Which Hewitt????

[petenats]

After some weeks of deliberation and research I've decided to get a touring bike from Paul Hewitt. At least that's one decision made which leaves me with about a hundred more so some advice would be appreciated...

After a visit to the shop and a long chat I realised that I have one major decision to make. I ideally wanted a Cheviot SE frame but also 26 inch wheels. I have now discovered that the only option for that combination is for a custom frame, the SE only comes with 700c wheels the cheviot frame being able to take 26" wheels, the custom frame being an extra £4-500 and so a bit beyond budget.

I going to be riding on a real mix of roads...all winter commuting with occasional weekend trips over gravel trails and tow paths with summer bringing on some more varied but potentially further flung trips (although nowhere I will be entirely unable to get spares for 700c wheels, well at least not this coming summer).

So the question is this...do I go for the better framed cheviot SE and and 700c wheels which I understand still gives me a pretty good choice of tyre volume (up to 40's apparently on the SE frame) with the advantages of the better road tyre options for commuting etc. Or is the difference in the frame not significant enough to preclude the 26" wheeled Cheviot (which comes with the same component spec as the SE) and have the advantages of better off road manners, wheel strength and component replacement in the future.

Either way I'm sure I'll end up with a bike which will provide decades of comfortable adventuring but if anyone has any pearls of wisdom regarding my frame choice/wheel choice it would be much appreciated.

Pete N

 

[oxford_guy]

Hi - I've got a Cheviot SE, with 700c wheels (see here), but it has fairly "bomb-proof" 35mm Schwalbe Marathon XR tyres running on Rigide Sputnik rims, which seem to have coped with a substantial amount of abuse on trails and through woodland paths, so 700c doesn't have to mean "delicate". I do understand 26" wheels and tyres are more readily available outside Western Europe and Australasia, however, which could be a factor, though a friend of mine had no problems riding a 700c bike on a 6000km ride through central and south America recently...

BTW if I had to make the choice again, I would still go for 700c wheels

 

[phil_hg_uk]

Oxford Guy thats a nice looking bike I want one of those at some point.

 

[oxford_guy]

Oxford Guy thats a nice looking bike I want one of those at some point.

Yeah its been great, the only significant changes I've made since buying it (the picture was taken in March), have been to replace the saddle with a Brooks Imperial saddle (with cutout), which is much comfier than the Selle Rolls it replaced, and to replace the Shimano XT rear hub with a Hopetech Pro 3, as the former completely destroyed itself for no apparent reason (I reckon water got into it somehow).

 

[oxford_guy]

BTW instead of going for the standard bar-end shifters, which are standard, I went for a Campag Veloce 10 Speed STI-style shifter set at the front with a 9 speed Shimano XT mech at the back back (+ 3 upfront, obviously) - sounds weird, but it works, means can use MTB mech with STI-style shifting and the cable routing of the Campag shifters is quite neat. More information on this weird combo here

 

[petenats]

Thanks for that Oxford-Guy. Fantastic looking bike...I think the understated colours are the way to go to avoid the attention of the light fingered members of the community!

It seems that the quality of the wheels built by Hewitt's are good enough to cope with most abuse and if the frame of the SE is considerable better then that may well be the way to go. Interesting to hear about the disintegration of the XT hub. Did you mention it to Hewitt's?

As for the shifter config...I'm probably going to stick with bar ends one reason being that I was initially planning on getting straight bars as I much prefer the control on the rougher stuff and the riding position but chatting to the guys in the shop they suggested drops with cross brakes on the tops, a good compromise and a large increase in usable positions, but one which makes STI shifters a bit more redundant. I've never used bar end shifters though so it could be interesting!!!

 

[oxford_guy]

Thanks for that Oxford-Guy. Fantastic looking bike...I think the understated colours are the way to go to avoid the attention of the light fingered members of the community!

My thinking entirely, also it shows the dirt less and the black cable ties which various things (dynamo, cycle computers, etc.) are strapped to the bike with are less noticeable with a dark colour...

It seems that the quality of the wheels built by Hewitt's are good enough to cope with most abuse and if the frame of the SE is considerable better then that may well be the way to go. Interesting to hear about the disintegration of the XT hub. Did you mention it to Hewitt's?

Not yet, but I should - it went 3 days before I was due to cycle the Devon Coast to Coast, but a local bike shop came to the rescue!

As for the shifter config...I'm probably going to stick with bar ends one reason being that I was initially planning on getting straight bars as I much prefer the control on the rougher stuff and the riding position but chatting to the guys in the shop they suggested drops with cross brakes on the tops, a good compromise and a large increase in usable positions, but one which makes STI shifters a bit more redundant. I've never used bar end shifters though so it could be interesting!!!

I personally don't like the cross brakes, my girlfriend has these on her tourer and I think they deaden the feel (and possibly effect) of the brakes, as is inevitable with any compromise... Any, maybe its just her setup, might be worth trying out someone else who has them first, though

Hope this helps

 

[Fab Foodie]

Oxfrd guy, nice bike.
26" wheeled tourers are available from Thorn/SJS Cycles, but for my money I'd go Hewitt and 700c unless I was going into the deepest wilderness (and then you'd carry some serious spares) and I like the Campag/Shimano solution, very neat!

 

[petenats]

I'm starting to become sold on the idea of the better framed SE with 700c wheels. I'll have a chat with Paul Hewitt when I go for the fitting and confirm the spec with his recommendations on the brake set up.

The campag/shimano setup is very interesting too and not one I'd even thought about but I'll have a trawl around and investigate although I'm still quite sold on the bar end levers...but nothing is set in stone...yet!

 

[MacB]

Pete, you can also use a Jtek Shiftmate to run Ergos with Shimano stuff, as per the link:-

http://jtekengineering.com/shiftmate.htm

 

[oxford_guy]

I'm starting to become sold on the idea of the better framed SE with 700c wheels. I'll have a chat with Paul Hewitt when I go for the fitting and confirm the spec with his recommendations on the brake set up.

I few other changes from the spec I went for that you might want to consider:

* Tubus Cosmo stainless steel rear rack - mostly for aesthetics, but its a good strong rack
* Tektro 720 "dog leg" canti brakes - these are more powerful than the standard Shimano ones, important on a laden tourer, there's a good pic of them here
* Schmidt Son 28 dynamo hub, B&M Lumotec IQ Cypo Senso Plus front light, B&M DToplight XS rear light - I use my Hewitt for commuting, so "fit and forget" dynamo lights are great. Also the Schmidt dynamo gives me the option of having a charging solution for GPS units and the like if I use something like this

The campag/shimano setup is very interesting too and not one I'd even thought about but I'll have a trawl around and investigate although I'm still quite sold on the bar end levers...but nothing is set in stone...yet!

I like my shifters to be near to where my hands are...

 

[petenats]

More good gen, thanks.

The tubus rack is one that was definitely on the cards as are some lo-loaders and I'd heard of someone else going for the tektro brakes. One reason I'd contemplated straight bars was the V-brake option and the increased power over canti's.

Out of interest does anyone make a disc brake tourer? That would allow the wheel size to be altered as and when you wish as long as the clearances were sufficient...just a thought.

I like the idea of having a charging point but not sure I'd make much use of it...I'm an old fashioned map man and the mobile is locked away except for emergencies, when out cycling all beeps and rings are banished...peace reigns!!! :-)

What size/make of tyre did you end up with...I seem to remember the photo showing marathons and are you happy with that choice for varied terrain, especially now things off road are starting to get a tad slippier...

 

[Danny]

BTW instead of going for the standard bar-end shifters, which are standard, I went for a Campag Veloce 10 Speed STI-style shifter set at the front with a 9 speed Shimano XT mech at the back back (+ 3 upfront, obviously) - sounds weird, but it works, means can use MTB mech with STI-style shifting and the cable routing of the Campag shifters is quite neat. More information on this weird combo here

Works really well for me too.

Also agree about the quality of Hewitt's wheels. I've had my Cheviot for over a year and both wheels are still perfectly true despite quite a lot of abuse. Unless you are really going off the beaten track I'd stick to his standard build.

 

[oxford_guy]

Out of interest does anyone make a disc brake tourer? That would allow the wheel size to be altered as and when you wish as long as the clearances were sufficient...just a thought.

IMHO disc brakes introduce too many complications on a touring bike, I know I can easily fix cantis if in the middle of nowhere...

What size/make of tyre did you end up with...I seem to remember the photo showing marathons and are you happy with that choice for varied terrain, especially now things off road are starting to get a tad slippier...

35mm x 700c Schwalbe Marathon XR tyres - they're pretty bomb-proof, yet fast enough once you get going. Have given them plenty of abuse and have not had a puncture yet...

 

[petenats]

I'm heading up for fitting and putting in the order on Monday so I'll see what the final decisions will be on the day...I must admit I'm looking forward to the whole process.