Help choosing bike

[diggersailing]

For the last 2 years i have upped my cycling and now enter a number of sportives and audax rides. What I now want is a bike that will enable more touring, cycle track riding, commuting and general duties. My first serious foray was a Specialized Sirrus Elite 2nd hand. I have a rack on it, 28mm tires, drop bars and bar end shifters. I toured Scotland with vehicle support and last week rode from Bonn to Leuven on it. Otherwise it is utilised as a winter hack 10m either way from work. I now ride quite a lot and have done 2000 miles since the begining of March.

I now want a bike in or around cycle scheme prices that will enable

- fastish continental path riding (Rhine river tour)
- towing my kids
- cycle assorted paths
- Audax rides
- light touring (no camping kit)
- commuting

My choice dilema is this:

Thorn Sherpa - drop bar spec £1149 - looks good but would like dynamo hub, carrier and a few other bits - likely pushing the price up to £1500. Additionally SJS charge back the £100 fee from the CTW scheme so you pay that as well. Any comment on this as I have not come across this before? It does not make the bike more expensive but reduces the effectiveness of the CTW scheme.

Fahrrad Manufaktur T400 - £1040 - I saw these in Bonn, their entire range is impressive and workman like - but not riden. However they are not drop bars. Any experience please?

Fahrrad Manufaktur T Randonneur - £1100 - no idea as to whether these would be flexible enough - comments please. This might be the outstanding choice at the moment.

Kona Sutra - it seems like they have addressed aspects regarding mudguards and the positioning of disc brakes. I have not seen on in the flesh.

Lastly, and my right-field option - buying a Specialized Tricross Triple and kit it out. However would this bike be compromised as I already have much better road/audax bikes being used. My experience of the Sirrius is that I have no gap between heel and pannier and the geometry may be similar. However I might be able to buy the frame and build up a bike. CycleLogic in Cornwall are great fans of these bikes.

My feelings are - I liked the Thorn and in Matt Black it looked more modern that their other finishes, however the cost is not cheap especially if non-std items are used, but it is british. The Fahrrad's have dynamo hubs and lights (anyone got experience of the Lumotec Fly Senso effectiveness with Shimano hub DH 3N71)

I am not attracted to Dawes Galaxy, Hewitt, simply because of the fact that at a personal level I cannot relate to them they are no doubt worthy but perhaps too much a long distance touring bike in the old fashioned sense.

Issues - I live in the SW and visiting Hewitt or Bikefix to view are unlikely this could be a sizing concern. I have been to SJS and they were helpful but seemed unbending in price. As I bought a carbon race bike last year, my wife will have a fit if I buy something expensive again. I am therefore price sensative to remain between £800 - £1300.

Thanks,
David
Giant Advance Defy
Specialized Sirrus Pro

[pete75]

Thorn are about as British as sushi and Chicken chow mein. Frames made in Taiwan and almost all parts from the far east.

[willem jongman]

This is all about what you want to do. You have a fine road bike that is unsuitable for touring, commuting or pulling a child. ALso it will let you down on gravel paths etc. So the thing is to find a bike type combination of properties that will allow you to do all those things. Let us begin at the heaviest duty end. Here you have 26 inch wheel, a heavy duty frame, and a straight bar for best control on off road trails. An excellent example would be the Fahhradmanufaktur T 400. It is a bombproof bike. A slightly faster and more elegant version would be a 26 inch drop bar tourer. Here the Sherpa and the Surly Long Haul Trucker in 26 inch are good examples. This kind of bike is my personal favourite. I love drop bars and not overly stiff frames fro elegant riding on tarmac, but I also like the versatility of wide 26 inch tyres. Fit Marathon Extremes and you ar eready for the wild stuff. Fit Kojaks and you can almost ride an audax race on them. Next type faster is the tradtional drop bar tourer with 28 inch wheels, such as the Galaxy. A Surly Long Haul Trucker with 28 inch wheels would be an alternative to the Galaxy. These bike are still suitable for loaded touring (great fun, and not to be discarded so easily as you seem to do), and they can still handle the occasional gravel road, but not as well as their 26 inch siblings. Finally, there is the fast tourer or audax bike, suitable for touring with at most about 10 kilo of luggage, and not ideal for off road rides because of their narrower (30-32 mm) tyres, but faster again. You decide what riding you want to do. Given what you already have and what you suggest you might want to do, I think the choice should probably be between a 26 and a 28 inch drop bar tourer. So have a look at the two Surly's, or also the Thorn Club Tour. If you want straight bars with 28 inch wheels (not my favourite combination other than for urban commuting), look at the Fahrradmanufaktur offerings. They are an excellent brand that is very competively priced.
Hub dynamo's are great and the Schmidt SONDelux is the best of them all. I would not commute without a hyb dynamo. The new B&M IQ led lights are great and will also work with a Shimano hub.
Willem

[diggersailing]

Thanks so far,

Surly LHT should have been on the list.

Fahhrad seem to cover all my basis at the moment - if anyone has any ownership experience on multi-surfaces? With the Surly I would have to buy a dynamo and have a wheel built on top of the cost.

The reasons not to have Galaxy, Panorama, Dalesman etc are that I just don't know if I would cherish owning one and I am afraid it might sit unloved, I do like unusual and these are 10 a penny - but good bikes I know.

The Thorn was nice, but is was the cost issues as my spec would lift the price and I would not get as much on the CTWS which is an important factor in funding it.

Further - if anyone has links to comparitive road tests of my short list that would be a bonus.

Cheers,
David

[majorjonnyd]

Hi David,

I can vouch for the Kona Sutra. I got a 2010 model 5 or 6 months ago, and I love it. Don't buy it if you're after a lightweight bike, however. It's sturdy as hell, and performed flawlessly on a recent 500 mile tour I did with lots of kit.

The Avid BB7 brakes, if set up correctly (yeah, thanks for nothing Evans), are brilliant.

I think it also looks great, in a lovely chocolatey brown (as my friend said when he swa it for the first time "looks like it's been hewn from solid oak").

Cheers,
Jonny

[al_yrpal]

I did this.... viewtopic.php?f=16&t=36102&hilit=for+a+song

500 mile tour of Brittany and a Sportive since proves to me I got it dead right (except for the leather saddle I had to ditch mid tour) at last. The most comfortable, moderately quick and versatile bike I have ever had the pleasure of riding

Al

(No logo's)

[syklist]

Fahrrad Manufaktur T400 - £1040 - I saw these in Bonn, their entire range is impressive and workman like - but not riden. However they are not drop bars. Any experience please?

We have the T400 Rohloffs that use the same frame. We like them a lot and have done over 7000km in the first two years of use. The handling is solid and predictable without being unwieldy. Some folk might find it a bit too lazy but it suits us fine. The T400s cycle well when laden with front and rear panniers. Ride comfort is good with wider tyres. Good on high speed descents when fully laden. The frames and forks will take up to 54mm (possibly wider) tyres. We have curved bars on ours not drops but not the factory standard straight bars. They are not the lightest of bikes but mine has survived a 20km/h collision with a kerb without any obvious frame or fork damage.

We've used them mostly on asphalt including severe climbs and descents. We've also done routes with days of gravel/pebble roads and sand/grit (NSCR Denmark and Route No.3 /Setesdal /Oslomarka in Norway). Handling in these conditions is good in our experience. We've done some cycling on wet and on slimy road surfaces and the T400's seem to perform well. We've run them with Conti Travel Contact and Schwalbe Smart Sams. The latter have the edge on grip on slimy surfaces the former are a bit better as a general touring tyre.

Not sure what spec of T400 you are looking at but you can often find T400's from about Eur700 from German online retailers. Stonkingly good value bikes considering the standard spec.
Cheers
Stan

[diggersailing]

This is frustrating because I cannot test anything but the std type tourers, I am more convinced of the flatbar/bar-end solution to my general requirements. I am now including the following:

- Focus Maleta
- Cube Delhi
- Cube Tour
- Ghost TR5700

Has anyone taken the plunge and chosen any of these?

All of the above are Aluminium over the Steel of the Sherpa or Fahrrad, but I can find suppliers more easily, even if they are not held as stock. Wiggle have the Focus and with their money back guarantee - that is of interest.

The CTW is a integral part of the solution so I will not be heading off to buy in Germany (although that sounds like a nice idea).

[sidthecat]

Hi,
I bought a 2010 Kona Sutra in August and rode it for 3days fully loaded on the Trans Pennine Trail. This covered virtually all road surfaces apart from extreme off road. I had no problems until a freak accident trashed the front forks. A small stick got picked up by the front spokes which then got stuck under both mudguard stays. The mudguard crumpled up between the the tyre and the fork and the mudguard stays wrapped around the front disk brake calliper, this slammed on the front brake which resulted in me and the bike doing a full somersault. I had cuts and bruises and was going to pull the mudguard out and carry on, but the force of the impact bent the forks back and the wheel ended up touching the main frame. I have bought new forks (had to order from Holland) and will be replacing the standard mudguards with SKS ones with secu-clips which will hopefully reduce the risk of the same accident happening again.
Apart from that I would highly recommend a Kona Sutra, I did replace the saddle with a Brooks B17 but thats a personal choice, the tyres are bullet proof and the gearing is spot on.
LeJog next year and loads of smaller ones this year, and I know the Sutra will cope, if I dodge the sticks!!

[hamish]

I have a Thorn Raven (Catalyst) which is fantastic - and a friend has a Sherpa.

The Sherpa is superb. I can't fault it. It does everything she asks of it - from rough tracks to fast road runs. It is very well balanced and takes a load without ruining the handling. I am not a Thorn obsessive - I also have a Condor and an On-one, but think the Sherpa is a great bike.