Time for a new bike.... what one?

[Pale Rider]

I don't know your current bike, but I'm surprised you are breaking spokes.

You are not that heavy, any £1,000 bike with a high spoke count should do the job.

How far is your commute?

It's on paths for part of the way, so don't rule out a mountain bike with shallow tread tyres.

A mountain bike would be a bit slower than a narrow wheeled hybrid, but the extra width and depth in the tyres provide a useful cushion.

The better quality mountain frames will accept carriers and mudguards so, with the tyre change, you could have a very versatile do it all bike.

 

[dee.jay]

I have a Claud Butler Explorer 100 that cost £329 last October.

My commute is 6 miles minimum but I often add a mile or two.

The path is basically tarmac though, not gravel or anything - I might as well be on the road 100% of the time really. Does Mountain bike mean suspension? I don't want or need it really.

 

[vickster]

Get a nice steel CX bike with 32-35mm tyres on handbuilt wheels, but go ride some

 

[dee.jay]

Oh yeah, I ride on 35mm tyres at the moment too.

 

[Pale Rider]

I have a Claud Butler Explorer 100 that cost £329 last October.

My commute is 6 miles minimum but I often add a mile or two.

The path is basically tarmac though, not gravel or anything - I might as well be on the road 100% of the time really. Does Mountain bike mean suspension? I don't want or need it really.

Controversial topic on here, suspension.

Yes, a mountain bike will almost certainly have a front suspension fork, but spending a £1,000 will get you a relatively light one.

My view is there's no harm in having a bit of give in the front, and the extra weight over six miles won't make much difference in the journey time.

Small price to pay for no aggro with spokes, which the mountain bike wheels will almost certainly give you.

Another bike to consider is the Cannondale CX1.

Narrow wheeled hybrid with the advantage of Cannondale's lightweight Fatty head tube suspension.

http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Cannondale-...aign=Adwords&gclid=CLG0_u2x5MQCFavpwgodCSoAzA

 

[w00hoo_kent]

I don't know your current bike, but I'm surprised you are breaking spokes.

I figured I just got unlucky with the Sirrus, but when the Synapse ones just did the same it was tough to put it down to purely bad luck (plus I don't really do superstitions). I wasn't doing anything particularly vicious with them (and nothing I'm not also doing on the hand builts) the spokes were replaced by an LBS (in fact, as time went by I tried three different LBS's locally) and nothing seemed to work. The worst point was when I got less than 30 miles out of a wheel that had just been done. They'd break in ones or twos and with the Synapse wheel I made a point of replacement spokes having different coloured nipples, so I could tell them apart. By the time I could throw the wheel away it had about 13 new spokes on it. Never the same spoke going. Mostly drive side I think. The bikes were a year apart and different manufacturers so I'd be stunned if the spokes were from a single dodgy batch. I don't consider myself a hard rider, just heavy. I can't believe I was putting more torque through the wheels than most riders and would imagine significantly less.

It happens.

 

[Learnincurve]

If you want a go anywhere drop bar bike then a cross bike is the way to go, you pay a bit of a premium for them though. The entry level by giant can be found in your budget and will have slightly better kit than halford's version.

 

[vickster]

I'm not exactly light, the roads round here aren't exactly smooth, and I've never broken a spoke on any bike (and I've probably had 10 in the last 6 or so years)...I have obviously now cursed myself

 

[Pale Rider]

It happens.

Very true.

And as has been observed, there seems to be a domino effect, once one goes, others often follow.

The other alternative for the OP is a rebuild with all new spokes.

I had a wheel done for £30 by my local bike shop.

There may have been an element of 'mates rates' in that price, but it shouldn't cost a lot more.

 

[dee.jay]

Well I'm happy to just get a new wheel for my current bike. It's not a "terrible" bike, but you can certainly feel some inherent cheapness in the way the gearing works etc.

The daft part is, a pair of decent wheels will cost almost as much as what I paid for the whole bike in the first place!

 

[w00hoo_kent]

Wow, I'm doom & gloom guy today. I was quoted £60 as one of the options for the Sirrus, but in the same breath was told it wasn't worth spending that much money on that wheel, I might just as well buy a new one. It might have been *that* LBS didn't really want to faff around re-spoking wheels. I went for spoke and re-true as I knew the Synapse wasn't far off and I was going to use the wheels from that anyway...

I'm completely unsure what sort of wheel you'd get at the very budget (sub £100 a pair) end of the market, although I guess the wheels on a £360 bike were unlikely to cost more than a tenner each. What's the mark up on bikes?

 

[dee.jay]

I have no idea what the mark up is, but I'm sure there'll obviously be some.

I've already taken this wheel to an LBS twice, once just for truing, once for a broken spoke a few weeks ago, and now another has gone.

I'm more than happy to spend £200 on a pair of wheels if I never have to go and get the things looked at again.

 

[vickster]

I'm completely unsure what sort of wheel you'd get at the very budget (sub £100 a pair) end of the market, although I guess the wheels on a £360 bike were unlikely to cost more than a tenner each. What's the mark up on bikes?

I'd think 100% for any manufacturer of size over the cost of parts and labour. Probably far more for the likes of Specialized with big buying power. Not sure who owns Claud Butler

 

[dee.jay]

Falcon own CB.

 

[vickster]

Falcon own CB.

And who owns Falcon?