Cycling UK Forum

I'm getting a new bike for commuting as my old has been written off in an accident.

Both bikes were/will be 700c road bikes with 25 mm tyres. On my old commuter I was running Giant Defy Close Fit Mudguards. I also use these on my Sunday Best bike. They're decent but not as good as full on proper mud-guards.
The best mudguards I've ever owned were SKS Chromoplastics but they were for 26" wheels (and wider tyres).

For my new commuter I'm looking at a Triban/B'Twin 520 which apparently has clearance for full mudguards. So I'm looking at getting narrow SKS Chromoplastics and buying/re-using mudflaps. However while googling - I came across the SKS Longboard.
With a bit more searching I've found the longboard appears to be very similar to the Chromoplastics but it includes the mud-flaps as standard and the longboard is a bit longer.

So my question(s) is:
• How much longer is the longboard? (I.e. what are the actual differences as I can't find any drawings/technical docs?) Judging by a few pictures I've seen the flap on the long board is almost touching the ground. While I'm sure that'll give excellent bottom bracket protection I'm wary about anything apart from my tyres being that close the the ground, particularly if I'm not riding on an entirely smooth surface.

Thanks for the info.

I suppose it makes sense, that they may wish to keep the bike (although it's value will be pretty much nill). When someone drove into the back of my car about 10 years ago - the insurance paid out and took the old (written off) car off my hands without any quibbles from me. So it's reasonable that they may wish to do the same with a bike.

When I say "racing bike" I mean one of my racing steads that I use for racing rather than one of my bikes I use for commuting etc...

Recently I hit an unmarked sped-bump at speed, (the road had been freshly laid - but the road-marking hadn't been done) and there were no shadows showing the rise and no indication of the presence of a speed-bump. I was on one of my racing bike so I was travelling at a fair rate of knots. My front fork and wheel took a pounding. I reported the issue to the council they initially denied there was any problem, but when I provided photographic & video evidence and pointed out the relevant sections in the Department for Transport Traffic signs manual, they conceded the road markings weren't correct.

They are now prepared to offer me some compensation, but they want to keep the entire bike. Is this normal/allowable?
In my only other cycling related accident (knocked off by car) the other paid for a replacement bike, I kept the old bike (although all I did was take it to the local recycling centre/dump).

It's primarily the fork and wheel that's damaged, most of the rest of the bike have been re-used. I've provided them with quotations for the replacement parts.

With my other accident I used a solicitor, with this incident I've just gone direct to the local council, thinking it would be cheaper/easier.

I've been using a Lidl Pannier Bag for about 9 months but it's falling to bits a little - it's also a little heavy and far too big for just a daily commute (once a week I bring in Clothes- the rest of the week it's just my lunch), I'm after some small panniers / bags to go any more rack. Nothing special and it doesn't have to be super water proof as I already plastic bag everything that goes in my bag.

Preferably sub £30 ?

iandriver wrote:+1 for a CX bike. The flexibility of them is fantastic. In the winter slop, you may well want to go above 25mm. You've got pretty much road bike performance with none of the limitation hangups.

Thanks.

Two bikes I'm particularly looking at are the the Ribble Winter Trainer (with mudguards and 10 speed Tiagra is available for £620) and that gets decent reviews. Also from ribble is their Cyclocross bike ( with mudguards and 10 speed Tiagra is available for £640) Ribble's CX appears to be relatively new as I can't find many/any reviews.

The Ribble Winter trainer can apparently only fit 23mm tyres with mudguards, where as the CX bike can fit much wider tyres.
The CX bikes comes with Cantis as opposed to Dual Pivot and I'd go for a 50/34 Compact on the CX bike (as I've got a CX bike for racing that's 46/36, so I wouldn't be usign the CX bike for CX).

keyboardmonkey wrote:What's your budget?

Probably £700 max - but Id prefer around the £600 mark

keyboardmonkey wrote:Triple or double?

Not that bothered (my other two bikes have doubles, the one that's now decseaed has (had) a triple).

keyboardmonkey wrote:Aluminium ok?

Yes

keyboardmonkey wrote:Rim brake ok?

Yes. I've never owned a Disc brake bike, so have very little experience of them.

keyboardmonkey wrote:Oh, and would you be prepared to self build?

I'd prefer not to - but if a self-build bike can be put together for my budget and can meet my requirements, it's an option.

Cheers,

I've had a look at Ribble - the Winter Trainer /Audux bike looks ok - but according to Ribble only has clearance for up to 23mm tyres.
I've not looked at Spa Cycles - I will do so.

In summary my current commuter is getting on a bit (17 years) and it really needs to be retired.

I'm after a new bike. I commute in all weathers, so mudguards are a must, I'd liek to go with at least 25mm tyres, but despite my searching I can't seem to find any bikes at all that meet this criteria. It may well be that I'm looking in the wrong places (or for the wrong things) but I can't seem to find anything. I don't believe my requirements are too exacting or unique. So can anyone suggest road bikes that can take 25mm tyres (or wider) with mudguards?

I've had a search on this forum, I've not found anything - but of course that may be because I'm using the wrong search terms.