OP
OP
I like Skol
A Minging Manc...
- Location
- Sunny Ashton-under-Lyne
I........ was going to reply, but actually I can't be bothered.
What bike to replace my dead hybrid commuter?
- Thread starter I like Skol
- Start date
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OP
OP
I like Skol
A Minging Manc...
- Location
- Sunny Ashton-under-Lyne
My eyes!
OP
OP
I like Skol
A Minging Manc...
- Location
- Sunny Ashton-under-Lyne
Nearly, the day is not finished yet......
fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
Oh it does. You possibly spend most time on a commuter each week, so I've always had a nice bike. In my case I spent probably around 15 hours a week on it.
SkipdiverJohn
Deplorable Brexiteer
- Location
- London
I suppose it depends how many miles you commute, but when I used to ride a bike to work (which was a LONG time ago) I regarded it as a strictly utilitarian activity. I didn't go on deliberate detours to clock up extra miles and stuff like that. It was ride to work in morning, hope for no rain and no punctures. Ride back home in evening and that was it!
OP
OP
I like Skol
A Minging Manc...
- Location
- Sunny Ashton-under-Lyne
Bike order now placed......
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
He's playing hard to get ...! 
How many miles did you commute?? And how long ago are we talking??
Salty seadog
Space Cadet...(3rd Class...)
Bugger!
Just hit a problem at the finish line!
Discussed ordering the Kona with Mrs Skol last night. She asked the obvious question of 'How much is it?'
I replied that she really shouldn't ask that question, but she insisted and only winced when I told her. I had been half expecting a full on row with 'that's madness' and you can't spend that much on 'another' bike.
So matrimonial deal has been done. I sat down at the computer this morning, bank card in hand, ready to order the Wheelhouse for £1350. I still think it is a stupid amount of money to spend for a commuter, no matter how nice it is, so decided to have one last look around (I know).
THIS thread led me to a Cube SL road that would suffice with some of my old bits swapped over, but only six year warranty on frame so not good enough. I then looked a bit further as I really want lifetime frame warranty and found Trek offer this and then found I can get a 2018 FX2 disc in my size for only £360. I can then swap in my own wheels, chainset & 9spd drivetrain, Shimano XT brakes plus a few other bits and pieces and sell off all the new take off parts so should easily be back on the road for less than £300 with a warrantied frame. I know the Kona will be far nicer to ride but then again, the Gt hybrid was never expected to be any good, but it was/is.
What do I do? My head says get the Trek and save a pile of cash and just get on with riding a bl00dy bike you fairy! My heart says get the Kona and smile everytime you look at it, everytime you ride it and besides, it's only money, you can't take it with you when you die.
I am going to order a bike today, I just need another couple of hours to mull it over
It's the Kona, it's gotta be.
Where did all the joy go.
Last edited:
OP
OP
I like Skol
A Minging Manc...
- Location
- Sunny Ashton-under-Lyne
Now I have a bit of spare time maybe I can be bothered after all.
@SkipdiverJohn I don't know how old you are but your extreme views often aired on this forum in a critical manner make you sound like some of my long deceased grandparents that lived through the war years. They obviously managed in hard times but even when things were better they just couldn't change their ways and lived the rest of their lives in conditions almost at the edge of poverty. The ironic thing is that when they died and their estates were realised they were actually far from poor, and not just from property that had appreciated in value. They also had considerable sums of cash savings, sat stagnating in underperforming bank accounts, earning next to nothing and benefitting nobody except the banks.
At the other end of the spectrum we have people like @jowwy whom I suspect will readily admit has a problem with buying new bikes and bike kit without ever wearing out the old ones. It seems like barely a month goes by without him posting a thread about buying a new bike/bike frame/groupset to try something different or update one of the bikes in the fleet. It's his money, his choice and if he can easily afford it without negatively affecting his financial responsibilities then who am I to criticise?
I fall somewhere in the middle. I'm careful with my money and buy stuff to last, so look at owning something for a long time. I pay cash and if I don't have the cash then I am unlikely to get it. I am happy to pay higher prices for things that I consider to be of good quality and that are satisfying to own so in many purchases it is not price that is the deciding factor of the purchase but value. However I am not stupid so, once I know what I want, I look for the best price and if this means getting last years model or an end of season discount or doing some of the legwork myself rather than just paying the 'turn-key' price then that is fine with me.
Now getting back to the new bike scenario, which after all is what this whole 6 page thread is all about, lets discuss some of your comments....
I cannot think of a worse attitude to getting to work by bike. Why make something a misery when it doesn't have to be. The only reason I would consider using a bike I didn't like for such a regular journey would be if it were very short (less than 3-4 miles) and there was a high risk of a decent bike being targeted for theft or vandalism. Actually there is a second reason. If the bike was rubbish but it was all I had and replacement was not an option, then I would bare the situation with good grace and be grateful that at least I had a bike. Luckily none of this applies to me as I commute 10 miles each way and bike facilities at work are reasonably secure (so secure that I only use a cheap, light cable lock to secure my bike at work, more to prevent any of my colleagues goofing around and hiding my bike than to protect it from theft
).I could almost agree with your point that a commute bike should be as cheap as possible, providing it is still reliable and pleasurable to ride, but my problem is that the commute bike is not just for commuting. My personal bike fleet now consists of 3 bikes as follows;
- A hardtail MTB. Purchased new by me in 1996 for a little over £1k. It was getting a bit tired so I freshened it up a few years ago with a new groupset, wheels and converted to disc brakes at a cost of around £500-600. Still beats many of the big money guys when I do take it out and I do stuff on that that only an MTB will do. Money well spent IMO and with the recent rebuild will still be going strong in another 10yrs.
- A carbon Allroad/Enduroad bike. I know the marketing term Allroad/Enduroad will make you scoff, but ignoring the gimmick sales term, this bike is actually a road bike that suits me down to the ground. Fast for long road rides of 100+ miles, tough enough for some pretty rough trail use except the most extreme MTB stuff and finally something new for me is to throw on a pair of 35mm knobblies and go CX racing. It wasn't cheap but I bought it in 2016 with an end of season discount, it was replaced by a third parties insurance earlier this year with the same (near as damn it) bike and it should be in my fleet for decades to come. This is my nice ride toy so doesn't get used all the time but is always there for those sunny day rides when it is just nice to head of with just a phone, £20 note and cashcard in your pocket. I am not a weekend bike polisher so will gladly get this bike wet and muddy, just not prepared to spend a long day in the saddle with a wet bum when I can use bike 3 with mudguards instead.
- My commuter is the 3rd and final piece of the jigsaw. It obviously does the commuting (unless it is a nice day and I have nothing to carry when the sunny day bike might get a look-in, except we all know how that ended last time it happened!). This bike is also so much more than 'just' a commuter. It often does my long forum rides if I want mudguards or panniers. On family rides if I need to carry locks, snacks and coats obviously the panniers are chosen again. Camping/road trips, yep you guessed it! Going out at night in the dark, well it is fitted with lights 365 days a year so obviously the commuter. Cycling with the kids to school or scouts, nipping in to town on errands, 185 miles in one day to my dad's house in South Wales, the list is endless and the commuter bike is normally the answer to most of my riding requirements and easily covers the most mileage each year by around double what the other two bikes do together.
As you can see, the cheapest, nastiest, most basic, least desirable, most unpinchworthy bike I can muster just isn't going to fit the bill in this case. The GT Traffic hybrid covered around 2-3 thousand miles a year and I think I was very lucky and struck gold finding a bike that was so capable in so many different ways. A hybrid is often cited as being a compromise, a jack of all trades but a master of none! My experience has been that actually it was bl00dy good in nearly all situations.
I knew relatively little about cycling when I bought the hybrid back in 2010, having owned nothing else except MTBs since being a teenager, but knowing what I know now I can definitely say that I know which bike will be a suitable replacement for the hybrid and hopefully give me many years more of leisure, pleasure and utility cycling, clocking up the miles as well as the smiles.
He's playing hard to get ...!
New bike is the Kona
potsy
Rambler
- Location
- My Armchair
Now I have a bit of spare time maybe I can be bothered after all.
@SkipdiverJohn I don't know how old you are but your extreme views often aired on this forum in a critical manner make you sound like some of my long deceased grandparents that lived through the war years. They obviously managed in hard times but even when things were better they just couldn't change their ways and lived the rest of their lives in conditions almost at the edge of poverty. The ironic thing is that when they died and their estates were realised they were actually far from poor, and not just from property that had appreciated in value. They also had considerable sums of cash savings, sat stagnating in underperforming bank accounts, earning next to nothing and benefitting nobody except the banks.
At the other end of the spectrum we have people like @jowwy whom I suspect will readily admit has a problem with buying new bikes and bike kit without ever wearing out the old ones. It seems like barely a month goes by without him posting a thread about buying a new bike/bike frame/groupset to try something different or update one of the bikes in the fleet. It's his money, his choice and if he can easily afford it without negatively affecting his financial responsibilities then who am I to criticise?
I fall somewhere in the middle. I'm careful with my money and buy stuff to last, so look at owning something for a long time. I pay cash and if I don't have the cash then I am unlikely to get it. I am happy to pay higher prices for things that I consider to be of good quality and that are satisfying to own so in many purchases it is not price that is the deciding factor of the purchase but value. However I am not stupid so, once I know what I want, I look for the best price and if this means getting last years model or an end of season discount or doing some of the legwork myself rather than just paying the 'turn-key' price then that is fine with me.
Now getting back to the new bike scenario, which after all is what this whole 6 page thread is all about, lets discuss some of your comments....
I cannot think of a worse attitude to getting to work by bike. Why make something a misery when it doesn't have to be. The only reason I would consider using a bike I didn't like for such a regular journey would be if it were very short (less than 3-4 miles) and there was a high risk of a decent bike being targeted for theft or vandalism. Actually there is a second reason. If the bike was rubbish but it was all I had and replacement was not an option, then I would bare the situation with good grace and be grateful that at least I had a bike. Luckily none of this applies to me as I commute 10 miles each way and bike facilities at work are reasonably secure (so secure that I only use a cheap, light cable lock to secure my bike at work, more to prevent any of my colleagues goofing around and hiding my bike than to protect it from theft
I could almost agree with your point that a commute bike should be as cheap as possible, providing it is still reliable and pleasurable to ride, but my problem is that the commute bike is not just for commuting. My personal bike fleet now consists of 3 bikes as follows;
- A hardtail MTB. Purchased new by me in 1996 for a little over £1k. It was getting a bit tired so I freshened it up a few years ago with a new groupset, wheels and converted to disc brakes at a cost of around £500-600. Still beats many of the big money guys when I do take it out and I do stuff on that that only an MTB will do. Money well spent IMO and with the recent rebuild will still be going strong in another 10yrs.
- A carbon Allroad/Enduroad bike. I know the marketing term Allroad/Enduroad will make you scoff, but ignoring the gimmick sales term, this bike is actually a road bike that suits me down to the ground. Fast for long road rides of 100+ miles, tough enough for some pretty rough trail use except the most extreme MTB stuff and finally something new for me is to throw on a pair of 35mm knobblies and go CX racing. It wasn't cheap but I bought it in 2016 with an end of season discount, it was replaced by a third parties insurance earlier this year with the same (near as damn it) bike and it should be in my fleet for decades to come. This is my nice ride toy so doesn't get used all the time but is always there for those sunny day rides when it is just nice to head of with just a phone, £20 note and cashcard in your pocket. I am not a weekend bike polisher so will gladly get this bike wet and muddy, just not prepared to spend a long day in the saddle with a wet bum when I can use bike 3 with mudguards instead.
- My commuter is the 3rd and final piece of the jigsaw. It obviously does the commuting (unless it is a nice day and I have nothing to carry when the sunny day bike might get a look-in, except we all know how that ended last time it happened!). This bike is also so much more than 'just' a commuter. It often does my long forum rides if I want mudguards or panniers. On family rides if I need to carry locks, snacks and coats obviously the panniers are chosen again. Camping/road trips, yep you guessed it! Going out at night in the dark, well it is fitted with lights 365 days a year so obviously the commuter. Cycling with the kids to school or scouts, nipping in to town on errands, 185 miles in one day to my dad's house in South Wales, the list is endless and the commuter bike is normally the answer to most of my riding requirements and easily covers the most mileage each year by around double what the other two bikes do together.
As you can see, the cheapest, nastiest, most basic, least desirable, most unpinchworthy bike I can muster just isn't going to fit the bill in this case. The GT Traffic hybrid covered around 2-3 thousand miles a year and I think I was very lucky and struck gold finding a bike that was so capable in so many different ways. A hybrid is often cited as being a compromise, a jack of all trades but a master of none! My experience has been that actually it was bl00dy good in nearly all situations.
I knew relatively little about cycling when I bought the hybrid back in 2010, having owned nothing else except MTBs since being a teenager, but knowing what I know now I can definitely say that I know which bike will be a suitable replacement for the hybrid and hopefully give me many years more of leisure, pleasure and utility cycling, clocking up the miles as well as the smiles.
New bike is the Kona
