have registered my interest for the Tour of Yorkshire so need to start getting some bigger rides in sooner rather than later if I'm going to be ready for 100miles+ in the summer.
If you enjoyed the Alfine I'd recommend you try the Equilibrium. Same Mjolnir frame but I think looking at the measurements you get a slightly more relaxed geometry on the Eq? plus it's much lighter and has carbon fork, so all in all better for long rides and handling hills. If you mainly ride around town then I guess the Alfine makes more sense for cost and easy maintenance.
How did you find the drop bars on the Alfine having only had MTBs/hybrids before?

Andy

 

[John_S]

Hi EasyPeez,

Ah that makes sense now reading back that Steezy is your brother. Funny to hear that you had the perfect view of your brother flying off on the CAADX on his test ride and that's a good moment to remind him of seeing as no harm done to him or the bike.

I must admit that having only ridden flat bar MTBs and hybrids before this meant that at first I found the whole experience of riding a drop bar bike very strange indeed but then absolutely everything was new to me, drop bars, geometry, position of the brake levers, position of the gear shifters, the whole lot. When thinking back to my first thoughts I don't know whether the best way to describe the handling would be skittish or responsive because especially thinking with reference to my MTB when used on the road it's very happy going in a straight line but perhaps isn't the best when cornering. Therefore my first experience of riding a drop bared bike was a very weird one at first because the bike took very little persuasion to go exactly where I wanted it and I had to adjust my riding style.

However once I started to get used to it the bike felt great and much more fun on the road than my previous MTB or hybrid. I've got to save a few more pennies yet but I'll definitely be going back to check out the Genesis bikes.

John