advice needed - upgrading to my first carbon road bike

[The utility cyclist]

at last I found something that Tuc said that I agree with; the 2014 model Kona zing deluxe is pretty good value if

keep the personal comments to yourself and stick to facts shall we!

[Brucey]

at last I found something that Tuc said that I agree with; the 2014 model Kona zing deluxe is pretty good value if

keep the personal comments to yourself and stick to facts shall we!

well, that is a statement of fact.

[CyberKnight]

'Commute' can mean many different things to different people and their requirements will end up very different.

ie: one mans commute means carrying a pair of panniers every day with a laptop and full office clothes, lunch, shoes and he will do it 5 days a week in rain, hail or sunshine and the bike gets left in a shared rack with all the knocks and scrapes that come with it.

The next may be carrying nothing, have a locker at work for clothes and only ride 2 days a week when the weather is nice and is able to take the bike inside where it is safe.

For the former something robust, able to carry a load, with full guards and sturdy tyres is ideal, where as the latter may be happy on a lightweight road racing bike. The most surprising thing about that is that the bike probably won't make much difference to how long it takes them, once you factor in traffic/route etc.

When I ride my heavy hubgeared, racked 'n pannier-ed 26inch wheeled town bike to work vs a sporty road bike it's a little slower for sure, but overall journey time difference over 10miles is probably less than 5 mins on average.

What are your needs in a commuter?

I agree, my commute is close to 10 miles each way and i carry 2 panniers with clothes, sarnies, and the usual pump/ tools and wet weather gear in the other .
I recently converted my old alloy boardman to a commuter by adding a rack using a seatpost clamp mount and mudguards , now compared to my slicked "dropway " which is a carrera subway i did a drop bar conversion on with slicks over the same course its about 2-3 mins faster and i think most of it is lost on hills and acceleration, rolling speed on the flat is not far off once your up to speed.

[CyberKnight]

boardman

[tykeboy2003]

Help! I am deep in to testing out various road bikes as I want to upgrade from my standard entry level Boardman. I'm mainly using it for a daily commute of 13 miles each way and want something that goes a bit faster.

I doubt very much that any bike will make any significant difference. The biggest improvement you can get is from an improvement in fitness.

[tykeboy2003]

I've heard it said that a good aluminium bike is better than a cheap carbon bike. I ride an Alu Trek Domane 2.0 and have no complaints. I would be looking at a Cannondale CAAD framed bike, as good as you can afford. You'll find you get a better groupset and the Alu bike will be no heavier than the cheaper carbon ones.

1+ for this.

[CyberKnight]

I would agree in general although assuming the OP is buying through C2W and is buying from halfords , like me you are limited by choice and although they can get other brands in you end up paying full rrp so i know you can get better bikes for the price but you will not get them on the scheme .
I got the team carbon last year and compared to my old boardman its a lot more comfy even with the same geometry , the frame gets really good reviews and for me at least was worth the trade off for 10 speed tiagra ( which is supposed to be better than old 105 ) compared to 105 .

Would not use it for commuting though
EDIT pasted from cycling weekly review
The advice I have been shouting for years has always been ‘don’t buy cheap carbon, buy good aluminium’ but I think Boardman is the exception to this rule. It rides comfortably too.

[landsurfer]

dont waste your money.

and dont buy a 2nd hand carbon anything bike - They should have an expiry date on the sales label

if your bike is to be a workhorse, "cycle to work scheme" ,as you seem to suggest then forget carbon I think it wont stand the knocks and scrapes

Double +1

[Brucey]

the thing is that plenty of people buy a bike on the C2W scheme and don't (deliberately or otherwise) end up using it to ride to work on, and are not always frank about their intentions.

If I had the choice of a well-used boardman and a new carbon bike I would without doubt use the former for commuting duties (probably with robust tyres, mudguards and rack/saddlebag fitted) and save the other one for the weekend. The only time the carbon would get ridden to work would be when the weather is exceptionally fine or when the other bike is broken.

IMHO if you are riding to work on a regular basis, you are better off in the grind with a workhorse, not a racehorse.

BTW routinely riding with a backpack is a daft idea; unless MTBing offroad, much better to let the workhorse take the load.

cheers

[mig]

IMHO if you are riding to work on a regular basis, you are better off in the grind with a workhorse, not a racehorse.

BTW routinely riding with a backpack is a daft idea; unless MTBing offroad, much better to let the workhorse take the load.

cheers

i couldn't agree with the first point more. i started to commute maybe 20 years ago in the traffic and roads of manchester using my racing bike of the time - 531 frame, campagnolo 8 speed kit, 23c tyres, not much clearance for mudguards. okay in the summer on any dry day but not great the other 96% of the time. the bike needed much more tlc and i found myself tending to it on a friday evening trying to get something fixed before racing over the weekend. i bought a cheap tange fixed frame from SJS, kitted it out with the basics and let that take the battering. from then until now it can't have consumed more than a chain a year, maybe 4 sets of tyres, some grease for the hubs, a few cables etc and it's still in decent condition. can't ask much more of a bike than that.

re. point 2. i've always commuted with a messenger type bag slung over my shoulder. not much weight in it but as time progresses and having periods off the bike i do find it can cause some ache in my back. what's the advice re. racks and panniers? i'd probably fit them to the winter commuter which is a pompino frame.

ta muchly.

[Brucey]

if you are not carrying much then some kind of QD saddlebag is a good scheme. A bit more load and a rack and rackbag starts to look attractive.

Panniers are great for a supermarket trip but are the least aero (and quite heavy) way of carrying stuff, especially if you don't have much to carry. I see a lot of people using just one pannier and I think this is a bad idea (if it has any weight in it), because it puts a lopsided load on the bike. I've even seen some frames break.

BTW this may seem a bit mad but if IMHO someone made a rack with aero profiled (mainly vertical) stays the world would be a better place. I am noticeably slower with just a rack on and I can also hear it in most cases; whether it is just the air rushing over it or just the thing radiating vibrations that are generated elsewhere I don't know.

cheers

[Marcus Aurelius]

https://www.tailfin.cc/products/t1-carb ... gK3FvD_BwE

These look good.

[mig]

https://www.tailfin.cc/products/t1-carbon-pannier-bike-rack?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4Lz9hYjs2QIVQSjTCh1c6A99EAQYASABEgK3FvD_BwE

These look good.

cost more than the bike those things!

[reohn2]

https://www.tailfin.cc/products/t1-carbon-pannier-bike-rack?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4Lz9hYjs2QIVQSjTCh1c6A99EAQYASABEgK3FvD_BwE

These look good.

To some folk anything looks good if it's made from carbon fibre

[landsurfer]

"advice needed - upgrading to my first carbon road bike"

with respect

Don't ......

"if it's laminated, it will de-laminate, as sure as the sun rises" ... et al ....